"the everything-else-in-the-house-now-looks-shabby syndrome"

Totally OT - this concept is why I am not going to worry about changing anything on me as I age. If I did I would work on one thing and then notice another problem... and another... LOL

On topic... my suggestion is to bask in the glow of all the compliments you received on your wonderful kitchen remodel, and mark a date on the calendar - e.g., August 2016, that you will re-look at your home and decide if you want to do anything else major and if so, how you will prioritize that.

So common a concept Carrie. It's maddening. Sometimes just moving a few items around is enough to satisfy the urge to spend more money. Your kitchen is stunning and fabulous and that will help you put the blinders on for anything else you don't like. Your LR is cute and cosy. You've done good. I'm so impressed with your kitchen remodel and design decisions.

Omelet's suggestion to wait a while is a great one. When we did the kitchen last year I was so hot to also redesign/build our entertainment center in the living room...it's one big lr/dr/kitchen space now. My dh had remodeling fatigue then and refused to tackle that project right away. We are 15 months later now and ready to tackle the entertainment center and my ideas have had time to simmer and refine and it's gonna be a much better design.

Your living room looks just fine....but not very tidy. Tidy it. Wash everything and then do what you mu$t to the outside. So often I think people have just gotten into a visual rut with their belongings that a really good clean will fix...but it is actually emotionally easier to pack for a remodel than to wash a wall...go figure!

Hah - Practigal - I've got boxes everywhere - Not saying I'm a tidy person - but this is in-progress - boxes up from basement remodel. This is NOT an "after" photo! This is not how I live day to day. ;)

Well, Carrie, you could always paint. How about that Sawdust color in the living room? *ducks*

We do one major thing a year. Our house was new but the finishes were builder basic and there was no landscaping. I've got two projects left, but I'm kind of all remodeled out. I took a break this year and went back to my garden with new enthusiasm, which had been neglected for two summers while remodeling and a washer flood which affected both stories of our house. The only old ugly thing left in our house is the master bath and me.

Mayflowers - I think I'm done asking for paint advice. ;-)

I do miss my garden. This summer, the yard was construction staging area, and it was all I could do to just keep stuff watered. I think next summer will be stucco work, and I expect that to be no better, maybe even worse for the garden. I do miss it.

One project per year sounds reasonable, though a project the scale of the kitchen is maybe a once-every two or three decades type project.

We have been in our 100 year old house for 16 years. We were "one a year" project people. I realized at some point that this way, you never had a finished house. By the time we got through most of the rooms (note I didn't say "all" the rooms), I'd feel like the first rooms needed another update and so on. Also, my tastes would change, but if I wanted a cohesive house, I was stuck trying match things I no longer loved.

This time around, we are able to do the whole house - top to bottom and it is turning out very differently than anything we've done before. I liked our house before, but I felt the style was dictated too much by the way things were and not by what we really wanted (if that makes any sense). Now we are just full on doing what we want.

I am exactly where you are Carrie. We do really have to have a new living room sofa as the leather on our old one is shot. But for the rest of the living room, I am trying to go with tidying (much easier once the remodel project is done) and a thorough cleaning. I'm finding that part of the problem is that the construction caused so much dust and general chaos that nothing else looks it's best.

It depends on how much disruption you can handle. At some point I just needed my house clean and organized and no more workers in and out. It's stressful for our cats too. Design decisions are a lot of work too for those of us who don't know instinctively what works. The "let's step back" moment came when I took DH to the fabricator to select countertops for HIS bathroom and he stood there looking at his cell phone while the designer and I looked at flooring and counter. The man was on overload.

Carrie, I followed your posts as you made all your design decisions for your remodeled kitchen. I learned so much while you went through the process. I haven't seen your reveal though. Have you posted one? I'd love to see it if you haven't, and if you have, could you please post the link to it?

My living room looks a lot like yours, although I painted the fireplace. I liked it before the kitchen face lift; I still like it, and can't imagine it looking any other way.

I hadn't planned on buying a new sink or fridge for the kitchen, but those just crept in, so I understand the process.

Luckily our cat seems to love the renovation process. She is not afraid of most loud noises, she will watch the carpenter work for hours. She stayed in the window and watched him cut the deck into sections with a circular saw. When he was setting tile and holding one in place she walked into the bathroom put her front paws on the same tile and waited until he took his hand down. Luckily he is a cat person too.

Ditto practigal, plus...maybe you need more storage spaces.

We had some water damage in our kitchen...which has somehow led to all new millwork in the house...you know, new floors don't go with the casings, new doors, may as well go with solid maple instead of the hollow you had...leads to new carpet and painting..leads to new blinds because the old don't match the paint..leads to the carpenter ripping out the drywall return on the windows as he doesn't like them and wants wood...to new tile everywhere as the pink tile doesn't match anymore, to a new fireplace surround.

No, I have no idea what you're talking about this creep you speak of ;)

I think project creep is the norm, Carrie. I think it's more common in homes that have rooms open to each other. If you can close the door, it's easier to ignore that the room behind the closed door is getting shabby, especially compared to the redecorated/remodeled room. Once you've made one spot a joy to be in, you want your whole house to be joyful.

I think you'll feel better once you are able to get things put away and really cleaned up from the dust a remodel causes. I think the new shade should look better than those drapes. If I were you, I'd stop there for awhile and just enjoy your beautiful kitchen and ponder your options. Relax, enjoy the upcoming holiday season and plan to start seriously considering options in January. Interior decorating is a good winter project. Your living room is charming so I have a feeling that you'll find that just a few small changes are enough to make you love your living room as much as you love your beautiful kitchen.

Also known as "if you give a mouse a cookie" syndrome, from Laura Numereoff's delightful children's book series.

This is why I can't even get started.

Palimpsest: :) re: demarcation line.

Mayflowers - I'm trying to do that, take a step back. I had decided to paint that bumpout the red, and then thought about whether I just wanted to paint the entire first floor... today, I went to the paint store, bought the red, and just put on the first coat. I decided to buy the roman shade, but the sofa and new rug will wait. I also bought that hutch... I am trying to re-arrange the art, and lots of art that used to be in the kitchen won't fit in there anymore. Arrgggg. I'm trying to just do little/inexpensive/free things and I'm driving myself crazy!

llucy - kitchen isn't done yet, which is why you haven't seen a reveal! See that??? I've moved on to making myself nuts about a second project without the first one even being finished!

We were those people such as daisychain described - one room at a time and then start over for 20 years. Then we decided that all the wall-to-wall needed replacing throughout the house and if we're doing that we may as well paint, and I guess we'll have to replace window coverings to match the new carpeting, but wait, we really want hardwood which we really want to put in the kitchen, but the kitchen has a broken sink and peeling cabinets........You know the drill.

. At this point we became tired of the rotating-reno work and two years after deciding to replace the wall-to-wall we moved out of the house for 6 months and gutted it down to studs and plywood and put it all back together. That was 5 years ago and I'm so glad we did it - the bank account wasn't but we were. Yea, renovation creep is real or in our case, renovation tsunami.

Carrie B - LOL re your last sentence

Well Carrie, I'm STILL looking forward to your reveal then! And now your living room as well. :)

We're going through this right now. In fact, we decided to just do everything (bathroom, kitchen, new flooring throughout, new doors, closet/foyer renovation & all new furniture throughout) in the next few months. It started with the 1958 bathroom and I suppose "renovation creep" set in.

It's easy! I look at my bank balance :)

I feel your pain, Carrie. The remodel we just finished included the kitchen and breakfast area and what was the den, as well as the laundry room and powder room. The rooms are smashing (if I do say so, myself)! We also refreshed the exterior front of the house, painting and repairing shutters, new gutters and washing and repainting stucco. New storm door is in the works.

The dining room, living room and foyer got new hardwoods a few years ago, and fresh paint and editing the furniture would bring those areas up to date.

It's the bedroom part of the house that looks so tired and outdated. All new flooring is needed, and the guest bath needs new fixtures and new surfaces. The master bath, oy vey! I am planning phase 2 of the remodel, and don't want to wait years. We'll revisit in a year.

ps: I did want to show you that this happened today: (ignore the clutter on the table, it's temporary, I swear.)

Aaahhhhh, yes. Kitty thinks so, too.

I adore your kitty, Carrie!

The only old ugly thing left in our house is the master bath and me.

lol, mayflowers! (I'd disagree about the "me" part, though.)

Look at that kitty! It looks great Carrie.

May - I bet my master bath is uglier than yours.