DR scheme; grasscloth chimney breast. Farrow and Ball Cromarty paint.

Thank you.

Halls - The trim will have to be painted white and doors kept stained, because that is now the paradigm in the LR and it was always that way in the K ... this hall connects the two. I was asking about the walls? I think white. A lot going on in a small space.

DR - I would wallpaper the chimney breast, which juts out (see pic below), with the same grasscloth as the LR and paint the rest of the walls. I guess I am unenthusiastic about painting the DR it the same gray it is now because I never chose that color, really. What I chose was a FnB wallpaper that was a very subtle net pattern, white on gray. When I had water damage maybe 5-6 yrs ago, it had to be taken down. I decided to try to match the gray background. So now to paint it that color yet again feels like a second compromise.

Original wallpaper:

Chimney breast

Kitchen - the mudroom will be tile, not wood. The K floor is wood. So they cannot truly match. I think the idea is to make one a riff on the other; since it will be impossible to match you want it to look intentional. The mudroom tile was purchased BTF. It was not so terribly expensive that I could change, but I have no idea what Id put in the mudroom instead.

I love the new proposed color for the DR. The current color has a muddiness to it (which is not a bad thing, I like muddy colors) whereas from what I can see, the surrounding rooms have cleaner, fresher hues. Does that make sense?

I don’t think I would do anything with the FP wall. Especially not as contrasty (with the wall color) as the grasscloth. The FP is already a focal point, I don’t think it needs more.

For the hall, either white or how about a shade that is like your grasscloth color but a step lighter? Still light and neutral. Oh, haha, just looked at the pic again and I think the color I’m envisioning is like the color of the new rug.

I won’t weigh in on the K floor because I can’t decide. I am generally not a fan of checkerboard floors in large spaces.

Q: the cabinet to the left of the stove. Is that something you had made or did you find it somewhere? It’s perfect!

Thanks, Sue. Yes, you are right about the muddiness... it is really the only room in the house that way. I'm vacillating over the grasscloth, I think because it is very Serena-y to have something with that texture. I could trying doing that with a rug I guess but it can be hard to find a jute rug that stands up to DR table legs.

Two other DR paint color possibilities:

Parma Gray - I have this on the sunroom floor and the mudroom ceiling.

Bancha - I have this in the "lounge" in our apartment. But as long as both rooms don't go to the same parties, no one will know they are wearing the same thing.

I am pretty sure I will just do Simply White in the hall; it tends to be a dark space.

I might leave the checkerboard decision to DH, but I am CB-leaning right now. I think there is something inherently fun and lighthearted about the space/location that can tolerate a but more pattern than usual.

In re the cabinet to the left of the stove. The K was inspired by a cottage that @KSWL posted 10 years ago--the insta-worthy "Oyster Catcher" in Mousehall, UK. here is that K:

My wall was longer so I added a second set of D/W drawers between sink and stove. I was inspired by the Paula Dean piece below which my carpenter copied, and then we topped it with a Boos block. Both damaged in the fire but to be replaced.

I am biased by my belief that your house was perfect after your first redo. I like your new living room a lot but grieve the old blue and dark wood version still. So with this bias and my habit of holding on to things in my own life and only fixing things that do not work, I vote to paint the kitchen floor in a single color.

Funny you should say grieve the old blue and dark wood version. I miss it and I get a pang when I walk into the room. However, I prefer the new scheme because the room just feels much more pleasant and much roomier.

Oh and thankyou for your kind words!

Bancha, so pretty with that fabric! As for checkerboard floors, I am a fan. Lots of decisions to make. Thank goodness decorating is your thing.

I'm bancha biased so, yes I love it. Bancha in this room with the gold mirror (I'd love to see it on the chimney breast instead of grasscloth) and with the red tones in your floor, all I can say is wow-za. Hell yeah! Stunning. And, now I want to see your apartment lounge with Bancha.

I think your kitchen is calling for the checkered floor. It is fun and casual, few spaces can pull it off really well and yours certainly can. Can you do it and if the laundry floor looks wrong in comparison you then change the laundry floor? (If you post laundry room pics or inspiration we can brainstorm alternatives, sorry I'm new to the history of your home.)

I am pretty sure I will just do Simply White in the hall; it tends to be a dark space.

I would match the wall color very closely if not the same as the door trim color because it is a small space and you will have too many transitions in here with floor color, door color, wall color, and trim color. If dark is the problem, lighting is the solution.

This is the mudroom scheme I was working on BTF.

Update: fyi the tiles were to be laid in a diamond pattern but the color in the photo above is truer.

Pic of the mudroom ceiling day before the fire

Older pics of mudroom in progress

I looked it up and the tile I bought cost me ~$600 all in. I guess it would not kill me to choose something else. I like the mfr because I have had their tile in a BA for 10 years without issue, and I like the styles they have. https://www.harveymaria.com/category/pattern/?srsltid=AfmBOorlfY2wE6p3V1NjmYued_4bCHEbVHzNiINZuKmhdkMTrpTwPrvh&filters=colour[621]

I like your mood board and was looking forward to seeing the reveal. I again think you do not need to try and improve perfection :)

What do you think about F&B Borrowed Light? My monitor is not the best but it's considered a blue which seems to look good with Artichoke.

I think I have ordered sample pots and/or Samplicizers (?) in that color at least 5 times. For the LR over the new white panelling, for the sunroom floor, for the screened door, for the K cabs in the apartment, and a K island. All thrown away now. Except maybe DH kept the samples he painted on drywall. He knows me.

Yet I will probably order it again! The investment is worth it.

https://www.harveymaria.com/flooring/forget-me-not/

ooh ooh, since the bench is a given, how about something green? That would be very common in summer porches in New England.

I saw this but this it not an item for sale. Darn that would go so well w chintz!

Maybe this

Not only did DH keep his wall board painted FnB squares, they were leaning right against the wall when I opened the basement door. (saving me a scary trip to The Basement).

Bancha, Cromarty and Borrowed Light are on their way, but meantime...

Left is FnB Parma Gray (already on the wooden floor of sunroom, was on the ceiling of the mudroom entry and on the wooden screen door). Right is FnB Light Blue.

Left is FnB Cooks Blue and Right is Lulworth Blue.

Whatever ...

I am not keen on the Light Blue with the fabric, or as a change from what's there now. It is a change one against the other, but I bet a lot of people would not be able to tell the difference of a before and after because they are so similar and F & B so mutable anyway.

I like any of the others but the bottom two are really too saturated for the new fabric, being a different color than that in the fabric.

I agree that Cooks Blue and Lulworth are too much.

I bet a lot of people would not be able to tell the difference of a before and after because they are so similar and F & B so mutable anyway.

That doesn't bother me so much, as long as I enjoy it. I mean it is not optional; it has to be painted or we risk smelling smoke.

I think what draws me to Cromarty is the fact that I really like the room they show it in, and the room has a lot of similarities with my DR.

The colors of the DR set, the chandy, the wood floors, the existence of a lot of wood trim, etc,

I guess, but I see them as pretty different overall, in my analysis.