I'm sticking with my original advice! "Rich goldenrod is also a good contrast to navy, and has a certain elegance...think about the gold braid on a Navy uniform... something like BMoore "Dorset Gold" (HC-8), or SW 6369 "Tassel," which is deeper. If you choose gold, be careful to stay away from anything that goes toward orange, as the navy will intensify that tone."

Posted on other Post? You have two....wow you sure get a lot of house for the money in Memphis!....

The dark ceiling in the recessed area has to go - it just creates a black hole effect in an already dark area. A quick lick of primer and then white ceiling paint will make a difference there. The living room side of the peninsula appears to be a soft grey and seems to work with the rest of the area and the counters. Would you consider carrying that colour into the rest of the kitchen on the cabinets? Or, if you could find a slightly warmer version (more greige than grey), it might work really well with the floors and fight less with the brick. It sounds like you're currently stuck with the brick. When you do a remodel definitely plan to remove that as it is really bossing everything else in the room into playing along with it. I'd paint it or whitewash it and make it the same colour as whatever paint colour you choose for the cupboards. It won't disappear, but it might fade into the background a bit which would help. When you remodel I'd also find a different location for the frig. A frig door that opens into a doorway is such a pain - we had it for years at another house and I just detested it. I know the counters aren't really working with the brick but I would never counsel getting rid of them because they really do look gorgeous and you clearly do like them. If you can, it would likely be a great idea to find a local design consultant to come out and work with you for a few hours. Some definitely do hourly work, rather than a large job. They can help you pull a cohesive plan together on colours that would work best with the elements you have.

Thank you all very much for your input - especially those who went to the effort of making "renderings," how kind of you. Those were very useful, and helped me to realize that black is the right option, given my general risk-adverseness. The shutters and front door will be SW Tricorn Black. I'll post a pic when everything is done. I never even thought of painting the garage doors but you guys are right, I think black would look really good. We're not going to have the painters do it (given they JUST painted them white) but that seems like a job my husband and I can easily tackle ourselves down the line.