Thank you all. Either painting the ceiling or the cabinets would be the easiest way to avoid too much brown wood everywhere. (I actually rather like modern high gloss lacquered cabinets.) White paint with a slight blue tint on the ceiling with walnut stained beams sounds quite pretty. However, my DH hates painted wood. Given the choice, he would much rather go with tile floors than paint the ceilings or the cabinets. The wood ceiling doesn't look too bad as is in the photo I posted. I like the depth of the color it is now - not too dark and overpowering - but the tone of the color is the problem. At certain times of day, as the light changes, the ceiling takes on an unattractive pinking or yellowish cast. One of our big problems in the house is lack of lighting, so we are adding as much as we can during the remodel, including cove lighting on top of the cabinets (we can�t do any recessed lighting because there is no space between the wood ceiling and the roof), so the wood ceiling will become more of a feature with the lights aimed at it. Our contractor is supposed to do samples to see if we can dye the ceiling to a more neutral brown shade, without going much darker. We could try to do a greyish tone, like driftwood or aged teak, but that will probably be harder to achieve successfully over a large area than a brown tone. There are little wing walls that separate the kitchen from the dining/living area, so we could do separate flooring in each space. I do not mind using tile in the kitchen, it is the living room that concerns me. I agree that the trick to using multiple woods in one space is to vary the tones and textures, but they still must be complementary. We could leave the ceiling lighter, like it is, and use darker wood floors in the living room, but the furniture in that room is a mix of pecan stained cherry and teak, with medium-dark brown leather couches. I will buy a new contemporary styled rug in lighter tones (creams and blues most likely) no matter what we choose for flooring. In the kitchen, we are using white quartzite counters, stainless appliances and some glass doors in cabinets, so that will break up the brown wood. I still think wood floors in the kitchen at least will be too much with the cabinets and ceiling. I am really torn between lighter or darker walnut cabinets because I love both looks. Black walnut from Smallbone (not sure if this is stained or natural): Sanjuangirl, we are south of you, in San Diego.

I have a fiberglass garage door in white, and while I love the look, the insulating qualities, & light weight (easier on the opener's motor than heavy wood), I wouldn't want it in a faux wood look. When I researched entry doors, it seemed like the big complaint about wood-look fiberglass is that it fades after time and needs to be restained periodically. I wouldn't want to do that for a big garage door. The gel staining wouldn't be too difficult, but applying the UV resistant poly coats would give me pause. A wood door's maintenance would be just as demanding, and wood is heavier (needs more powerful door openers) and is prone to warping (which is why we got rid of our old wood doors). I would think a steel door in a faux wood finish would have the same maintenance issues as fiberglass. It's not so much the door material as the coating on it -- stains & poly don't stand up to heat, sun, rain, & snow well. So just as long as you know what you're getting into. A wood look door may well be worth the effort & expense to you. And maybe your DIY skills are way better than mine! Wood garage doors seem to be the fashion now. Over in Advice, many are asking how to update their homes. The popular answers are 1. Don't paint the brick, it's a maintenance hassle; 2. Replace your garage door with a stained wood door. I question the responses because in my experience, it's the opposite: stained wood garage doors are a maintenance hassle, but painted brick is not if prepped well (is in good condition, sparkling clean and bone dry before painting).

About 95% of your concern sounds like coatings rather than wood. Products today are simply a little more plasticky looking. Generally, as coatings get a little more durable they get a lot more plasticky. There are ways to achieve solid durability while minimizing the plastic look. The easiest being adapting color coats and protecting with lower sheen topcoats. Another option is to brush on the color coat with a thicker product. This will leave the classic brushmarks in the paint. You could also pick woods with grains known to show through such as oaks, and use a clear sealer rather than pigmented sealer. There are many ways a good coatings person can achieve a good durable finish like you are asking for on most any wood. The problem will be finding that good coatings person. Cabinetmaking, even custom cabinetmaking, is a production type activity. You may find people who have incredible knowledge of coatings, but you may also find great cabinetmakers with little knowledge of coatings.

OK...here's the thing with real wood vs. fake. When you put both of them up against each other you will cause EACH of them to look 'fake'. Yep. Even the real stuff looks fake. You really should be looking at stone or tile looking vinyl. Or you go with lino or cork. Do NOT use fake wood floors in the kitchen! Don't. Do. It! You will calmly and firmly tell your partner to STAY OUT of the kitchen floor decision. #1. You already have a hardwood floor that will be REFINISHED (not replaced...refinished) later #2. You have wood grain cabinets chosen = two different woods visible to one another #3. You have a VERY busy slab picked out and that slab reads greenish-gray You already have TWO woods that are within just a few feet of each other (cabinet wood and flooring wood). To add a fake wood means you want to add a THIRD wood-look/tone into the same space. That's WAY too much. IF you want wood-look in the kitchen then use it EVERYWHERE. Rip out the real wood (please don't) and throw down the fake stuff throughout the level in your house. And please use painted cabs rather than wood cabs....cause it can be very difficult to get real wood (the stained cabinets) to look "OK" with fake (not even 'good'...just 'ok'). So...tell partner that you can have the fake wood in the kitchen SO LONG AS everything else changes. Snort! That will cause MASSIVE upset in the house hold. I guarantee it. Then calmly state, "OK. So that's not an option. The easiest way to do this is to pick stone-looking products. It is much easier. Everything else stays the same." Go ahead and google "travertine look" vinyl or tile. You will see HUNDREDS of them on line. Pick one that allows the COUNTER TOPS to be the star...You can only have ONE DIVA in a kitchen. Right now that DIVA is the counter tops. Everything else needs to be part of the back-up cast.