I'm thinking stripes.

I have been torn thinking about all the million different paint color choices we could have in our new home, and especially torn about which color to choose for our kitchen/dining room.  Our house has a very open layout, so I'm struggling with how to paint different colors without breaking up the rooms.  One solution I came up with is to paint stripes on ONE accent wall in the dining room.  Then we would carry one of the colors from the stripes into the kitchen, above the cabinets. 

One idea with the stripes is to do vertical stripes, such as this:

(Picture courtesy of Eastcoastbride from TheNest)
She used two different colors of paint, just a couple shades lighter/darker.  She did stripes throughout the entire room, which I won't do, but I love the look of these stripes and I think it would look awesome on the accent wall.

Another idea is to do horizontal stripes, with different colors.


(Photos courtesy of Mamabear7 from TheNest)
So, I really like how she took one of those colors from the stripes and painted the rest of the room that way.  However, since the wall that I'm doing is so long, I'm wondering if vertical stripes would be better than horizontal.

The last thought I had was to do "sheen" stripes, which means that it's the same paint color on the stripes, however you would use 2 different types of paint, such as a flat paint for half the stripes, then a glossy paint type for the others, while still using the same color.  Confusing, right?  But it gives it the look that it is 2 different colors, even though it's not.  Here's a pic of that:


(Sorry about the crappy picture, it's all I could find.)

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Any suggestions on a paint color?  I have red/black countertop appliances (ie: kitchenaid mixer, knife set, canister set, toaster, etc) - and the appliances that are in the home are white, such as the fridge, oven/stove, and microwave.

Your thoughts?

I'm in lala land.

On a typical day on The Nest, we play "rate my room", and just like it sounds, we rate eachother's different rooms.  I always put up my living room for grabs and they kindly suggest things that would improve the look, and we go on our merry way.  10 times out of 10 I am told that I need a rug for under the coffee table and throw pillows to brighten up the room.  While I 100% agree, spending hundreds of dollars on a rug just doesn't seem right to me.  Here's a picture of our living room:





So now that you've seen our bland living room, here's a few rugs that I like that I wish I could buy!


Pottery Barn - $649


Pottery Barn - $429


Room Service Home - $485


JcPenney - $400


Restoration Hardware - $899

Okay, back to reality.  Hope you're having a great day!

My 4 weeks of fame

So - here's a little known fact about me.  I'm addicted to www.thenest.com.  I spend all day, every day on The Nest, and as pathetic as it sounds, I feel extremely close to the girls on the D&R board.  I have been known to say that I feel closer to them than I do many of my "real" friends. 
Each month, the editors at The Nest pick 6 different "nesties" to feature, and last month I was chosen.  I believe this changes every 4 weeks, but I've been one of the featured nesties for 5 weeks now.  Look to the right of this page - there I am.  :)  Surprising, right?  Who would have ever thought my house was good enough, especially compared to all of the other beautiful homes that are on that site.