I think we're back to square one. Dh started putting it up tonight and he said before he put it up permanently, I'd better come look and see if this is what I wanted. The chandelier type has old-fashioned looking bulbs with a soft yellow glow. The flat light has a blinding white light. Not going to work together at all.

We "built" the house we live in now, tract home in new neighborhood, with some customization. House conversations with friends and neighbors always have regrets in there. Bump-outs, boneheaded designs we should have caught, upgrades that should have been made, upgrades that aren't worth it... the list goes on. Based on our experiences here, I already know there will be design / decor issues that will have D'oh! moments. It's impossible to think about EVERYthing. I think we've hit all the major points, and have enough flexibility to change in the future. Our lives changed quite a bit in the 6 years since building (the once large pantry is now crammed because I now do the majority of grocery shopping at Costco and that not change for at least 15 years for example). I can't see into the future, but we learned from this build, and kept the evolution of our family in mind with our design. 1) The architect/draftsman is only as good as the information provided. They don't know us, or live our lives, ( I wonder if there'd be a benefit to having separate design consultations with the clients, much like relationship counseling, to get a really clear picture, lol), which is why we rely on their education and expertise. 2) The reason copy editors exist: to catch the technical mistakes writers make, and can no longer "see" due to closeness to the project. Same reason med errors occur. I think when we originally like a design, then look at it, dream about it, obsess over it, we can't "see" the flaws or potential problems that others might. Hence all the floor plan critique posts here. I think too, that online and builder plans lull us into a false sense of security- "they design and build houses all the time, they're experts, hundreds of people have bought the design, what could go wrong?!" We found that customizing our builders plan threw them for a loop, and didn't realize it would do so, until after the house was built, and weird things weren't right; towel bar location, depth o linen closet, outlets, etc. 3) We are often playing on tilt. We're all living SOMEwhere, right now, and designing a new place to live, with many features that we love (or would love to have) or without the ones we loathe, those HTOD, that we obsess over in our current or past homes. Finally, the same way any artist of any medium does, we aren't always satisfied with the end result of a project. Sometimes you just have to be DONE, even if to your artists eye, you could have kept going. Having said all that, I know there's going to be some regrets, but hopefully -I believe- the joy will outweigh them!

My one regret with the black island is that I chose a shaker door without a bevel. Those little corners are hard to clean and the black shows everything! If I could do it over I would still do a black island but it would be a stained wood, painted black and then distressed. That way any nicks and bumps show wood and not a white chip. We are considering changing that down the road.

Congratulations on your new home - how exciting! I would not paint the walls grey/blue/green due to the orange/yellow wood. Those colors would look nice in your home but may feel a little old-fashioned to you. In my opinion, grey has been overdone and it's time for something fresher. I would paint both the walls and the wood trim the same soft white to give it a more modern feel. The trim is not very substantial so just paint it out altogether. Bring in color with your furniture or art. When you eventually replace the flooring you can think about changing the trim too. Look at Benjamin Moore OC-117 Simply White, or perhaps OC-118 Snowfall White or OC-149 Decorator's White.