Changing things up... Somebody, help me!

I'm driving myself CRAZY {& my husband, too} wanting to re-paint, re-decorate, and re-furnish our home. Because I'm BROKE, I'm just working with what I've already got at the moment.

I transformed some wall space in our family room from this [bad picture]:

TO THIS:

While I'm still tweaking this area [adding & subtracting], I already like it better. I like having the frames off the table, and instead a cleaner surface. I also really like seeing my family as a central focus of our family room.

{If you're wondering what I did with the rustic-window-thing that was up there before, it's just hanging out on the floor in another room, until I figure out what I want to do with it. Ya see, I'm over the super-rustic look, and want a more "classy" and clean look.}

SO...now I need some serious H.E.L.P. Instead of staring at my family room and kitchen walls & cabinets for hours on end, I need to get my thoughts out and ASK for some advice.

Right now, my entry way is Sherwin Williams Rice Grain.

My dining room is Sherwin Williams Nacre & Sherwin Williams Rainwashed:

Nacre is the first color on the same swatch as Rice Grain.

The QUESTION becomes, what do I do with this mess of a kitchen?

And this too-dark, no-light, family room?

Here's what I want to do:

1. Paint the family room, kitchen, and bathroom a MUCH lighter neutral.

2. Paint the kitchen cabinets some sort of gray-neutral. 

3. Paint the brick fireplace to be white-washed.

4. Get some new couches. {Husband said we could in a few months & I am jumping up and down in excitement!}

BUT, as for paint...do I continue with the Rice Grain that starts in the entry way? ...And will that look okay with gray cabinets? As you can see above, there is already a cream-tile back splash in our kitchen. Will that look like too much with different colored cabinets & different colored surrounding walls? Do the walls above the cabinets and around the refrigerator need to be gray as well, OR can they be Rice Grain like the rest of the main floor? OR, do those walls need to be a cream color, like Nacre {that would also match the back splash}, with the rest of the kitchen and family room being Rice Grain?

Are YOU as confused as I am, now?

I was feeling pretty overwhelmed, until I saw THIS:

That is RICE GRAIN...in a kitchen & dining area...WITH gray cabinets.  I'm pretty sure I'll use this as inspiration NOW! {AT least it makes me feel like my thoughts and ideas aren't as scrambled as they were before.}

Now, I just need YOUR opinion. Or, you can just tell me I'm not crazy. Ready, set, gooo...