I'm pricing too right now, and Kraftmaid has been substantially higher than the other quotes... on the order of 40% higher. I've quoted out Shiloh, Marsh and custom.

You may get a pleasant surprise if you look at other sources.

I think the stained trim should match the floors, especially for baseboard trim. Alternately, it could be in a contrasting color, but a not-quite match would be the worst.

Wow, thank you. I will keep checking around. Joyce 6333, I bet your home is gorgeous. Custom made would be wonderful. Kraftmaid doesn't carry any inset faceframe cabinetry either, which I was hoping for. Still, I don't want to get too carried away. I was told that Kraftmaid will have 10% off plus some cash back from now through early November. But that doesn't make up for a 40% higher difference. Thank you for sharing your research alabamanicole.

Shiloh now has the inset doors; I saw them today. The web site says "selected areas," though. (But no extra charge.)

I would say that since a real foursquare would have had painted cabinets and a pine, ash or maple floor (linoleum, if more upscale); if you are really after authentic finishes, varnished wood cabinets are not appropriate. You will in reality be creating a formal room with a lot of built-ins that happens to function as the kitchen, and will match the rest of the formal rooms.
Mightn't you need a "break" from all the oak woodwork? A contrasting room might be a needed counterpoint.
Casey

We built a four square with a contemporary edge to it. We have red quartersawn oak cabinets, red quardersawn oak floor without any stain, and stained red oak trim. You want to match the trim to the cabinets and you want a contrast in color between the floor and the cabinets/trim, at least in the kitchen. We lived in a 1923 four square and it did have painted fir cabinets and woodwork in the kitchen and maple floors in the kitchen, but used oak everywhere else. They did that in old four squares to save money, not for style purposes. Even back in the early 1900s, some wealthier people would put in oak and stained cabinets in the kitchen if they could afford it--at least I have seen that done it in some old four squares. The truly wealthy people wouldn't because they had servants and didn't really use the kitchens themselves. You are building a 2009 four square and you will be using your kitchen yourself, so get what you like. We used Dura Supreme cabinets, so you may want to check them out too. It sounds like you are going with regular red oak for your floors. If you were to go with quartersawn red oak for your floors, you should see some in natural in person before you decide to stain them. Our floors at least have lots of variation in color and the tiger stripes or whatever you call the qs features are really gorgeous in an unstained floor. Most people stain white oak floors because white oak has a greenish tint to it--unless you like the greenish tint, but red oak often works well unstained. I love four squares!

I should have mentioned that we have mixed regular oak trim with our qs oak cabinets and it looks fine. The difference between regular sawn oak and qs oak is not very noticeable on narrow pieces of wood. In fact, when wood is qs a certain percentage of the pieces will end up essentially being regular sawn just because of the way the log is cut and those pieces can be sold as qs. I think is something like 10 or 20% of the pieces will look regular sawn. If you look it up on the internet, you will find diagrams showing this.

We bought our 1923 four square from an estate and were only the second owner and everything in it was original except the stove. Our authentic foursquare kitchen consisted of one wall that had only a large white cast iron sink with drainboard hung on the wall. The next wall had a built in ironing board and a stove pushed against the wall. The third wall had about 8' linear feet of cabinets with a linoleum counter. The counter may have been changed out by the original owner, but it was old lineoleum when we bought it. The fourth wall had a bump out for a built in table and benches and a nook for the refrigerator with a cabinet above it. I'm sure that the prior owner had a stand alone work table in there someplace, but I never saw it. You don't want an authentic four square kitchen! People back then put their money in the public rooms whereas today I think people put their money into the rooms that they use the most. Good luck!

Casey (Sombreuil Mongrel), your post made me think. I appreciate the help sorting this out. Local homeowners say that older foursquare homes near Lake Michigan often have oak trim/floors and homes further from the lake have more maple and elm. As Carolyn53562 says, that may be a function of cost, building era, or both. To us, oak looks strong and home-like. Plus it's become a relative bargain. I see painted cabinets as beautiful too (and authentic and artistic), but we're partial to the beauty of wood grain. I've been wondering about a counterpoint to balance the stained wood. Too much has a heavy look, as if it becomes hard to see the individual trees in the forest. Perhaps we will be saved by our budget. Or posts that make us think and look for balance.

I love Carolyn53562's description of her authentic foursquare kitchen. I've lived in plenty of older homes (long-term student) but never had a linoleum counter. I've been shopping for linoleum (for floors, not counters!) and it seems to be as expensive than hardwood. I love to see the original foursquares and imagine family life in the 20s etc. Still, I'm glad kitchens have evolved.

Our floor plan is unlike the original foursquare plans. Big mudroom next to a big whopping garage, basement media room, kitchen open to the living room. Like Carolyn53562, we're trying to find some contemporary version. We're blending historical reference, natural materials we like, modern family friendly, and affordability. So here I am, appreciative of all this help, intimidated by such a big investment (for us!) when I have no background in art or design. And yet the project is incredibly fun and creative. Given the tough times, I'm very grateful for the chance to do this.

All the best, Liz