You should look at this Houzz article. He used industrial and contemporary furniture in a Spanish style house in LA. I think its a great example of letting the architecture stay but put a modern stamp on it with the furnishings. http://houzz.com/ideabooks/20786883

Good Luck with your new home. My suggestion would be for you and your husband to have
some plans and idea, run it by the contractor. The one thing I feel is necessary would be not
to change the original plans. Remodeling always cost more then we expect, so stay on course. If the budget does not meet all the needs, have phase 1 and 2. You may end up
with phase 9 or 10 in time.