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@jane: painting the cabinets cream or walls? I like this gray trend for walls but don't think it'd work w this style?

How about opening up the stair case and bridge on top? Maybe metal railing ???

What a beautiful home! I agree the drapes and window treatments should go. You will gain a tremendous amount of light with them gone. Blinds of some sort would give a cleaner, more open look.
On paint colors I would be careful about adding too "cool" of colors because of the amount of warmth present in the wood and tile, and going too cool would make the wood and tile either clash or look even warmer by contrast. You could paint using a variety of cream colors just so they don't go too much toward gold. Once the drapes are down you will be better able to choose paint colors in the light you will have in the house. Painting the cabinets would lighten everything up quite a bit and a cream would give a more streamlined look, however be aware that they appear to be oak, and I think the graining would still show through after they were painted. Just something to be aware of before you start. A warm taupe would be another way to go on the cabinets, or an off-white (warm); maybe a glaze pr "wash" over top could be done to highlight the wonderful depth on the doors and drawers. And I agree it would be a great idea if now or later on you could open up the staircase and loft by replacing the solid drywall with wood or metal railings.

I would look at the Benjamin Moore warm whites collection and choose a very light one for the walls. I'm doing something similar in a similar 60's house. The colors im leaning to are winds breath for walls and doves wing for cabinets. Check out the colors against your granite and try to match the tone of warm white to the lightest part of the granite if you can't match it almost exact. Keep any new backsplash plain..when funds are available, I would use glass everywhere there is a pony wall, or cable railings. Your house is going to be beautiful, I think you made a good choice! Of course remove all the window coverings, I like blinds in floor level areas to have the option of being opened from up or down to bring light in while still providing privacy if needed.

enjoy!

This post is almost four years old.

Thanks! I sure wish folks would post what they did and ended up with, I don't pay much attention to the dates as I'm looking through the posts for ideas! And it's nice after everyone gives their time and advice to see how it works out.