the floor is beautiful. yes there is a lot of warm tones in the kitchen but i dont think it looks bad. just warm.

its not a good idea to paint samples directly onto the wall. sample pots tend to have a different finish from what you'll choose in the end and when you paint over your squares they will flash. make sure to lightly sand them before you paint the walls.

next time paint them on posterboard and you can move them from place to place.

and i like blue with brick. we used blue furniture in our living room with a similar colored brick fireplace, they go well together.

You are really all over the place with colors and style. No tin backsplash. It isn't the right style and will look terrible. No cheap fixes at this point.

This is not a new story to any experienced designer.

There are some clients that cannot make decisions and are unhappy no matter what is done. This isn't really about your kitchen. Something else in your life is really wrong and this is just an outward manifestation of an inner problem. Fixing the kitchen isn't fixing what is really broken. That's why you are so unhappy. Face the real problem first.

Here is what I suggest

1. Stop obsessing over what you think is not working and get more gratitude over what you have - a beautiful home and money to spend on it.

2. You claim you want light and bright but you consistently pick dark brown. Now you want to add dark blue walls because somebody brought in a blue chair?

3. Accept that design is not your thing. Release your need to control everything and hire a designer to fix this for you. Hire a good certified life coach to get back on track or counseling so you can relax let go and feel happy again. You can find a good life coach through ICF. International Coach Federation.

I hope you find the help you need and soon. I wish you luck.

Your brick floor is beautiful.

I think your brick floors are beautiful. The problem is your space is just too dark. Have your cabinets professionally painted in an off white color and have your bricks on the fireplace painted the same color to lighten your space up. This way, your brick floors will be the star, as they should be! Your wall color is perfect. Khaki shade is a nice color, and it compliments your decor. Do not paint your walls blue. It will only make your space darker. Beautiful floors. Hope these pictures help inspire you and show you how balancing light and dark colors work! Good luck.

Your kitchen in lovely. However rocky the road it was to get there, the kitchen is wonderful. It doesn't need a change at all. The cabinets are gorgeous, your back splash and granite complement each other and your brick floor is beautiful as it is unique. I love the hardware and vent. You did everything right in that kitchen. You sound like you miss your older colors and only changed them because someone told you to go neutral. Well, go back to what you loved! You are going to get all kinds of advice on HOUZZ, just listen to your gut. You already know what you like. Maybe you went through 50 shades of neutral and went with something you didn't like b/c your heart wasn't in it! Get your wall colors where you want them and then think about FP! The blue is okay but I'd go much lighter. I'd really like to see you go back to what you loved though.

I agree with Karen Dumont you need to add light to the space with color choices. I understand your gravitation to the blue because it picks up a fun Mediterranean feel, however I think with the darker floors, back splash, counters, and cabinetry you've got to start bringing in some lighter tones. For example this Santa Fe kitchen

uses dark brick floors, but lightens the space with the island and counters. This kitchen is a great example as well. It has the darker cabinets, but the grout is lighter in the brick floor and the counters are a lighter tone. They also use under cabinet lights which brighten the space. Your recessed lighting is impeccable, but you may consider under cabinets lights too.

Lastly, this is a home that used a lot of darker tones in the kitchen but brightened the space with the back splash, barstools, and the teal island.

I think the issue is just a balance in tones. So many rich colors tend to make a space feel smaller, so pick some lighter pieces. You could change the cabinets or counters. I think both would you help brighten your kitchen.

All for blue with your brick and am fond of tin tiles as backsplash or otherwise. Your brick floor would look great with a more industrial design style.

I think the part of the backsplash that doesn't work so great with the floor is the framed feature behind the range? Any chance you could selectively remove and replace that with more of the field tile from the backsplash?

I do think you could give some thought as to why you take years to make a decision, and 25 paint swatches and then hate it when you are done.

I like your kitchen. I think you made good choices with your paint colors. But if you don't like it in your house, toss it. Red and gold is what you liked do it again. Here's and idea find a nice gold, you like, paint all walls that color. Find a fabric with gold and red and recover your stools, make seat cushions, and pillows, then throw in some solid red pillows and pottery.

Sorry you're going through this. Indecisiveness is the worst (I should know). I wasn't feeling the blue (not in the LR at least) and got a little color happy testing other options.

I'm not crazy about any of them (not to the point where I'd run out and buy paint). I'm also far from thrilled with the painted fireplace, which in my world means wait. I would concentrate on other items (besides paint) to finish the rooms. Paint can come later. Ex. Move the end table from the right side of the sectional to the left and add a table lamp.

On the right side of the sectional, I might add a sofa table behind the sectional with another lamp or two instead of an end table. And breathe….it will all work out!

Dang it-lost my comment! In a nutshell your kitchen (and home) are beautiful, you don't need to paint anything (permanent solutions to temporary problems and all that), at least until your angst settles down, go with what you love even if it is the polar opposite of what is suggested to you, and cut yourself some slack. You really do have a good foundation-the rest will fall in to place. Consider undercabinet lighting if that would brighten things up for you and/or switch out some of you upper cupboard doors for glass. Oh, and make sure you specify next time that you are looking for design help, not therapy. Some people seem to get the two mixed up ; )

I need help.... kitchen help...laundry help... cleaning toilets help... dusting help... vacuuming help.... does anyone know a good therapist... haha...just joshing.

If you haven't already I would save houzz photos to an idea book to give yourself and others a better idea of the look you are envisioning or what vibe you wanted when you set off. I think that would help pinpoint discrete things that could be changed. If you live with it for a while and still hate it, I would change the backsplash. The brick floors are beautiful! And I agree with the others about not using any dark paint colors. I feel for you - I did my whole kitchen 2 years ago and I go back and forth on a daily basis between loving it and thinking I would have done everything differently.

You have a beautiful kitchen. I get why you hate the neutral walls because I also like colour as opposed to neutrals. You mentioned that you loved the colour that you previously had, so go back to those shades and hopefully that will make you fall in love with your space again. Good luck.

Here's a Sherwin Williams "read on your brick floor. Left column are the major colors and right are the minor tones. Fired Brick an Saucy Gold could take you back to colors you love. Steely Gray might be the "blue" for you. Personally, I love Smokehouse, but you may not. Pick up the sample cards for the shades you prefer and see how they look at home. Once you've narrowed it down, get sample pots of paint and large white poster board for each sample. Paint a 12-18" square of color in the middle of each board and move them around your space for a few days to see how changing light and time of day changes the colors. Pick your favorite and go for it. Under counter LED's are the only other suggestion I have. Than will brighten things up a bit.

You're getting ready to make another mistake! All the colors you've tried on the dining room walls are pretty but way too dark--especially considering how dark the kitchen is.

Your kitchen floors turned our beautifully. Backsplash is too dark and fights with the floors--too similar and too dark with the counters and the cabinets. Expensive mistakes are often hard to swallow but replacing the backsplash or removing it completely and painting the kitchen white would make a world of difference. Take another look at Karen Dumont's pictures above.

I like your kitchen! The floor is gorgeous. I know you've said its not the color you wanted, but brick is not uniform, and you've got a ton of options to work with (and that's the problem, isn't it? :)) From the photos, the brick and backsplash share at least some tones, so I think they are tied together. The problem is the wall paint. I think you have too much brown, so khaki or taupe won't do it. You've said you loved the previous colors, gold for the kitchen, red for the family room. Go back to that. Don't worry about it being too dark. If there are can lights over the peninsula, you can buy a kit at any big box store to change them to pendants, or you can add a central fixture, if you feel its too dark. Don't worry about bringing out any yellow tones in the brick. The gold paint will make it look richer, and not as bright. For the fireplace, I think all you need is a beefed up mantel, and that red wall color. Please try to remember, this is YOUR home, and you need to live with the style, and colors, that you love. And, as evident by your photos, you have great style!