TB, it happens that my kitchen layout appears to be very similar to yours. I'm wondering if you've posted any other photos. From the vantage of the one in this post, it is set up like my kitchen viewed from the opening of our dining room. Presently, we have a set of cabinets to the left of our range, and attached to that, a matching pantry piece. For all the kitchen real estate it consumes I find that big pantry is not the most efficient use of space. The top shelves are hard to get to and the lower shelves are so deep everything in the back gets lost. Your plan seems so well thought out and I am curious to know what type of cabinetry/storage you used to the left of your range. Thanks -

I find red oak to have a pink/cinnamon cast to it...whereas the maple/hickory are MUCH MORE gold. I foresee a clash of undertones with the red oak. Of course, if you PAINT THEM your fine. But a natural (even a stained finish) with red oak is going to cast a different colour of wood. The maple cabs, though a pale fleshy colour right now, WILL turn to a slightly darker GOLD. In a year or so, the cabs should be a very close gold/yellow match to the gold in the hickory (which is why I like the two woods put together). The red oak, will start out a pinky fleshy reddish hue...and stay that way. It will clash until you stain them or paint them. Your current front doors are OK-ish. The brown is just about right for the hickory. A snick on the reddish side but nothing I would lose sleep over. That's as "reddish" as you want to go with hickory. Red Oak will be worse until you paint.

Thank you both! How about plain with a beveled edge? Is that only traditional? What about a simple mullion? The one on the left looks a little contemporary. Another question: are large, modern handles still the way to go? Thanks!

I would remove from the equation the idea of white appliances having an effect on resale. No one says "I love the house, but forget it, it has a white range!" What is key to this whole discussion and has not been addressed is how much are you willing to spend on your appliances. The solution to your dilemma would be to panel the dishwasher and the fridge, and the fridge must be a fully-integrated style to pull this off. This will be very expensive. For the range, there are some lovely white ranges out there by Bertazzoni, Bluestar, Smeg, Miele, Lacanche for example, but those tend to be much more expensive than the old-style type of white range. There was a recent thread where someone posted about a white Kitchenaid range that looked fresh and not old-style, and was not priced as high as the other names I've mentioned, so look into that. I have a panelled DW, stainless fridge, white range, and stainless hood. I love it. The range is so easy to clean compared to a stainless range. The pairing of the white range with the stainless hood looks clean and fresh. The DW panelling does not show water drips the way stainless does. I was not willing to pay the $9000+ for an integrated fridge, so I am fine with my stainless one. (I am "lusting" a little for the white Miele fridge that Miller pictured above). One last note - your mention of the wood beams worries me. I know it's not what you asked, but adding wood beams has the potential to look very nice or to look artificial, "faux". A lot depends on your ceiling height. Make sure you have thought this through.