Thanks everyone for your comments. I don't know if you can see it, but the green square between the two windows in the FR is a sample of BM Baby Turtle. That's the color I was thinking about painting that wall. I agree that painting the entertainment unit would breakup the Knotty pine overload! I was thinking about maybe starting off with putting a paintable wallpaper on the back wall of the bookcase and seeing how it looked with that painted first - maybe do the Baby Turtle on the back of the bookcase, and the white on the shelves. I was thinking about painting the trim white, but thought it might look stark with all the paneling. The fireplace is very tall. I'm 5'4" tall and when I stand on the hearth, I can barely reach the top of the mantle. To put that flower arrangement up there I had to stand on my tippy toes to just reach enough to place it up there. So, to watch TV up there is impossible. The room isn't that large. We struggled with the furniture placement for hours, but with the wall of windows and the builtin, I'm sortof stuck with where things are. I figure you can sit up on the sunroom chairs to admire the fireplace this winter.

I'd suggest you delay the decision as long as possible and check-out the door samples and take them home after the major surfaces are complete - lights, flooring, etc... For our kitchen, I originally fell in love with a warm cream mixed with light taupe moldings. In the actual room, chips and larger painted samples looked fine until the actual surfaces, new windows and lighting were installed. The warm cream turned flesh-toned and the light taupe picked up really unattractive darkness with green overtones. I am currently recycling the leftovers of that paint in my office where THE EXACT PAINT appears as pale cream with a little warmth. While its good to know I'm not crazy, even an experienced painter can't quite figure it out.

I think if you did a fairly dark gel-stain approach on the frames, you might get away with new dark-stained wood doors. But maybe not - it would be a risk. I agree with suzannesl and marcolo. I understand feeling hesitant to rip out cabinets in decent shape structurally, but it sounds like these are not functioning well for you and were not exactly heirloom pieces anyway. I have a similar situation with my cabinets and decided, with input from some of the posters here, that it was worth it to just replace them entirely. Putting in the time, effort, and $$ to "put lipstick on a pig" would not have made me happy in the end.

It would be helpful to see pics of the opposite wall with painted white brick and more of the room. Your mirrors & light gray furniture give impression you are craving light. Suggestion: First, clean the paneling well & paint out or replace the fireplace insert black to match other accessories & make it less prominent. Then, decide if the paneling is too dark or wrong color to work with furniture + rest of the house & same with brick. It seems like remaining decisions, e.g. paint paneling or replace with drywall, paint brick or reface, add mantle, add bookshelves, etc. will depend on your budget.