Dekeoboe- Sorry, I missed your post. I was over on the kitchen forum, fine tuning my kitchen/island situation. We will eventually be going to an architect...and engineer, if necessary. I'm not sure of the exact square footage, but with the mudroom and porch...probably close to 2200. Thank you, I think it will be very comfortable...not too many rooms, but the rooms are large enough to entertain our large family, when they do come out, but cozy enough for just us. Marti- Thank you! Yes, it will also be a guest room, so I wanted it close to the hall bath. There will also be the small upstairs area, but I think for now that will be unfinished. I love everything about the plan...except the kitchen island. While I don't want people (especially nieces/nephews) lined up along one side...the big 5' x 5' butcher block just felt too big. So, I was looking at the Country French magazine and came across this picture...and got a new idea. With the help of the kitchen forum, I made a few changes. Picture... From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures I like the two surfaces...butcher block on the island itself (now 6'x 3') and the small marble table for seating. Here's the plan with a few other changes, including 18" upper cabinets...on each side of the sink and the range. I also made the hood/vent a bit bigger, for my husband's french fryer and George Foreman grill :) From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

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.

maire_cate, KDs often have a pretty limited selection of hardware available through them, and it's whatever is "hot" right now. I did NOT want what was hot - I wanted polished solid brass pulls as they worked far better in my kitchen and "warmed up" my gray cabinets. No one local had ANYTHING! Told me it was a "dated look". To heck with that - it was what I wanted! And I knew it wasn't "dated" as polished brass was showing up in some UBER high end kitchens. So online I went. I finally discovered Look in the Attic and found several contenders. When I called to order samples (Yes, one pays but there will be a credit if one returns them and buys from the company, which I did), the owner said that yes, he hears all the time that polished brass is not in style, but he sells more of it than any other finish! I adore my pulls - just what I wanted. Solid brass, heavy, stunning...and they were about $10 each -- quite affordable. I did order extras "just in case"...

@straitlover - yes it was, but we've pushed the chair with the ottoman back a bit and it looks great - aligns perfectly. When we swapped the chairs, we created less room because the chair and ottoman needed more room and the fireplace sticks out about two feet. Since that chair and ottoman takes up more space, sliding it back further into the notch area/corner by the window, where there is no fireplace, it fits better. I'll take some pics tomorrow with no fisheye :-D Game of Thrones now!! Hopefully you're a fan!! Thanks again for the ideas!!