more questions from the design challenged

Lately I've been feeling a little bit like a headline that reads Design Challenged Fashion Designer. I recently moved into a new house with walls that ranged from dark orange-browns and yellows to a variety of greens. The first thing I did was tone everything down with a coat of pale gray. After years of having silk curtains that pulled back from white linen curtains, I decided to opt for simple white shutters. After all, I'm at the beach and am ready for a simpler, cleaner, more modern look. I know some purists would argue that shutters are emphatically not modern, but my goal is sort of a beachy-modern.



With a couple of indoor/outdoor cats (who would love nothing more than turning Mies van der Rohe chairs into luxe scratching pads), getting the white leather Barcelona chairs of my dreams is an impossibility at the moment. Add to that gray walls (my choice) with a creamy tan travertine floor (not my choice) and a natural/brown granite fireplace and kitchen counter (also not my choice), trying to coax my back room--a kitchen and attached sitting room that only has 80" for a couch--into a cool gray and white haven has been a bit of a design challenge. So much so that ApartmentTherapy.com actually blogged about my dilemma yesterday here. It was very sweet of Gregory over at AT to help out. And apparently I'm not alone! There are a lot of people just as clueless as me when it comes to adding in modern furniture to the mix.



Last month I started with this photo of the personal residence of interior designer Andrew Suvalsky as a loose starting point inspiration for the space. Only I don't have a lovely white counter (I'm stuck with brown flecked granite) or enough room (due to a side door from the garage) to stow stools by the bar area.



I also need a kitchen table, and I've been wanting a white marble Saarinen tulip table for some time. However, I'm starting to think the white marble with black streaks will clash with the natural granite counter top and fireplace. Am I being too obsessive? Don't answer that! A laminate tulip table seems like the obvious answer, but is a white laminate table really worth $2,000? Design experts, this is the time to dive in and give me your opinions!



And please tell me I didn't make a huge mistake by deciding against the gray Knoll-inspired couch for this West Elm day bed. It's a bit bulky, but it will let me sleep extra guests, not to mention it should be a very comfy way to finally enjoy the new flat screen T.V. that came with the house.



And one last question...I really want to get this super soft and plush gray rug--it feels incredible under your feet and I'd love to get it big enough to cover a lot of the space. The problem is that the 5'x8' version seems too small since the daybed is 78" long but the 8'x8' version extends into part of the doorway. Is that a complete interior design "don't"? Help!