Hi guys, thanks for the advice and the links! I am still struggling with- one color, or many? I chose better homes and gardens creamy buttermilk for the dining room as a starting point. It looks pale yellow in there. I like it- but I am having a hard time choosing colors that will go with it in the adjoining rooms. I have the issue of my light being kind of yellow- so another yellow might not look good. That second link was gorgeous. I wish I was brave enough to use color like that! I do want to paint the rest of the house- and I LOVE the cottage look. I've always adored the coastal / cottage looks. I am still worried that painting the different rooms will give a cramped feel- but perhaps if I stay with very pale pastels it won't? I can think if plenty of colors that coordinate together- then I bring the swatches home and it's like- no way! That would look really weird sitting in the green living room, looking into the blue bedroom, yellow dining room and another colored 2nd bedroom- would it? Would it not? I also love the idea of the continous color because it gives the house a spread out feeling- you know? being small you have to be careful of making the space feel cramped. The other thing is my bathroom- its about 6ft wide and 10 ft long- no kidding. I've not decided what to do in there- probably cream all over. Would you all leave the living room the drab green, change it to buttermilk (as in the dining) or paint it another color all together? I didn't see very many muted pastels. I like muted because otherwise they look too chalky, or like a babies nursery. Here is the dining room before I took out the wallpaper. You have already seen after wallpaper. I will post another once it is painted. Our decor is black and white photos in white frames of places we went on vacation- yosemite, etc. Our couch is brown, a drab floral recliner,grey linen curtains. I love my house. The only thing is they painted all the walls and celiengs shiny. Why do people do that?

The best way to handle this is to treat it like one large room - if the cabinets were a color that blended with the DR stuff you would be having an easier time of it. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/45843/how_to_pick_perfect_paint_colors.html is one way to deal with the problem. Start with the Dining Room drapes and find a bunch of colors that look acceptable with the drapes. And I mean check every paint chip you can get your hands on to see what looks OK. After the kitchen cabinets are installed - you want cabinets and countertops in there - take the chips that look OK with the DR into the kitchen and start weeding out the ones that are not OK with the kitchen. Then you should have some paint colors that will look OK both areas.

I've heard of BM White Dove and may have to do that. This is the back part of my kitchen where there are four doors--more trim than wall. I just hated to have all that white along with the white washer and dryer and white fridge. I have a greige tile floor with a splash of the maple color. I do appreciate that door on the rare occasions when I need to hide my dirty kitchen from the public....however, i guess that might be the way to go. Looks like white is the only option. Sigh.

I think you have a most definite dividing point so it should work. The dotted line that goes across the island would be a perfect dividing point. Though it would be okay to keep the family room side of the island trimmed to match the kitchen.