I painted my cabinets white and left the interiors as-is. It's not uncommon to have a different interior. But, you can do what you think looks best. It's a lot of work just painting the outside. Painting the inside will add much more work unless you have a good sprayer.

Thanks so much for responding. It helps to know that others have done this. I'm not doing the painting myself (professional painter - spraying lacquer). The painter will spray the insides with lacquer also, if that is what I decide to do, but it will cost $500 extra for the insides. Someone on the Kitchens forum posted a picture for me. Hers looked fine, but the insides of her cabinets were not as dark as mine. My shelves are a dark stain and I'm painting the cabinets white. I just don't want it to look like I didn't finish the job. If anyone else has done or seen cabinets like this I'd love your opinion also.

shopalot,
Other than the increased cost, I'd say paint the inside as well as the outside. To me when some of the quickie home improvement shows on TV only paint the outsides and the inside is dark, it looks bad.

Plus, I think it helps seal the inside corners and makes the entire cabinet look fresher to paint the entire thing. But I know how it is to do things on a budget and an extra $500 would make me think twice about doing it!

I don't think you will like it if you don't have the insides painted. You already know what you want to do. If you can afford it, stand your ground.
You'll be happy you did.

Thanks for the responses. Yes $500 did give me pause, but I guess if I'm feeling "squeamish" about not painting then I'd probably never be satisfied.