Do you have the list now from the builder of ALL the things they want to approve at the meeting? If not, get it - take a week off work, delay your meeting and research like mad! You need to see everything in real life, not a picture, if possible - so go to the company's stockists - and see what other options are available. (Your builder won't accept too many ideas from stockists that aren't his own. I held out for a bath with an armrests and a headrest - but pick your own battles!) Look at every room on Houzz - laundries, lounges, mudrooms (especially since you're in the country), kitchens, bedrooms, study/home office - and check it against your list. You will be asked to decide on things you never knew existed - bullnose (rounded) or flat edges on your kitchen benches, for example? Cornices, architraves, doorstops for goodness stake (for some reason, our builder went with silver doorstops - we went with gold). My experience is that just about every default option a builder puts in for you is wrong . . . go armed with your own pictures, brand names and numbers. (Yes, I want the IZ450, not IJ320.) If the builder has some display homes, make sure you look at all of them (top of the range to bottom of the range) for ideas. For a country house, maybe consider half-panelling on the walls in the kitchen and maybe dining and lounge rooms, or some ceiling roses (yes, you can still get them) to give an old-style feel to the room (and you'll need rounded cornices if you go for the ceiling rose). Honestly, this is the most exhausting, draining and stressful part (well, apart from signing the cheques). But the effort you put in now will be well rewarded. And I think Hamptons and French Provincial style are mostly white or white-ish? So Barbara's colour recommendations are spot on. PS Have you asked for hidden drawers behind the kickbacks in the kitchen?

I think a mid-tone blue would be best. Something like a demin colour. Tropic Night by Dulux grabbed my attention, but at a half strength. I too am halfway through my own first renovation project - one that has grown exponentially, - and picking the colours was the hardest. I took some advice from the local paint shop, as well as from a interior decorator friend who works occasionally as a colour consultant with architects. Take as much advice as you can, and then throw it all into a mixer (your mind) and then - as others have suggested - go get a heap of sample pots and paint big (I mean BIG!!) swatches on the side of the house. Then take at least a week to keep looking at them in different lights, at different times and one colour usually will just become your favourite. That is the right one to paint. Best of Luck with your renovation project!

Stunning! Keeping the original cottage is so respectful of the history, and bringing it into the future so thoughtfully is genius. A gracious old lady dons a beautiful new coat.

I so agree with bigreader. As much as I love drooling over the immaculate perfect projects where enormous dollars must have been spent, including every last thing chosen by an interior decorator, to me the most inspiring and enjoyable part of houzz is seeing 'average ordinary' people making great improvements within their budgets.