Do what you like... we did dark wood in a small kitchen with white appliances and a lighter countertop to pick up with wood and white and love it... the other option we considered was a white kitchen. With dark floor and countertop, I'd go with light cabinets for the contrast.

I'm kind of "over" light maple cabinets, and I favor white as a personal preference. I think white would make it look like a bigger brighter space. Darker stained woods look nice with dark counters and floors but in a small space I don't know that I'd go that direction. Again, just a personal preference thing.

My thought would be that, as far as white making it look bigger, a light maple would also be similar. My personal thought is that white appliances and white cabinets might be too much white, but then again I'm a wood cabinet person, so that's probably just my own preference coming through. I agree with the others, that it really comes down to your preference, you won't go wrong with either choice.

Here is why I went with white cabinets........

BEFORE...

AFTER

The white kitchen posted by rayminkle is awesome! But light maple would look just as good.

Another aspect in favor of wood look: IMO a white cab/dark countertop would be too much of a contrast and maple would provide a nice transition.

Also, IMO, white cabs with white appliances might look too much white..

To tie the three together, you can use all the colors on the backsplash; so they all look balanced.

Just my 2c. Disclaimer: I am in love with wood grain look.

Go with wood - white cabinets with white appliances is too much IMO. And while white cabinets are currently "in", IMO they have reached the point of being overdone. Your light maple choice whould go very well with the counter . floor you have chosen and not be as stark and cold

I would go with the maple cabinets. White cabinets look great in photographs but so much of the time, the camera does not do justice to wood. It just can't capture the way wood can glow. And white cabs are getting way overdone.

White is way too cold for me-- I've come to think of it as the igloo look.

Note I said FOR ME. This isn't an attack on anyone, get what you like.

Well, I went with dark wood, but I LOVE white, and when I get tired of the dark wood in 10yrs or so, that is what I want for my next kitchen. I have seen white kitchens going back decades, as well as light and dark wood. Black counters and light wood to me is even more "done" (that is what I just tore out, and it was put in during the 1980s), but is still fine, and will probably become classic, if it is not already. Light oak with black counters are everywhere. Black counters with white ARE classic - Hello, can you say white with soapstone? They go great. Get what you like.

The things I like most about a white kitchen is its versatility, it lightens and brightens a space, and it looks crisp and clean (WHEN is kept that way). There is a cooking show on Food network, I think it is called "Almost homemade" or something like that. The set is an all white kitchen, but every show it completely changes color to match the season/color/theme of the food being prepared that day. No matter what colors come and go, from earth tones, to pastels, they all go with white.

The negatives? Keeping it clean, dings in the paint.

AGAIN, get what YOU like. I had to play devils advocate and point out the advantages of the underdog choice. I actually just had the light oak/black counter combination and am going to dark wood/light counter combination, so of coarse the next one will have to be white!

Sue

I was worried that white appliances + white cabs would be too much white, but the picture posted above made me re-think that. I think it looks good.

However, for me, one big factor would be expense. I myself am in love with white cabinets and have been reasearching them to death, quickly learing that white paint (my preference over thermafoil or laminate) can be 20% upcharge over unpainted wood. I have tried and tried to get myself interested in a light maple, but my heart just doesn't go there. My wallet wishes it would! So, if your heart is on the fence, that may be an area to save some money.

Did you check out the blog? Tons of great pictures of all kinds of cabinets and finshes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished kitchens blog

If you want to see a beautiful kitchen with white appliances and cabinets and dark counters look at hoffman's. It is my dream kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: hoffman's kitchen

I like light maple or light cherry cabinets. My heart loves white/creamy cabinets. My DH and contracter like maple and cherry cabinets. BUT, they both say, it's my kitchen and get what you love! So, hopefully if the price is right, I'm getting my white/creamy cabinets!

Barb

amy- i went through the same thing, incl. wanting to keep white appliances. i like white with light wood, but not with darker wood; helps if you can get a counter with some white to tie it together. my choice, though was between white and dark wood because i would have wanted to carry through the tones of my dark wood living room and dining room furniture. so i ended up with white. it isn't quite finished, but a couple of neighbors who've been in have commented on how big it looks now ( i had dark wouud laminate before). now, parrt of that may be because the appliances arn't in place yet and i took out an oven cabinet that was just inside the door. but i think it did make a difference. you can see pictures in the linked thread.my kitchen is 8x11.
all that said, i do think dark would have worked okay (with stainless apliances) so if you find something you really prefer that is darker, go for it. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link

Check out this recent thread about this subject...some great photos to help with your decision.

Here is a link that might be useful: White Vs Wood Thread

You're never going to find consensus on this question. You're either a wood cabinet person or a painted cabinet person. Either look good, it's just a matter of preference.

Once you decide which camp you fall into, then you can decide on finishes and colours. Just as "wood types" can choose from many varieties of wood and finishes, "paint types" aren't limited to just white. Have you considered any colours? How about cream, or light olive, or grey?

Personally, I'm a "paint type" so I'd vote for painted cabinets with dark stones that you've chosen. The contrast between light coloured or white cabinets and the dark stone would be very striking.

I would have had the same problem with a painted cabinet vs. stained cabinet choice since I seem to like both styles equally. My decision was made by what would fit best with our house. It's an old farmhouse which seems to tilt the favor toward white painted cabinets BUT all the trim in the house and doors is naturally aged dark wood. We also have a step back cupboard in our eating area that I love (it was the first piece of furniture DH and I bought after buying our house...at the Brimfield flea market) and I used that as my inspiration. I love the dark stained cabinets we ended up with but I must say that I sometimes have painted-cabinet envy (and I know I would have wood-cabinet envy if we ended up with painted.) We have a traditional kitchen and I have modern-kitchen envy much of the time but luckily that was a decision the house screamed out at us. We've lived in this house for 20 years and I know that I will have to be satisfied with our choice for a very long time (we hope to be in this house forever and I can't imagine doing a total redo of the kitchen again.)

If I truly felt 50/50 about 2 choices I would look at differences in price and maintenance as the tie breaker. Luckily the choice I was leaning toward was the less expensive choice so that swayed me even further.

This is all written to agree with most of what's been said above. There is no right or wrong answer here. How much you like your kitchen will more likely depend on the nuts and bolts of what you do---choosing a cabinet style, decoration, backsplash, being simple or ornate. A maple kitchen with white appliances/dark counters or a white kitchen can both be very appealing.

As far as making the kitchen feel bigger, think about bringing the cabinets to the ceiling. That made a huge difference in our kitchen. I think the light maple vs white choice is similar enough that neither will make a real difference.

My cabinets are posted in the other thread- they are off white-frost glaze. Love them. Just a thought- we two toned our kitchen and our peninsula is very very dark oak. It's the best of both worlds!

The light cabinets will get a dark counter top (almost black) while the dark cabinets will get a ligter counter top.

I highly recommend the finished kitchen blogs.