newhomeinmn, my living room is about 13 feet 2 inches wide. The base cabinets are about 47 inches wide each and the fireplace mantle is about 66 inches wide each. My ceilings are 9 feet on the main floor. I highly recommend going to the ceiling with the cabinets. It makes the room feel so much larger. I learned that trick on my tiny mudroom/laundry room. Then applied it to my kitchen/living room remodel. I am tired of oak - so I switched to the painted cabinets in the living room and went with cherry in kitchen remodel and did the island in the painted wood to tie the rooms together. Here are more pics of the cabinet (without Christmas decorations), the befores and afters of the remodel. I still have the oak doors throughout the house but with the different tones of wood - it all works (I also stained my wood floor much darker to get rid of the faded golden oak).

Art is a matter of personal taste, so it depends on what you'll enjoy living with and the ambiance you want to create in your home. As leelee pointed out, art would look great over the sofa and I think a rectangular shape would work best. I think your living room expresses simplicity and clean lines, so I'm posting four photos in keeping with that theme. The top two are the simple, elegant essence of your color scheme. The bottom two are abstracts that make a bolder statement. The room is small, so if you want a "calming" influence, then the yellow flowers would create that. If you want to "liven things up," then an abstract would create an upbeat "feeling." Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

It sounds like you're having a hard time embracing this simpler home even though you came to it by choice. That is completely understandable! I hope you learn to love it soon and make lasting memories of gathering with family and friends. It looks like a pleasant, comfortable home. I would suggest starting with priming the walls. You don't like the colours and they don't do anything for your furnishings, so get rid of them! Once it's all primed you'll have more of a blank slate to imagine what you want to see, and the walls will be ready to paint when you have your vision. Personally I would do white walls. It would very sleek and modern with your black furniture and hits of red. It would also signal to yourself and the world that you're ready to embrace a simpler life! Then I would ruthlessly pare down furnishings. No heavy drapes, one sofa, no more than two chairs. The ottoman is beautiful but it is quite large. Two smaller square ones to take its place, or a smaller glass and brass coffee table would open up the room tremendously. You can bring the rich red back in with a lush throw if you love it. I know it seems to you that 12' is very narrow for a living room. You just moved from an expansive home and the smaller spaces of this house are going to take some getting used to. But 12' is a very comfortable amount of space. Conversations can happen spontaneously and tv/movie night feels more intimate and warm. And yet, there is ample room to move around and mingle at a party and a person can pass through without stepping on the toes of those seated on the furniture. When we walk into a house and we can see all of it immediately, the house feels smaller. When there is something to discover, a destination to reach, we have a sense of curiosity about what we will find around the corner and that anticipation is delightful. When there is something More to find, we don't notice as much that the house is small. I know you're feeling that walls will close things in, I understand that feeling. It's just that oftentimes what we can't see is what holds the most interest for us!

Lori- Choosing a backsplash tile can be a tricky task! There are so many options to choose from. Above is a photo of a completed kitchen project with Bailey's Cabinets. Featured in the photo are Haas cabinets in maple with a bistro finish. This customer chose a combination of gray and neutral colors to complete their backsplash, creating more depth and texture. It may be a possibility with the tile you selected to create a similar effect. Hopefully, this photo has proven helpful! Best of luck -Bailey's Cabinets