Then, paint your front door yellow. That will be fun with all the gray weathered wood.

Those chairs would look nice around my kitchen table. I also have animals, so that has to factor into my furniture decisions. I can't wait until the young kitty only uses the outdoors for a scratching post. :-)
Love the pillows!!

Do a search on houzz and google for modern farmhouse. It's a mix of rustic and modern furnishings. It would be perfect for your house. Love the idea above of the yellow door.

I need to replace my stove and dishwasher ASAP and I'm struggling with appliance colors for my small space. Everyone I talk to hates their stainless appliances and from what I'm reading white is now in. With that said, what are your thoughts on white versus stainless for this space? I'm open to painting cabinets and replacing the countertop...I just don't have the guts to do anything drastic without some backup. :-)

Hi Erin....I don't know who you talked to about stainless appliances, but they are the best you can get in my
opinion. I would go with white painted cabinets and new satin nickel hardware with the gray in you inspiration
photo. Normally I would suggest you use the same color in connecting rooms, your furniture in the living area
is already dark, you may want to bring the white of the kitchen cabinets into the living room. If your planning
on new furniture then I would definitely do the gray with white trim, and paint all the trim in white as well.

Stainless appliances will enhance your kitchen; white will not. White cabinets are great, but so are your hickory cabinets. I like the chairs you have at the table....not the ones recommended in an above post.
Love the yellow door idea.
I would repaint your home with a lighter color you love on the walls, brighten up the living room with different throws and rugs, and relocate the items stored on the counters.

It seems my stainless post has moved over here...I ordered all new Samsung stainless appliances this weekend. The Labor Day sales, 30% off, 5% , 2 years no interest, free install, free delivery, free haul away, etc. at Best Buy sealed the deal. I went with Samsung because I have a tiny kitchen and apparently we were smoking something when we designed the refrigerator space because I had a selection of about 8 fridges that would fit (I looked everywhere) and the Samsung was the only one that wasn't over $2K. BB had one of the floor so I could see what it looked like...French door, nice.

I like the white overhaul idea to brighten things up and think it would look nice, but I don't think I'm ready to paint the trim just yet as it is all custom woodwork...started out as rough cut. The photos are dark, but the walls are actually pretty light, but I'm still leaning toward repainting with light grays and yellows. The couch and chair are probably heading into the basement when the basement is finished this winter. I hope to put a lighter couch in the space...animal dilemma still a factor as the leather has held up so well over the last 14 years.

Thanks for the input!

And the cluttered counter...it was just caught in a bad moment. Normally it's pretty clutter free. Hoping to replace the countertop after the appliances are in. After eating dinner twice at Hog Island Oyster Bar in San Francisco last week, I think I'm going to look into DIY concrete. Not a fan of synthetic or granite surfaces as the seem high maintenance and trendy. I was chastised when I said it, but I'm also not opposed to laminate. Sorry, it has held up just great for the last 15 years. :-)

Hi Erin......So happy to hear you found stainless steel appliances, you will love the French door refrigerator.
Once everything is painted it will be fresh and lovely and will lead to even more ideas, enjoy the process
it is fun!!!

I like laminate, too...go with whatever you like. Lots of great choices, too.
Happy news on stainless steel appliances. You're off to a good start. Enjoy!

Erin, Some thoughts on DIY concrete counter tops...It is a LOT of work. I've done many over the years and the material cost is pretty low...it's the labor that makes them cost so much. Thing is, they are labor intensive, forming, installing mesh and reinforcing bars, creating removable forms for undermount sinks, then mixing and pouring, screeding and troweling...all day. You just ate at Hog Island, so you aren't that far from Berkeley...or Sonoma (unless you were on vacation?). Fu Tung Cheng, the best guy I know for incredible custom concrete tops, has a regular class in Berkeley for homeowners wanting to learn. I think it would be a worthwhile investment. On the other side of the spectrum is Sonoma Cast Stone. They make concrete modular counter top pieces in their Nucrete. Paint the cabinets, put on some plywood for abase and lay their pieces in. www.chengdesign.com and www.sonomastone.com. Really like your house!

I see no reason why the grays and yellowed would not work. It would be great. Good luck. Love your house.

I would de clutter. Too much going on. To much on walls.

What an adorable house! I would definitely go white on the inside, and then mix in some playful colors. For the outside, I love the beachy look of a muted turquoise/teal trim with unstained wood siding, but a country red trim would make it look more like a farmhouse. What a dream house!

I can de clutter. "Country" themes seem to invite clutter. :-) The walls are actually pretty plain (or they seem that way to me) minus maybe the shelf with the antique bottles. The kitchen definitely has too much going on it, but the new appliances will free up counter space and the general overhaul will inspire moving things around.

I am going to give the countertops a try with the help of the Fu-Tung Cheng book and DVDs. Worst case it doesn't work.

Thanks for the house comments. My ex and I built everything on the farm...and I do mean everything. It's small but has worked well for me over the years. The porch skirting was added a few years ago and hasn't turned the pretty gray of the other wood as fast as I had hoped. I also planted Virginia Creeper along the basement walls this past spring so that will hopefully take off and cover up the ugly gray stucco walls. Everything is a work in progress!

All of the comments have been helpful and great. Thank so much!!