In this project we focused on minimalism, zen, elevated details and working with what we had in cost effective ways. Our reno budget was lean and dominated with have-to structural fixes (water damage…etc, etc).  This home had lots of traditional custom woodwork that was exquisite in quality, but dated and orangey in color and veering too much 80s Tuscan kitchen.  Keeping these more traditional pieces in the home, while an economic decision at first, ended up over time being one of our best decisions. Work with what you have. We stained the Tuscan-esque kitchen a deep brown/black and painted the walls SW Alabaster white. We kept the ash wood floors that we worried looked zebra-ish a muted deep brown to tone it down. This made our home in the woods feel like a sanctuary. The scale of the home was expanded and the dated, but still gorgeous wood was given a new life. It may not be exactly what I envisioned, but we worked with the strengths of the house and had more room in our budget to do other things. This moved the design away from the warm minimalism I first envisioned to a more dramatic moody minimalism that incorporated a greater range of materiality in home accents. This pared back, organic modern, pnw minimalism is better suited (to our own family preference), but also seems to pair better to the zen feeling the woods emanate.