Congrat's! What a great room!
Wow! What a find! I think you can create exactly the look you want in this space, it is lovely! Is the second picture to the right of the first? Are you a kitchen person or more family, entertaining person. I'm asking because the kitchen work station is not pictured.
Love the floor, ceiling, arch and all the windows!
This will be great fun to do, so think of what you most love to live in this space. You will get tons of input!

Why don't you submit photo's when all the previous owner's junk is removed and then you can get a better feel for the space. Right now, I can't feel anything looking at all that clutter. Nice size spaces though.

Love the space! So much light!

I am thinking that a very light rust tone, very warm, with just a hint of tan to keep it from being too orange (for the living room).

In the kitchen, what is the flooring? It looks black. Do you see the kitchen/dining area from the living room? Is it an open floor plan?

Can't wait for the transformation! You have so much to work with!

Oh . . .and even though you want to paint ASAP, at least try out the paint samples in your current space. I didn't (went by the paint chips) and now I've had to live with these colors that are OK but not my favorites since we've been here. (We had the place painted before we moved, and I didn't even see it until moving day.)

If you like french country, a beautiful yellow---not pale, but a clear colour either edging toward mustard or with a drop of red---is a good neutral for the wall in that genre. Vivid prints such as Souleiado and Motif Designs and Pierre Deux patters look good against that background. You could do a country french interior very easily with that flooring and the exposed beams.

Thanks for the compliments. I am very excited; we have been living in a small apartment these past few years (all 7 of us) and this will be a big change.

I am VERY relieved that you all think the house suits the style I'm aiming for!

Brutuses, unfortunately I can't wait till the previous owner clears her stuff to post pictures. I move in 3 days after she moves out, and I want to have the place painted in those 3 days.

Bodica, I'll try and include a link to more pictures. All the areas are open to each other, although you need to go down 3 steps to get to the living room. The flooring is the same reddish brown tile throughout.

Thanks for the suggestions, anele and kswl. I think rust might be too 'warm' though. I am not really looking to copy French country, just to capture a bit of the atmosphere. I would like to do that with cooler colours....do you think that is possible? Would it be too much of a contrast to the floor?

My 'inspiration' pieces are various floral dishes I have with pink, green, yellow, white. I would love to use various shades of pink as my 'accents' (in pillows, flowers, etc), with my big pieces like couches in off whites (or even pale blue), and then background in greens and blues. I know this may sound a bit shabby chic, but I'm thinking of something more solid, more eclectic, more colourful, and (slightly) less feminine.

I actually was thinking of painting the living room a soft green and the kitchen a robin's egg blue, or something along those lines. Is that crazy?? Would it be too much to paint the entire floor the same colour? Should or can I paint the arches a different colour to emphasize them? One painter suggested I paint the kichen cabinets themselves light smokey blue...not sure about that.
So sorry for the long ramble, would love to hear any more insights!!!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful:

Sorry, it just linked to one picture; I'll try again.

Here is a link that might be useful: my home

Can you post photos of your inspiration pieces?

Great idea, uniqcrafts. I'll try to post pics of things I want to work with later today.