CircusPeanuts - not the look I am going for at all... I wonder if my kitchen would really turn out that bad. Yikes! (Oops, no offensive to who's ever kitchen that is.) LWO - Yikes again - pricy indeed. I'll look for a knock of or at least broaden my horizons to consider darker pendents. The reason I don't want to do wood, or tile looking like wood, in the kitchen is b/c we already have wood in an adjoining hallway and I don't like it enough to do the same wood but I don't want to have a different wood right next to it. We only had it installed a few years ago though and I certainly can justify, or afford, to replace it. I also just have a thing for tile in the kitchen. I think it is b/c I grew up in Arizona. I think I am going to start looking at wood stains compared to my granite. I think I nice stained wood island could certainly be wood element and add both the warmth and contrast that I need/long for. Beth - I would LOVE to see your kitchen. It sounds a lot like the rest of my selections. Were you going to do something lighter on the floor and istead switched to what you've got to add contrast and something dark? Get a flickr, picasa or photobucket account. Upload the photos. Then there should be like a "share" button and you just copy the html gibberish and post it in the message box. Again, I'd love to see what you've got. Thanks everyone.

I might get a table for the kitchen, the one in the picture is actually a desk with some electrical equipment in it. So I don't want to put it in the kitchen. I really like the orange or a pale blue as well! I saw an apartment with similar design to my condo and they had a light blue accent. It worked well, though I really like that orange... I'm definitely thinking the same thing about the rug. I'm going to keep an eye out for one, and for some redone sleeper sofas per april's suggestion. I haven't seen them before, but if I can find one that would be perfect. As for the position of the TV, I'm not sure which I like more. Part of the reason that I have it on the wall I do is that you can view it while making food in the kitchen as well. I've gone back and forward myself with it. I could really use some suggestions for the bedroom everyone, it's so white and bland currently :/.

a couple more thoughts... a ceiling light fixture will help and bring some interest for sure. have you thought more about one? art absolutely will help and so will pillows. I also think you might want to consider new inserts for pillows if you can. and larger size pillows like 20inx20in, not sure how that translates in com, but large size pillows will help. consider the size of the insert one size up from the size of the cover so it fills out the pillow and makes if more fluffy. if you get feather down inserts i would consider that too. thought I would share a couple pics that show how just a few additional features will make a difference. I like the idea of a couple large pillows on the floor too. I would style the coffee table a bit too

You got some good advice above for figuring out what to store where. I have found that the biggest issue I have is having too much stuff for in my kitchen. If that is your issue (not everyone's) I found a solution. I look at each gadget in my kitchen and know why I bought it and I want to keep it. I took a day and a few bags of different sized rubber bands and put a rubber band on the handle of each pot and pan, lid, all the gadgets and around each spice container. I put a blank post it note in each serving bowl or platter and in each of my baking dishes, pans, cookie sheets, small appliances . . . (did not bother doing every cup/plate/bowl). When I used things I removed the rubber band or post it note. In 6 months I went in and knew if this was something I used and should stay in my kitchen. I still couldn't part with everything I hadn't used, but I gave away most of it. Those things I couldn't part with I put in a storage tote with the date on the top. If I ran into a need I could rescue the item from the tote. 6 months later I took the tote (still had almost everything in it that was there 6 months earlier) and didn't even open it - just took it to a charitable re-sale store.