ejbrymom The paint colors are Farrow & Ball Lime White & Light Blue (it's a little grayer than it looks in these pics). The big wall cabinets are actually 2 colors right now. The doors are Farrow & Ball Hardwick White and the frames are Light Blue. Crazy me thought I might like the frames a different color than the doors. The doors aren't finished so ignore them. Thank you pickle2 and the others!

Seven years is a while, and since you arent happy with the visual heres an idea which will give you some countertop alongside the stove to place items while your cooking and maybe help. Take out the pantry completely. (If you guys are handy maybe you can salvage some of the trim or doors, for another project.) Then get a cheap base cabinet from one of the big box stores, they have them unfinished, 70.00 to 100.00, paint it like your other cabinets, and set it on the side where the pantry was. As far as the top area that is now open because you took out the pantry, just put some more open shelves there, store your nice bowls or dishes there, just rearrange your storage since you are losing the pantry and display dishes and bakeware in the open area. Maybe it wont be too bad a storage loss because cabinets are 24 inches deep while the pantry seems a little shallower. For a countertop just get some more of that ready available formica counter top as close as you can get to match the other counter. Its easy to cut and you may even match it perfectly. If you want to tackle another temporary visual improvement, and if you cant match the counter, to get you through the 7 years check out the poster here who used that paint treatment (its pretty stout stuff) and made her counters look like black galaxy granite, and its a diy project that may make you content while you save for the dream kitchen. You can even do your island if its not real wood. You can use the base cabinet in the garage later or somewhere else when you do your remodel if you hate to waste money on temporary fixes. I cant really tell how much room you have upon entering that area, if a base cabinet would take up too much space, you could build a little cabinet or use a wall cabinet which is shallower, it would just need to be raised to the right height, you could put some legs on it or something, its amazing what you can do with trim and wood items from the big box stores, and since its going to be painted who cares? At least you would have a workplace by the stove and take care of the floating stove issue.

My old farmhouse growing up as beadboard in the bathroom. I wouldn't recommend it. Even with "bathroom paint", it's just not a great environment for it. I think a fresh color of wall paint would be more effective and make the travertine look better. I don't consider travertine dated; I think it jsut depends on what's going on around it. You could also paint the chair rail the same color, if the white is too jarring.

If your goal is to lighten up the house, avoid adding dark things to the already dark rooms. Add lighting, remove heavy dark window coverings, and check outside to see if there are branches that have grown to block sunlight from the windows. Pruning at the right time of year for your area can let in much needed light again. Start by replacing the light fixtures to improve the overall "dark and brown" look. Remove the over-sink bar cabinets. Paint the walls. Staining the cabinets can't be done well without stripping them, sanding, filling, staining, sanding, and so on. Contact the cabinet company with photos of the damaged areas. Ask them what clear coat can be applied over the existing finish. Chances are good that a clear polyurethane over a bit of stain pen will fix up those worn areas easily.