I have no reservations recommending Toto. I haven't had much experience with Duravit but I think overall it is good. I don't recommend Kohler for a couple of reasons. One, I used to be k&b designer for plumbing wholesaler and dealt with plumbers daily. They did not like the Kohlers, problematic and multiple call backs. Trust me, plumbers don't like call backs for the same toilet 3 times. Also Kohler moved at least part of their production to Mexico and has had a bad rash of issues. Basically the production was getting rushed which led to the ceramic in the traps collapsing among other things. Toilets looked fine to the naked eye and were installed. Much heartache from the ensuing flooding. I would ask a Kohler dealer to specifically address this if you are leaning that way. Good luck!

Post a photo of the kitchen, it's easier to picture a table in a space when we know what the space looks like.

As in diesel fuel? If so, get propane. It is cleaner. We had fuel oil in our old house. Gross.

Start an ideabook, enter 'brick Midcentury Modern' as a search in Houzz and click Exterior. Lots of photos for inspiration. I really like the first photo here. It looks like they chose a grey for the faceboard at the roofline, and white trim. Consider having the brick cleaned and paint just the trim and siding. Wait a year or so before deciding to paint the brick. The 3rd photo, they painted the brick, the colours chosen are in the comments. I know there are brick stains, you may want to research it. This is an article about choosing the right white for exterior paint. Hold your paint samples against your cleaned brick to see what compliments it. http://www.gardenista.com/posts/10-easy-pieces-architects-white-exterior-paint-picks This is a good Houzz article about choosing the right white for interiors. https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-pick-the-right-white-paint-stsetivw-vs~416809-to-pick-the-right-white-paint