I have a 1937 cottage, and trying to retain the vintage feel. I've done a bit of researching on this very topic! No glaze on the cabinets, but chrome or nickel was used very often for kitchens and baths, even if the door hinges are brass, and very dark and aged (mine are too!) So you have lots of knob options.. just the hard part is deciding!! Chrome, nickel, brass, ORB, iron, glass, and ceramic will all work! I *think* I decided on chrome.. and we just ignore the door hardware! Seriously.. I have looked through 1/2 million kitchen pictures and you don't really notice the different finishes unless you really are actually looking for it!

These are some great ideas ... to be clear, I can paint the cabinets no problem (have experience and appropriate equipment), but I have resisted over the past couple of years because we had higher priority things to get done in the house. We're getting past those now, so have time to go back and tweek. I like idea of crown on the uppers. Removing the cab over the sink is problematic ...it has an LED under it that is really important to the sink function ... will have to look and see if I can pull it, route the wiring into the ceiling and then back down into another dangly fixture that could match whatever ends up being over the island? Funny thing ... taking photos and then studying them actually helps ME! The fan is ugly ... but it is a wonderful thing ...maybe paint it white to match ceiling? (we did this to two fans in this house and two in another ...makes them sort of disappear). We replaced two in another house with dark brown ones to hook up with the dark woodwork ... it looks good, too. We'll look at replacing the glass on the two dangly lights ...it does need some contrast from the white ... since they don't do much, anyway, perhaps industrial stainless, dark gray, red or black?

I prefer to use the same metal cabinet/door hardware throughout the house. Most are the same style, but all are polished brass in my house. It unifies the house. And your hardware will never distract the eye from a gorgeous view! It would draw the eye so much that a big pike of dog poop. In the middle of the floor would be unnoticed and stepped in!

I had satin nickel hardware in my kitchen before and was really hoping to do something different, which is why I was considering a matte black or gold option. What about doing satin nickel for the faucet and light fixtures and hardware either gold or black?