New house for me! 1970's split, kitchen, dining, living room, bath and 2 bedrooms on upper level, 3 bedrooms, family room and bath on lower. Working on colors for upper living, foyer, short hall way to bedrooms. Living room 22X12, vaulted and beamed. One wall to wall window, southern exposure. Current area is very light beige walls and white ceilings, beams are a dark brown. And being pushed by one friend and my mother to consider a dark color on the ceiling. My colors are "earthy"...tan, copper, medium olive. I want to try and avoid painting the trim...currently I would call it a medium, 1970 brown. Any thoughts on when a ceiling can handle color and to what extent? I am leaning toward some yummy colors....what I would call a medium copper for the ceiling and more of a golden lighter tan on the walls.

Hubby and I are almost ready to sign a contract on a "to be built" townhouse. :) We live in Broward County which is in South Florida. The new properties being built are not huge by any means, but we're excited since it will be brand new. We are planning to put in 42 inch upper cabinets in the kitchen (haven't decided on wood selection yet) and hopefully granite counters; and then either tile or wood floors on the first floor, and carpeting on the second (the bedrooms/office). I am a major planner by nature and I'm uncomfortable unless I sort of have a plan. I'm not concerned with my bedrooms, because I do have a plan for them. One is going to be our home office and we have lovely light oak desks (one for dh and one for me) and matching accessories that I know will be great. My stepson gets one bedroom and I'm going to do a leopard/tiger/jungle type theme with rattan and natural wood blinds kind of thing. I have beautiful wood furniture for our bedroom, that is very welcoming and that we both love. But here's my concern, and I just don't know where to start. :eek: We will have an eat in kitchen, not huge, but bigger than the single family house we have now; its toward the back of the kitchen with a large window. The total dimensions are 14' 6" by 8' 8". The back half is for the "eat in" area and there's a nice pass through to a family room, which measures 12'4" by 12' 0". I have a new couch and loveseat in a deep sage green with oak coffee table and end table (theres a small amount of wrought iron work on them) and they have glass insets. I still really like them because they are warm and comfortable feeling. I found the dining room set we will have, which is a medium colored maple, and a buffet server that looks great with it. I will be buying new living room furniture. The living room is not very big at all. 15' 2" x 12' 2", with a large window on one wall. The dining room is 12' 6" x 9'. I would really love to incorporate one of the ventless, gel fuel fireplace somewhere in there. I love the Tuscany colors of golds, coppers, terra cotta, sages and of course purples for those great grapes and olives. I want to start planning my space, but just don't know where to begin in the living room, kitchen and dining room. I would like to keep the theme of the Tuscany on the first floor and blend the colors upstairs to the three bedrooms/office area. I would love to hear your thoughts and I will scan my floor plan at the office tomorrow, so that if anyone has any questions about the walls, window placement, stair railing (which is picket type), etc., I will be able to provide the floor plan to you. I've just found this forum and I'm so grateful to be able to ask for help from those more experienced that I. :) Thanks in advance! Deb in South Florida