Just have to chime in with agreement that you should get what you initially desired. My guess is 1) builder got a deal and didn't think you would care/notice or make an issue 2) may try and charge you for "upgrading" to your initial choice of the 6 panel doors. Stick to your guns! These are fine doors if they are what you wanted and asked for but not if you don't care for them and not your desire. Capiche? Examine your contract for loopholes that allow for this sort of change. He is probably taking a little advantage since you are not in the area and are probably not "babysitting" the progress.

Wow, your house is beautiful, lucky girl, but I don't envy you the cleaning - haha, I have a one track mind. It looks so lovely and clean and fresh looking, I want to keep looking at it. Looks like you have a lovely lot of land for the kids to play too. Is it Good Friday there? You have a plumber working on a holiday?? That is a great price for the cabinet. I put the power point in mine too, looks so much better than looking like a pimple on the wall and the door still closes easily when I am using my hair dryer. I was curious about the age of the house as I felt that tile pattern suited an older house. Don't know how prices are over there but while it is nice to modernise it all, you do have to watch you don't overcapitalise too, although if you are there for the long haul, that isn't quite as important. Here we have quite a bit of leeway, it can be worth spending $100 or $200K on renovations, you can get your money back and more. Is your hubby handy for DIY projects? Mine is about as useless as a dead cat, but he tries............and tries my patience. Taking your time doing it lets you really look out for great bargains too so you can get an expensive look on a budget, plus it is nice to take a breather and get the house back in order between work. I quite enjoy looking at the photos on Houzz and then working out ways I can get the same look on my budget. Just furniture layouts make a whole different look to the house, that is what I like, getting different perspectives on rooms as well as accessories and the way they can be placed. Like you, we are restricted for choice a lot too, so that helps keep me under control. When I was first introduced to this site, just as we had decided to blow the budget and totally renovate the house - our last Hurrah, so to speak - the hours and early mornings I spent browsing, it had to add up to absolute months. I also started checking out homes for sale in my immediate area and went to open houses to see the state of the homes, what people had done to them and the price they were asking. The agents can be so pushy, so I was pretty upfront with them and told them I was "researching". I actually got a good response from that and they have become very friendly and very interested in how I am going with it all. Of course I'm sure they are seeing $$$ from a potential sale no matter what I say. When I got basic things happening I then discovered the comments on the weekly ideabooks and got drawn into them and found a whole new world of friends that I chat to pretty much daily and we swap ideas and critique each other's projects. That is how I got to know Tras so well. Knowing you have two globes in each light puts a whole different perspective on them, I think it might diffuse the light better. Just wondering now if we will confuse Alcor again, especially when the "banded" ones were so expensive.

Once the previous owners have their stuff out of there the task will feel less daunting, this I can promise because I have been in your situation before as probably most people who have ever bought and sold a few times in their lives have and can feel your pain! You will be able to take a deep breath and you will be able to SEE a lot more clearly what is there and what you MUST change out and what otherwise are changes you like to see made as you can make them and your budget allows. You can can start your work with a list of priorities. What is most important to you? Where the family gathers? Where you sleep at night and need a peaceful environment? Much of this can be achieved through the use of paint an idea which you have already grasped. If you know you want to paint then you look to how the surfaces are covered. Is the floor a dirty old carpet that you'll tear out on Day 1? Does the window need privacy treatments or would simply hanging panels to enhance your decorating scheme be best and could this wait as you do the more essential things? You mentioned the kitchen. I see that the lower walls in the kitchen for instance are tile to match the floor. This is very unusual. (At first I thought it was floor tile!) You might want to rip that out, install new drywall and chair rail. You then could paint or you can do any number of clever things that are aided by products on the market these days. You could stencil the wall in a trellis design while you paint the bottom of the chair rail a pretty shade that complements the kitchen cabinets. (You also might want to later on add pulls or knobs to dress up the cabinets) My point is though you will have many many things you'll want to do, you'll find you can't nor should you do them all at once. Making detailed lists (you'll forget important details as time passes and the newness wears off) as you walk through the empty house is an excellent way to start on a new home project like this. You can for example note if lighting fixtures were left for you or if you need or want to replace them. You can measure the rooms and the windows and keep these measurements in your notebook as you'll want to refer to them often. Perhaps one of your first purchases could be a fan deck that will include all of the paints/colors of Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore paint. I must take care of my Mother right now but I will check back in with you later. Many many more professionals will help you out and you will get more pictures and advice than you'll probably know what to do with! Just stay with houzz and you won't be disappointed. Good luck to you and remember to have fun!

I agree that if you can move one, ideally two purposes of the space somewhere else that would be ideal. If you cannot, I would paint the room a lighter grey and all one color--or go white. I am not sure I understand the space completely, but I would start with guitars as your visual interest if this is where they need to stay. Hang them (two or three???) in a row over desk. A thought about the desk. I saw a show once where they made a wood desktop that was thinner. They attached it to the wall in such a way they could unlatch on side from the wall and fold it down. This way you could have more floor space with a chair in front of it for when you needed the desk. Downside is there is no storing anything on desk. Another idea is to have a more narrow desk. West elm makes those kind of narrow tables(parsons). I agree that there the framed photos art are too close together. I like the green curtain with the gray. You might consider painting the storage green(more bright green) with a laquer paint and do a darker gray bedding???? Just try to remember our eyes need "white space" so do not have very much on the walls if you keep the storage and guitars.