I think Bosche's dark stain helps get you to the contemporary look, especially with hardware like hers, while also giving you a kitchen you can change the style of down the line. (Good for you or good for a new owner if you'll ever need to consider resale.) Those Shaker doors are pretty classic and lend themselves well to many different looks. Slabs are pretty much always clean-line contemporary and people have to try to add molding if they want a new style.

Boshce's kitchen

Here is a link that might be useful: Lacanche Photo Gallery by amy at pbase.com

When in doubt, I would let the architectural style of your home be the deciding factor. Also consider your other furnishing/finishings. Are they more contemporary or traditional?

I personally like the look of slab doors. They can still look very timeless and classic without overtly traditional details that can limit your decor options. (They're also a lot easier to keep clean :-) )

metal, I also love contemporary frameless cabinets. I also love Bosche's kitchen. I've also been considered bossy (*never* without absolutely due cause, however). So that being said, let me suggest that yours and DH's disagreements may well be without much grounds. Have you seen atsmith's kitchen? She has dark chocolate stained cabinets in a slab style. There is very much the same luxurious but spare aesthetic as in Bosche's kitchen.

I submit that you and your DH both love the clean lines and the depth/luxuriousness of the chocolate colours and that you are afraid that if you deviate in any way from Bosche's aesthetic that you won't achieve that richness. While there is very much to love about Bosche's kitchen, I think that going to a slab look really and truly will not cause any loss of luxury! :-)

See if you can find atsmith's kitchen (or email her! shhhh!) and be the judge. They both have absolutely amazing kitchens, and that you could pick either style and truly capture that same look.

I have slab doors w/ long, long metal pulls.

I love them, and the clean look. But they are very stark, and I think they will "date" pretty quickly.

I think the cabinets in Bosche's kitchen are a very nice compromise of traditional and contemporary. There are shaker style doors that have wider stiles for a more contemporary look. Maybe you each need to give in a bit -- how about shaker stiles on the doors coupled with slab drawer fronts? Go with full overlay instead of inset for a more universal appeal (as an added bonus, it will be less expensive). If you do contemporary straight bar pulls and modern light fixtures, you will obtain a fairly modern look, but the shaker stiles will allow you to change the feel to more traditional by simply changing out the pull style and light fixtures. Seems like a win-win to me.

I have to agree that I think Bosche's cabinets will stand the test of time longer than the slab cabinets. I also agree that her(?) cabinets can be adapted to different styles, making them more versatile in the future. They can be contemporary, Arts & Crafts, country, rustic, etc. Whereas, slab are almost always contemporary, at least in my opinion.

However, both you and DH have to live with them...

Thanks to all. I chatted with DH this morning about full overlay instead of inset but with some of the Bosche cab detailing (specifically the stiles on the bottom and sides of the cabs) and he's (as am I) having trouble visualizing how this would work on the upper cabs. No problem going with full overlay slab drawers. He also saw Bosche's hood and I think that is partially throwing him. He wants a hood that looks like the one on the Siematic web site (click on our kitchen, then new in the programme, then go to gallery listed under beaux arts- not the beaux arts film; beaux arts gallery 6th picture in) (link below). I think either cab style would go with this hood(?). Our home is high desert Eastern Washington, wide open vista views, rural, stucco, wine country, big redwood deck with arts/crafts railing and pergola. The interior is vintage 1974. I just ripped out the orange counter and am working on the glued down "lasts a lifetime", indoor/outdoor brown paisely carpet in the dining room. Mindstorm- I can't seem to find atsmith's, do you have a link? Thanks- all your words of wisdom are very appreciated.

Here is a link that might be useful: siematic beaux arts gallery

Colors and finishes are always just a fashion. Dark chocolatey colored woods became a fashion about 3-4 years ago. Sometime soon, high-end designers will begin using blond woods (again) and then THAT LOOK will be modern for a while.

I think there is a difference between tasteful and timeless. The Acropolis is timeless, Bosche's kitchen (splendid as it is) is tasteful and fashionable. The finishes will date it, just as walnut formica had a time period or victorian pantry cabinets had a time period.

I guess I think if the kitchen is well designed, nobody will care if its look can be dated to within 3 years.

My advice is to clearly and continuously state your preferences. That's not bossy - it's clear. Compromise isn't compromise without both side agreeing - don't set yourself up to resent dh later because he got what he wanted and you didn't.

I like both styles and I think they'll probably both be associated with this current time period. But, I think the slab doors will always say modern, European and slab has never really gone out, IMO. The nice thing about doors is that they area easily changable. But really, in 15 years won't everybody be changing their kitchens again. Oh dark is current now, but it was also current in the 70's, except back then it was really bad plastic laminate imitation walnut. LOL! At least the technology for fooling the eye has improved.

Hello all - I haven't been around for awhile. . .new baby has me running in circles these days and barely enough time to keep up with emails let alone look at websites recreationally! But mindstorm emailed me on your behalf - here are a few photos of my kitchen, some at a more "done" point than others. I STILL haven't gotten a full set of 100% complete photos posted, and in the meantime have remodeled a bathroom that I should post pictures for as well. . .

Good luck!

Uhhh...

You like dark, your husband likes dark.

The ones you like have big metal pulls, your husband likes big metal pulls.

So the big difference is whether the fronts should be completely flat, or almost completely flat...

Oruboris- I like they way you distilled it down... I see a very workable solution in the not so distant future. Atsmith- love your kitchen and have lots of questions 1) what (exactly) kind of wood and stain color is your floor. I was worried about dark cabs and dark floor but love the look of yours. 2) How exactly did you build in your TV. I'm planning to do something very similar- do you have a cable box or DVD and if so where did you put it and how do you access it and, does it fit into a 12" deep cabinet?

The floors are oak (combo of red and white) and the stain is 50% Red Oak and 50% Early American, both by Minwax, with a satin poly.

The tv - there is a shelf above the fridge that the tv sits on, and then we built the frame for it out of the same wood the cabinets were made of. Originally that was going to be a built-in fridge there, but then we changed our mind on what fridge we wanted (for the record, we do NOT love the frige itself, as appliances go) so we had space up there for the tv. The Direct TV box, unfortunately, does not have a good place to live. It sits on the counter just to the right of the fridge - you can see it behind the elegant "Go Diego Go" sippy cup on the counter in that last photo. I hated that it was there at first but now I am used to it and don't mind so much. Actually, that counter is a clutter magnet, and having that box there makes us keep it cleared off or the signal won't get through, so I guess it was a blessing in disguise.

No DVD player, but when we just redid the master bedroom, we got a flatscreen with the DVD player built in so we would have one less component to house - and the DVR box sits in a little cubby built into the wall up where the TV is mounted.

Ah Hah, I see the DVR box now. Saddly, my oldest baby is a freshman in college. She's home now and says 'no fair' to getting cable tv, now that's she's gone. Her young sib reminded her that life is not always fair. It's good to have all the kids home!

Oh no - a reminder that the "no fairs" (which have just started here with the 5 year old twins) will be around for a while to come. . .

When we first designed our kitchen, we were originally going to go with a dark shaker style, though the color was closer to that of our floors. The main reason we were going with that was because, as you said, Shaker is about as timeless as it gets. However, the house is a contemporary, and we really fell in love with these cabinets so we changed course, and I think these fit our house better - Shaker would have looked "safe" since they are not as good a fit, as we are updating a midcentury modern style house and wanted to go more warm-modern.

I agree with the poster who said to let the style of the house be the ultimate guide - it makes it easier to defend your choices!

I consider Bosche's kitchen to be nearly a contemporary style except for some of the detailing, such as the faucets. Those give it more of an arts/crafts feel. I prefer modern but not stark, but I find myself drawn to arts/crafts look in some things as well. (I love some of the Hubbarton Forge lights - have some in my bathroom.) I think these styles are not so far apart - arts/crafts is a precursor to the more contemporary styles.

I think you need to decide what it is about Bosche's kitchen is the part you like. If its just the paneled doors, then those are entirely compatible with a modern style

Yes, it's the doors that I love about Bosche's kitchen and it's the elegance with warthm that I like about atsmith's kitchen. I like Bosche's doors, atsmith's floors/ backsplash/color choices, and both's contrast between the counter and cabs and the clean lines.