We have original red oak in our house except in the kitchen and they seem to be a nice shade balance if you don't want too dark or light. I wouldn't rule out dark cabinets if you like them as we have a tiny kitchen, one window and it really isn't that dark - we got the warning and we used light countertops with white appliances and a year later we still are very happy (Kraftmaid Cherry Ginger Glaze). But, we our other thought was to finish the hardwood in the kitchen and white but it just didn't seem to fit the house and we wanted a seperation from the kitchen as it is a tiny flowing house and the basements steps and an outside door are in it so we wanted easy to clean so I went with sheet vinyl.

My advice is to try to bring a bunch home and see what looks nice - it took me a good year to figure it all out. I found a door style I loved and never waivered, but the wood and finish just about killed me. I didn't even try to pick a countertop till the cabinets were ordered and then I decided silestone till I brought a huge tile home, hated the look, and then went on the great granite search - good thing we live outside DC, so we went to almost every place in MD, DC and VA . And, this is all for a tiny kitchen with no flexability or ability to do anything fancy in.

How about mixing cabinet materials (white & wood) as in the following:

If you know yourself to be a 'wood finish' cabinet person, I wouldn't force yourself to go to painted just because it would 'look right.' You want to feel at home and like it's your room, not a stranger's kitchen that looks nice from afar. Although it's not necessary, including some painted sections or pieces can be fun. DH and I are definitely wood cabinet people, but we have some painted mixed into our kitchen and I love the combination and it's a nice change for me. And although I love them, it still wouldn't have been 'me' at all to have everything painted.

The funny thing for me is that my inspiration kitchens were almost all painted white or cream. I just had to find what else there was about the rooms that spoke to my heart and try to emulate the overall feeling without the white paint.

I think that if you take this out of the imagining stage and go look at flooring samples with cabinet samples, you can pick 2 things that both would be considered in the medium range, but that provide enough contrast from each other. Pcjs's suggestion for red oak, I think is a good one. Birch is another that is gorgeous and not too light, while being a good base for some pretty cabinets. There are so many choices and possible combinations. Don't despair. :-)

Best wishes!

Medium-to-dark cabinets work in small dark places. You can always brighten them up with some glass fronts if you want. Relax. This is the fun part!

Take a deep breath and relax - this is the fun part :). The order that you make your choices doesn't have to be the standard. Maybe taking a few trips to some stone and granite yards would serve you well. Stone was a wonderful inspiration for me. So much so that I wish I had about 6 different kitchens in my house - I seriously have MKPD - Multiple Kitchen Personality Disorder.

Something in your new kitchen has to give YOU that "wow". Build around that. If the wow isn't coming from your floors and you are unsure of your cabinets, keep pondering. You can build an entire room around one element that gives you butterflies.

Good luck! And keep the wine handy!

This is the fun part?!? No, fun will be sitting in my newly finished kitchen with friends and some good wine! This is painful!

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I need to get to the KD's showroom and see some of these floors in person. It is really hard to get a feel for them online. I also agree that what may be my wow-factor is the granite. The cabs and floors I want to look nice, but I want the counter top to pop. Again, maybe dark cabs and a med. tone floor is a good way to do this.

Caligal - Thanks for the pictures. I've seen many of those before and actually, the second one is what I was thinking (the floors and the darker cabs on the right) I still don't think I can make the leap to painted cabinets!

I think what I like about the white cabinet kitchens is how clean and calm they look. I think I can still create that in the darker wood if it is a simple style. Maybe that is what I need to keep in mind.

Thanks for the pep talk.

I was in a showroom with dark cabinetry, dark counters, and no natural light, but the lighting was so great, it was fine. And by great I don't mean tons of huge bright lights all over the place; it was a mixture of attractive fixtures, undercabinet lights, plus some standard cans in the ceiling. If you get cool lighting (mix of spots, floods, hanging fixtures, undercab, etc.) with carefully chosen bulb types (do a search on xenon, some swear by it) I think wood cabinetry would be fine. Oh no, I've almost talked myself out of painted!

Tsherman, the bad news is that this *is* the fun part. It gets much worse. Brace yourself...

;-)

Oh, and regarding your cabinets - if you and your husband both like stained wood, you should get stained wood. It's just a matter of finding the *right* stained wood. You may have to look across different cabinet brands as each has some colors that are not available in others.

I chose my countertop before I chose my cabinets, btw. :-)

I don't know if you'd consider, but I know someone who did a stunning transitional kitchen with brown stained cherry cabinets on the perimeter and just the island in a painted buttercream. Medium (not light at all) wood floors tie the whole thing together beautifully.