I have a Sharp R530ES above my KA. I originally had ordered the KA MW but three things made me change my mind 1) cost, and MWs are not made to last as long as they used to; 2) the KA had a dial and I like a touchpad to program time; and 3) the matching KA MW looked beautiful together in the showroom but it opened like the KA oven, pull down handle, and I thought that would be odd and uncomfortable to use - I prefer having the door swing open. Here's a pic. We saved money by going with the Sharp ($300 compared to KA $800), but the trim kit wasn't exactly cheap at $190. (Not sure how they come up with that price for a few pieces of metal other than they know you want it so they charge what they want to charge.) We're very satisfied with the Sharp MW. Unfortunately we were crunched for space so we were unable to have a border of wood trim on either side of the MW and oven which, IMO, would have looked a bit nicer. Hope that helps.

If you'll cut on it, butcher block. Or laminate. ;) I occasionally cut a slice of apple or two on my old stuff, but I hated it and wanted to rip it out. Seriously, don't cut on the counters. Keep a large cutting board stationed near where you prep. As Dianalo mentioned, it's bad on your knives. It dulls them, which leads to more cuts on fingers because a dull knife is a dangerous knife. Given your list, I recommend wood. Thought about that at all? Not shiny, usually not modern, can be rustic, casual, cozy, and not speckled. I have a black walnut island top. I LOVE it. I do not cut directly on it.

I read through my instruction booklet and it did mention unplugging the unit, but my interpretation was that it was the standard manufacturer's fire safety precaution that is given for every small appliance I've ever purchased. I unplug all of mine after using, except my coffeemaker, which I do unplug if I'll be gone overnight. This oven comes with preset temps & times for different functions (Bake/Pizza/etc.) but if you choose to alter these the oven will "remember" the new time/temp the next time you use it. If you want to reset it to the manufacturer's original times/temps you unplug the unit, then plug it back in again. You'd want to have easy access to the plug if you were inclined to do that. Those automatic temp/time settings aren't an important feature for me. I've always manually set the temperature on the ovens I've had and set my timers, as well. It's an easy turn of the knob to scroll up to the desired temperature. I don't think I'd ever bother with the plugging & unplugging for that. Bottom line, I think it's a fire safety precaution.

I would do a darker color— probably black. I think the white on white will make your floor stand out more. The black/white combo will make the cabinets pop.