Thank you to everyone for all the thoughtful replies! I agree that I shouldn't feel pressured just because there is a sale and normally, I'm not impulsive at all when buying furniture (which drives my husband crazy because I take forever to make decisions!) However, I've never purchased furniture from Ethan Allen before and my understanding is that it rarely goes on sale. With the state of economy, perhaps that is changing. Some of you suggested that I get a quote on a custom piece like this in a painted finish. I did have a number of an Amish carpenter and contacted him today about this so we'll see what happens! I'll keep you posted. Thank you so much to everyone! I appreciate your advice and if anyone has any additional input, I'd love to hear your opinons! This is a great website and I hope to start visitng more often again!

You've got such a tough decision here. While light doors and trim brightens up everything, it does show stains and scuff marks. I think it depends on how neat and clean you are and how much things like scuff marks and handprints bother you. I think it also depends on your inspiration pictures for your home. What do you get really excited about when you see pictures of other homes? How are you inspired? We lived in a 70's home with painted trim and hated it. We lived in a 90's home with stained trim and doors and loved it. I'm sure the dirt was there, but you couldn't see it. The scratches and knicks just seemed to add character to me. We now live in an 8 year old home with white doors, trim and cabinets. It always looks dirty to me. I am constantly cleaning and never done. We have three kids. As I get older, I just kind of give up. I just get to what bothers me the most in the public rooms. However, it is the brightest home we have lived in. Just remember, if you're worried about it being too dark, your fabrics, wall colors, drapes, ect. can all be light in color. We will down size in about 10 years (hope to), and it will be to a one level house with stained woodwork and a beautiful fireplace, something I don't have now. (aahh, now I'm off to daydream!) Good luck. Whatever you decide it will be beautiful I'm sure. Floors, cabinets and open floor plan sound wonderful.

I agree - mixing woods gives a wonderful 'collected over time' look. I love mixing woods & it's one of the things (& there's not always a lot I love) that I love about a fair amount of furniture that I have. Right now every time I pass my boys Maple headboards propped against our cherry buffet, I think what a wonderful contrast it is. Mixed woods just look 'rich' & give such depth to a room. That said, I think that chair is wonderful & will look fabulous w/ the look that you are trying to achieve!

I am always either far behind or far ahead of the "colors of the year"! I have some black accents in the house (the black wood legs on my 2 club chairs, a black sofa table that is probably gonna be relegated soon to the finished basement, the black surround on the fireplace that was there when I bought the house, black-wood and black-metal picture frames), but the rest of the house is lighter: brushed aluminum and stainless colored furniture, including the TV table, which I had re-powder coated from black (!), the dining room table and chairs, the ceiling fans. And some maple (a TV armoire, a console table in the MBR). I looked into getting some end tables refinished from a denim blue (don't ask!) to maple, but the furniture refinisher just shook his head and said they'd always have a blue cast. Bummer. I just wish retailers would not forget the nice maple finishes when they sell the espresso stuff! (Some of the light alternatives, to me, look ugly. West Elm has a natural finish it calls "blonde," but I think it's way off. But contrast IS nice to see. Check out the dark Parsons-type DR table paired with the very light chairs on the West Elm website I just figure "real" blonde will come back soon, affordably. But by then I'll probably be searching high and low for the espresso! Love the one you're with, I guess!