My house, built in 2003, has purple feature walls in the dining room and 2 bedrooms and green feature walls in 1 bedroom and 2 living areas. That was the fashion then. Recently I decided it's time for an update as the feature walls seem to be absorbing all the light and making the house very dark. So far I've undercoated 2 of the feature walls and what a difference it makes! The rooms are much lighter and now I have to decide on whether to add a lighter colour as feature walls or paint them the same colour as the rest of the room.

To da_jg_king...This thread is about Stephanie's dilemma and all responses are directed to giving her some suggestions....its grown to be a rather long article and it is unlikely that anyone will respond to your dilemma. Why don't you start a post about your house and put up some really good photos to give Houzzers a "look in"? I bet you will get lots of respnse if Stephanie's post is anything to go by. Its hard to imagine your environment and make alternative suggestions without having photos. Cedar or any timber panelling can be deceptive depending on the area of the room and on the lighting that would change during the day..really need photos! I'm sure Houzzers would love to pitch in with suggestions...some of the ideas given to Stephanie might inspire you too! I love the challenge of natural timber. I've come across and advert for a beautiful new paint colour from the RESENE company..They have some amazing stuff that gets me quite excited imagining what I could do with some of it...You ask for suggestions for flooring that would look good against cedar walls....You do not say whether you want colour suggestions or materials suggestions...so...Go to the RESENE paint site and have a look at all their paint products, you might be inspired by the colours and that could lead you to other ideas...like tiles, floor renders..etc. Lately I've had a "thing" for a definite shade of Wedgewood Blue..( and I don't particularly like blue in my environment), but there's something very appealing about a dusty, light, warm-looking exact BLUE...leaning neither towards green nor purple...a perfect blue that I just love next to my timber walls.....That might be a clue for you...though it would depend, as colour always does, on the natural hue of your timber walls...Wood has its natural colour variations according to its type that also change with age....lots to consider. Put up some PICS! Yes?

Underfloor heating is a very good idea for rooms with high ceilings, as hot air rises. Warm feet are great too :) Just be careful about your underfloor setup though. How will you be heating it. Electric underfloor heating can be frightfully expensive to run. Hydronic is a much better idea, though install costs are a lot. Hydronic heated by a heat pump has three lowest operating costs, though heat pumps aren't cheap. Gas operated hydronic is middle of the road for running costs, though not a green solution. Make sure your floor is well insulated from the ground, or you'll loose much of the heat into the ground. I think the best option is to insulate above the slab, & install hydronics in a screed.

Hi Linda You'll have to weigh up the cost of painting the doors or completely new fronts as with existing you are stuck with design feature. (Unsure whether you can turns cupboards inside out.. after painting and patching?). Love the idea of white door with frosted glass - slider would be better but that's getting structural. I would get rid of the cream so replace splashback with new fresh tiles, glass etc If go with a paint spruce up, paint all the cabinetry white EXCEPT the built in unit with the fridge, oven and shelves in it, paint that dark like your beams in the living space. Some nice pops of colour accessories on the shelves would look funky. It will be a feature. Lighting pendant as mentioned would be white with dark feature. If you decide everything white, then black pendants. If you paint the back wall cabinetry white you could also put some wallpaper at the back of the shelving for fun. Paint existing walls in kitchen area white as well (the living area looks white?). Best of luck. Please post end result.