The Great "Paint the Wood White" Debate

I'm strugglin' folks.  Here's the thing, we knew that when we bought this house we were purchasing an architectural home.  That's what we loved about it actually.  We didn't want builder grade, we wanted something with character and history.  So even though this home definitely still has some strong 80's presence, we felt like we could embrace it, and work with it to make it a modern, architectural home.  Something like these.

From Here

From Here

I know, I know, our home is no where near these, but we were DIY dreaming.  I mean, in 10 years... who's to say we can't work with our clean, modern lines to create something like this?  (Don't say it to my face anyway.)

So what's the problem?  The problem is that it's a lot easier to talk about it than actually do it.  Especially when it comes to this room.

As we've explored back in this post, I just can't figure out what to do with this Family Room.  It seems almost blasphemous to board up the fireplace and make a shelf for our TV, but I also don't want to take down that architectural element that is so strong to this house, a continuous fireplace from the bottom level up to the top.

I mean, what if 20 years down the road, removing that piece and is the equivalent of painting beautiful mahogany wood from a 1900's Victorian, tiling over and ruining beautiful original hardwoods in the kitchen or removing the stain glass from a Frank Lloyd Wright style house?  Will I completely regret the decision? 

But it's clear that this room was not made for the way we live, which, at least in our house, is just one big TV that we can watch sports and HGTV on.  So just to humor myself, I did a really rough mock up of what it could look like if I went against all my better judgment and decorated this home in a style I know.  (i.e. Painting the built ins white, removing the mantel and mounting the TV above the fireplace.)

Not bad, eh?  And it gets even better when I paint the backs of the built ins with my deep indigo blue accent color.

It looks warm and cozy, doesn't it?  Even before you light that fireplace and actually make it warm and cozy.  But the thought still haunts me, will I regret painting that beautiful wood with the unique stripes and variations in the cupboard doors?

But on the flip side, there are lots of architectural elements that we've all decided will never come back, and we have no problem removing those.  Like pale pink or blue tiles that cover a bathroom from the 60's, or tiny 1920's kitchens tucked into the back of a home.   So maybe this Family Room with no room for a modern TV is just like those, on it's way out.  Or maybe it's just that I don't have a good vision on how I can work with the elements of this room, while still modernizing the space.  

In short, I've decided nothing, and I'm off to explore the inter-webs again for inspiration.  If you'd like to place you vote, or add any additional suggestions to the debate- I would be entirely grateful.  Because I'm strugglin' here folks.