A crisp bright white is very popular now with wood trim and ceilings - especially when they are on the darker side. You need to have dramatic architecture and good light for this to work well - as it appears that you do. Test white dove from ben moore - kind of a decorators secret .. bm http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/pm19

Then, since the home is lake front, I'm going to suggest that you stay with all neutrals, and find one shade or color that you want to focus on for accents.

I think my pick for you would be a navy blue - varying up to shades of cobalt and denim. Don't mix in any watery blue-greens - they will make your wood look more orange and they will dilute the impact of the crisp white and strong deep blue tones.

You might select one more square plain room that already feels "dark" and paint the walls with a very wide horizontal navy and white stripe - get a nautical feel that also reads modern. This would be a great look in a master bedroom - with painted navy side tables, gray sheets, crisp white hotel bedding with navy trim and a navy quilt across the foot of the bed.

For floors, there are a couple of options I would consider. First, look for the whitewashed / cerused oak that would have tones from the natural wood but be "washed / white washed" with tones from off white. They will add and bounce light around. This finish is available in tile, in engineered wood and in VINYL - which might be a very smart choice if this is your house.

A washed / cerused oak / or bleach oil plank laid in an upscale way - maybe use a herringbone pattern for the great room space, all over the will look like a million bucks, wear like iron, and cost pennies. You can do a light neutral greige commercial look carpet upstairs with an upgraded pad. That will wear well but be soft and warm.

Shift to crisp white tile floors in all the bathrooms and laundry with lots of grout - that is how you get non slip floors (white is always right) in sort of classic 1920's floor tile profiles - consider adding white painted board and batten trim 6' high wainscot in those spaces with hooks spaced evenly across the top trim. Again, classic, nautical.

To pull this off - you want great light fixtures - you might use a big ass fan but drop it to 9' off the floor where I see the old ceiling fan . . make a statement .. .consider wall hung sconces for the great room on a dimmer.

For kitchen cabinets, I think adding more wood tones is probably a mistake, except perhaps in one great accent piece like a hutch - then you are going to want to match your cedar or redwood tone somehow - tough to do. White gives you the most flexibility long term but can come out yawn. You might do a medium blue gray - here's an image where they did the whole ceiling in bm nimbus gray. This color would be amazing on cabinets - but it is very personal. If this is your house and you love it - go for it. You can have white ikea cabinets sprayed in a shop and cured before they arrive. Bm Nimbus gray is used here on the ceiling ..

Beach Cottage in Oceanside · More Info

You might like to look at all the photos for this place as inspiration for navy and white. . .