What a beautiful bedroom!! I hope your doggies don't sway you from the white bedding!! I have gone to a white matelasse b/c of my dogs - it will pop into the washer/dryer & I can use bleach on it. I was using an expensive Eastern Accents duvet that I had to have dry cleaned every time it got dirty. Also, the room above doesn't show a bed skirt - which is what got dirty for me when I had one before. My big old lab like to go under the bed when I had a bed skirt. I saw how dirty it got & took that thing OFF!! Now, I would have a hard time keeping that cream carpet clean, thou!! But to me, the carpet could easily be darker & still work - like a darker taupe (or a color that blends with your dogs hair color :) ) I also really like the printed sheets that Caminnc posted above. Smiles:)

If I had a dollar for every time I heard "I've never seen that done before" and "everyone else does/has...." I agree with cpartist. Having the hood, shelves and counter stools wood will be a good balance, along with a light floor, backsplash and walls. Between the kitchen and laundry room/back hallway in our last house, I had a floor to ceiling black hutch. No windows, only light from laundry room window (kitchen was in center of house), and the black hutch was not a hole of doom and gloom when the hallway light was off. One thing to consider is taking aways one wall cabinet on each side of the range hood to visually open up and lighten that area just a bit. What is happening elsewhere in the kitchen area, like around the corner of the far right wall? I currently have black soapstone counters on the F&B Blue Gray cabinets (walls painted the same color) with a counter to ceiling scalloped soapstone backsplash behind the range. It's countered with light French oak wood floors and light ceiling. Taking chances can pay off if executed well, but you will have to listen to a few naysayers along the way.

Thank-you... There is a can light above that washes over that wall.. but yes, a light over the painting would highlight it.. This room is really tricky.. each wall displays color differently. I had a horrendous time trying to pick a color that worked with the stone on the fireplace, and could run into the kitchen and up the stairs.. I don't like it with the painting..it goes cold on that wall. This wall was green, which looked great with the painting, but we re-did the adjoining family room, which has a blue rug... I wanted to tie the rooms in together more, and pick up some of the blues in the living room. My next task will be to re-upholster the striped chair, after I get the walls squared away....

You all made some really good points about whether or not to trim the trees. One of the things we love about the home is how well it stays cool and that certainly could be resulting from those trees, have a lot to think about on that topic it seems like. Yes, this is the principle of passive solar. Those deciduous trees will help keep the house cool (and minimize cooling costs) in the summer, and the absence of leaves will help warm the house (and minimize heating costs) in the winter. We may end up reaching out to another local electrician however would like to stick with him at this time as able due to him being a friend of the family. Sometimes it's helpful to get someone who's not a friend so you can get what you need, rather than what someone wants to provide for you. And if you do get another electrician, get one with his or her own ladder collection : ) . He's a tough cookie once he's dug his feet in about something so I think reading more about the white for the room will be helpful to both of us! It's one thing to be a tough cookie, and it's another to be a realist with the conditions one is dealing with, especially if you want a particular desired outcome. You can be a tough cookie, have your conditions, and your desired outcome, but you can't have all three at the same time. Something is going to have to give. And sometimes when you're a tough coookie in a situation like this, you end up spending A LOT of money on things like paint. I know everyone always says "paint is cheap!", "you can change the look of a room cheaply with paint!". These are clearly not people who have bought paint lately, especially after just laying out money for a new house. Good luck : ) .