Sounds like you have a lovely project. With any of the dark finishes I like to have integral metals -- not coated finishes though some are very good. Rocky Mountain Hardware makes bronze in several different tones and their quality is tops. I've used them in two homes now and while some of their styles are stylized they have a Mushroom Knob (p 2 of the knobs) in a coppery bronze that I just love. They would be gorgeous with black, as you'll see. I've ordered them from Cape Cod Brass twice now and used CC for all my hardware -- they have a range of other good brands. Re F&B, I've worked extensively with their paint and it's my go-to brand for interior work. Depending on location, the Farrow's Cream can look like a parchment yellow or much more aggressively egg yolky. Alternately House White is very warm as is New White, which has an umber undertone and White Tie is an elegant ivory. Love their coatings, great to work with and the color complexity is terrific. They hold up beautifully and while people color match them that loses the complexity of undertone in paint with 8-12 pigments when color matching with only 3-4. Only 1 other paint has a similar surface quality in the matte (Estate Emulsion) finish and I really appreciate the effect on old walls. If there are plaster walls in your home you will see that most. I love a pull down faucet and Rohl has dark finishes in some of their styles though their bridge faucet is classic. Good luck with your choices! Would love to see the exterior paint job you mentioned if you feel like posting a pic. I so respect restoration and preservation of our visual heritage. Here is a link that might be useful: Rocky Mountain Hardware

Agree with one larger dining space. This would free up some needed space for a larger family room. Do you use the living room? Do you have a need for a small office or away room? The mudroom does seem a bit awkward. Better access to the covered porch from main living areas would be nice as mentioned. But, with the back facing north, you also don't want to block more windows, otherwise it will feel dark. Some added windows on the side of your house would be great for some additional light into those spaces. I know you had said, the laundry is in the basement, but I might plumb for them in a mudroom, especially if you're going through the trouble of remodeling. On that same thought with the powder room, maybe consider a shower as well if you plan to stay in this house for a while. Might be a time where stairs proves to be difficult for any number of reasons. For instance, if an adult or even a child has a broken foot or leg, having an accessible bathroom on the first floor would be a benefit, not to mention for selling. Good to really evaluate your needs and how you want to live in the home. Make your architect aware of all this, conversation is key and should be a team effort. If you honestly don't feel she is listening, then yes, maybe you find another. It's your home and you're money. Might also post in building a home forum for advice or critique. The kitchen forum would be helpful once you have worked out some layouts. Good luck!

Hello everyone! So just an update on this project. I painted all of the upstairs trim white and the walls grey and it came out very nice. Now I am moving on to the stairs. I tore out the carpet and padding yesterday which went a lot smoother than I expect. Took less than 90 minutes as there was no tack strips and the staples came out very easily. My original plan was to stain the treads with a gel paint and paint the risers white. However, as you can see on these pictures, there is a white substance on each of the treads and on some of the risers. Initially I thought this was some sort of adhesive for the carpet/padding, but it is really smooth to the touch. Nonetheless, I tried sanding it and it made it smoother, but it did nothing to remove the white. As a result, my wife and I are on board with painting the risers white, but now painting the treads black which we have seen on various websites across the internet. We think it will look good with the white trim and grey walls. BUT.... Before I go about painting anything on these steps, I wanted to at least ask to see if anyone has any idea what this white substance may be? I want to make sure I address it before priming and then painting these treads. If anyone has any idea what it may be and what I may need to do to get rid of it (to some extent), please let me know. Also, if you think simply sanding it to make it smooth with the stained portion and then painting over it will work fine, please advise. Thanks in advance!

houssaon, would it work to have the window trim in the current shutter color? The reason I ask is because exterior colors (paint colors are from a stucco collection. picked because lower half of house is stucco) aren't really modern. Probably hard to tell online but the shutters are more of a sandstone, field is more of a cream & roof is shades of browns. Since I can't trim out the bottom windows I'm wondering if the dark trim on top windows might look odd.