Those are actually the same color. There is enough light coming through the windows. I feel like it will make my living room and dining area elegant. The blinds stay but it lacks style. Thank you so much!

Hi Tina, thanks for posting, it is all looking great. Shame about the panelling, but sometimes these things happen for a reason. It is great the armoire matches the doors so well when they are all on one wall, but I don't think you need to have the bed and side tables matching, especially when they are on another wall. My issue with painting furniture, while I love it, is the maintenance. It does chip over time and becomes one more thing to paint. I don't know what the timber is in your furniture but another possible option, especially to give you the coastal vibe is to lime it. To do this successfully, you will need to sand all the existing stain off it and go back to the raw timber. The darker the original timber, the less limed look you will get so bear that in mind too. I did an old bunk bed up that had seen better days, for my grands bedroom. It was a dark red wood, but with 4 coats of stain I got the look I was after which was that driftwood/coastal look. The whole thing looks totally new again. Sorry I can't post a photo as this function no longer works for me. Have a look at the Feast Watson range of liming stains, they have some gorgeous soft colours as well, but they let the timber show through rather than having the solid painted look. It is a very easy product to use, it dries quickly - I did the 4 coats over 2 days effortlessly. The hard work is in the sanding.

@mwenn, I sort of do agree with you that hiding everything away till it's needed seems a little fake but when you live in a home as I do at present, with a very tiny kitchen and everything is out because there's nowhere to put it away, consequently, I have a very limited prep area, so in my new kitchen, I can't wait till everything is in a draw or in a cupboard, so that I can enjoy the freedom of having a clear work area. That doesn't mean I won't enjoy a cooking day where everything is brought out for it but most everyday cooking in my opinion, doesn't require all the big gun machines to be taking up bench space. I'm afraid you might think my new kitchen will be one of these "fake" kitchens but I can assure you it won't be but remember most of the photo's that get shown on Houzz, have been professionally prepared for the photo, with nothing out of place, "minimalist" with a perfect vase of flowers and so on like the photo above!!

I've been researching solar panels for my business for a while now, and Australian Solar Designs seems to be popping up everywhere. I'm particularly interested in exploring solar options for my small business here in Sydney. It's great to know that there are finance options available, making it more accessible for businesses like mine to make the switch to renewable energy.