Are we still Friends???

Dear Christine,
LOVE your blog, totally inspiring, entertaining, and simply beautiful!
I wonder if you could help me with my kitchen. It is in our 110 year old house in New Hampshire. This kitchen is 15X15 ft (w/9 foot ceilings), and is next to a dining room that we are also redoing. I included pictures of some pieces that are staying in rooms that adjoin the kitchen, which I am working around to some extent (chairs in the dining room, a mirror which I am drawing colors from, wallpaper I intend to put in the dining room, and orange-ish fabric which are dining room curtains).

I have been describing my style as "Bohemian" but I really don't know if it IS a style, or what that means; it just sounds fabulous! I like things that are unexpected, dramatic, and yet well thought out, and not totally haphazard, and not cluttered. My downstairs is mostly meant to "go" with the mirror which I have photographed for you. The general colors are orange, the brown that is in the dining room wallpaper, white (trim/mouldings), and some shade of blue which is yet undetermined. The floors throughout the house, except kitchen and bathroom, are maple. So, there's the background for my kitchen questions. If you have any sort of crazy light, art, or other chotchkie that you have been dying to whip out for somebody, here's your chance. :-D
Color: that was the only thing I was *sure* of... I love this color, and always wanted to do a kitchen in it. It makes me absolutely ecstatic on a daily basis. The color is Summer Heat by Behr (though I had Sherwin Williams match and mix it b/c I prefer using their paint). The trim in the house is all Benjamin Moore Decorator White.

Cabinets/cupboards: I cannot change the (oak) cabinet *lay-out* at this time, but I can add moulding, refinish them, or paint them (white?). What do you suggest?
Lighting: I stuck that chandelier w/2 missing globes (they are on order) just to have light in the room while we work on it. It isn't meant to stay in the kitchen--it CAN stay there if you say, or it can go somewhere else. We can do whatever you say for lighting in the kitchen. See note about my kitchen table.
Kitchen table: Going to replace it. I have to seat 7 people, and I don't mind if we are tight. We have five children ranging from age 6 to 16, and may be adopting another child in 2010 which would make our family 8. I don't like the table in the center of the room, but perhaps I will like it better when I have the right table. There is that blank space of wall in the pictures... if I found a small enough table situation, I could put the table over there and have a pendant light or something coming from the ceiling to define that eating area. What do you think? It would be VERY tight if I could pull that off. Perhaps I should have a long, skinny table instead? Then, what would I do w/that blank wall? And if I do hang a light above the table, how close to the table should it be?
Backsplash & countertops: Help!
Floors: Whatever you say!
Do I need a fabric w/a pattern, or something w/a pattern in that room? If so, it must not clash w/the wallpaper in the next room.
Stove area: I intend to buy a different stove. I would prefer stainless steel but have to keep my currently-white fridge and dishwasher even if I get a stainless stove. Is this a problem? What do you recommend for the wall above/behind the stove area? Should I do something different w/that whole wall?
Crown: Need one! Do I need to be concerned about getting a certain style to "go with" the house? This crown will also be repeated through the rest of the first floor, so I want to get it right. I have 5 inch trim around doors and windows, and 8 inch baseboards in all rooms except the kitchen.
Doors: They are gum wood, and under that awful old shellac they are stunning. They also contain original bevelled glass. Is it ok to be painting all my trims white, and yet refinishing my doors (instead of painting them), or is that mix of finishes a bad idea?
Windows: I don't like frilly things and am leaning towards simple wooden blinds as you have shown in other posts. OR I want crazy wooden or glass beaded curtains (I'm so sorry, you must think I am a loon!). Any advice?
The chairs I have pictured for you don't go in the kitchen; they go in the dining room. I am re-doing them. But the basic style will be the same; carved wood, some type of Spanish something. I don't need everything to "be" Spanish--I just liked the chairs when I saw them. I just need it to mesh when all is said and done :-D.
I so appreciate your time and expertise! What a blessing! Tell me anything. Be brutal. Just don't tell me to change the orange.

Anna

Dear Anna,

Anna, Anna, Anna, I am glad that you are not one of my paying clients- because after what I am going to tell you- you would probably fire me.

It's just not working. I appreciate where you are going. You want the "unexpected"- You want it to be fun and fabulous.

However, what you have- is totally disjointed.

There are four large elements here-

1. The oak cabinets- They absolutely do not go with the orange walls. Period. Are you open to painting them?


2. The white woodwork. Correct me if I am wrong- but I see you going for perhaps the look of the "Friends" set. Am I right? Do you like the coffee shop feel? Can you picture perfect white trim in there? Yeah- me neither. Are you open to painting your trim a darker color? (It is fine to have the painted trim with wood doors- it is the combination of everything that is the problem.) Maybe we need to play it down and not have it so stark. (It is very pretty though- I like it.) Check out the brown trim in the photo at the top of the post (from This Old House).


3. The wallpaper. As a reader of my blog- you know that I like wallpaper- and the one you selected is beautiful. However- it seems pretty formal to me... I absolutely can't see it near that mirror.. Can you put it in your master bedroom, and select one that is more of a unifier??


4. The paint. Well- this is the deal- if the paint stays- like you say it will- the cabinets have to be painted- and the wallpaper has to move... If you love this paint color so much- maybe it would be easier to move it to a room other than the kitchen- since it goes so poorly with the cabinets....

I just don't know what to say... ;) Give me some direction and we will get busy together! If I am off on the Friends coffee shop- find an "inspiration room" for me- so I can get a better idea of what you are going for.

XOXO

Do you hate me???

Love,

Christine