What pieces of furniture are you keeping? I know everyone has different ideas but I am leaning toward finding a sofa and area rug first, as the starting point. Paint can always be tweaked after some of the other key elements. What is your style - traditional, contemporary ...? Do you have pictures of the cabinets, kitchen? It seems like the inside of a house should somehow compliment and expand on the exterior IMO. I'm reminded of a neighbor who had a very traditional colonial type exterior two story house and when you walked inside the house was all about the southwest. Adobe and cactus.

Ask yourself how you want to feel when you're in your house, and in each room specifically. Warm and cozy? Beachy? Stark and angular (contemporary), earthy?

That will start you in the right direction.

Thank you all! I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed. I think part of the problem is that most of our furniture was bought to fit with a more traditional house, so nothing fits together at the moment.

I'll have to take more recent pictures the next time I'm there--I'm getting the old house ready to go on the market and sleeping there, but here's one from the original real estate listing. None of these furnishings are there now.

I don't know why they took these photos at night, because even in the winter, the whole area is bathed in light. It definitely has a more modern feel than the house we're selling. There is a second sliding glass door off the right side of the picture that corresponds with the dining room. I have a picture of our GeekChic table, which I love. The walnut top comes off for card or board games.

I want home to be a place where I relax. I tend to be attracted to blues and greens, so earthy sounds about right. About the only look I'd prefer to avoid is beachy--it's nice, but in this area a lot of people use it for their vacation homes, and this is my home-home.

I always start with an inspiration piece be it a fabric, a picture from houzz or a magazine, a piece of art I'd like to incorporate in the room, or even the view from the outside. Once you set a direction, it makes it so much easier to work with colors and make other choices. The angles on the wall in the LR are very interesting. If you like color blocking, you could do some neat things with that.

Butternut Residence · More Info

I would suggest checking out Maria Killiams blog Color Me Happy. It will help you manage the undertones you mentioned above in the floors, cabinets, tile. It was such a help to me in choosing my paint colors and setting the tone when I just remodeled a home.