Wow, lightning fast replies from the GW community! Many thanks to all. I'd welcome additional opinions, since everyone so far has taken my wife's position rather than mine. (But I think I now know what we're going to do.) : ) Igloochic, to answer your question, the "legs" will be extremely short, and simply cut out of the cabinet front. In other words, instead of a recessed toekick, the cabinet front will extend all the way to the floor, but the cabinet company will make an arch-shaped cutout in it extending across its width but curving down on the left and right to create "legs" that are several inches high. This will create room for your feet and there will still be a toekick hidden behind the arched front to keep debris from scooting back there too far. Kitchen designer says that with this method--which is what fits our budget--3" is too far and 1.5" looks right.

Cabs help define the room but you're the final boss. Not sure if you've seen my unstained "shaker" red oak cabs. Very affordable. The color is light, the grain is not accentuated, and it's possible to team them with a kind of midcentury-Scand mod look that can work with some oddball touches and it plays well with white appliances. I've got antiques in here but nothing very heavy--it's pretty airy. Light colored semi-transparent curtain fabrics keep the airy tone and we've tried to emphasize spaciousness by avoiding heavy things. The Swedes team chandeliers with modern furniture, but you have to get the ideas put together right. In my world, you mix hand-thrown pottery and old silverplate and white formal tableloths and it seems to work. Botanical and other natural science elements are useful as a tie-in. I would suggest staying with non-mod finishes (lots of wood, metals, classic fabrics and rugs, folksy art touches, downplay plastics and electronics and gizmos and vast expanses of industrial surfaces). If you do some research in library and online on "Swedish style" and "Gustavian" and such you will find an aesthetic that allows you to team very plain and Napoleonic together. Katrin Cargill has written or edited a lot of stuff about this. The rough details of real "country" with lots of wood in old Scandinavian rural houses combined with the rest of the gig is nothing but wonderful (in my humble opinion). Modern urban Scandinavians treasure their old stuff but they're terrifically practical people. Even Ikea features affordable twinkly chandeliers and prisms teamed with mod materials and furniture. The logic is that there is so much dark in the winter that you gotta live life now. Also look at real Shaker pieces and at mid-century "Danish modern" for some inspiration. The suggestion to use iron or blackened bronze in a chandelier is a good one. You will find many pieces like that in the gently mod kitchens on the GW. Some are modern takes on the old candleholder chandeliers. One way to gussy up plain "shaker" cabs is to use glass in the middle panel. Depending on your choice you can go modern or very old fashioned and everything in between. One look that will definitely cut the modern look is to install loosely or tightly gathered curtains behind inexpensive plain glass. You choose the fabric, from toile prints to cristp ivory white handkerchief linen to your favorite solid color. Changing them out only requires straight seam sewing and some fabric bought on sale. The cabs are mere backdrops. You only need to do this to a couple cab doors to reap the benefits. I've done a quick search for examples of kitchens in Scand/Swedish style but most show painted cabs. Here's one set of images, but it's pretty cutesy/femmy/painted antiquey... http://belgianpearls.blogspot.com/2010/05/thoughts-about-kitchen-redo-in-swedish.html Go to Amazon and type in Swedish style and you can look at a few pages of some of the books. Same with Google Book Search. Here is a link that might be useful:

This is all such great advice - exactly what I'm looking for! I will be taking each suggestion under consideration while reworking the design. Thank you all so much! Additional comments and suggestions are welcome. Below I've included additional information and answers to questions. If you don't have time to read the detailed version, here's a quick summary: * There will only be 2 adult occupants - no kids * We rarely entertain * We use the kitchen for almost every meal, but we aren't chefs or bakers * The new house will be informal & transitional but the floor plan has axial symmetry in both directions * The ceiling height will be 10 feet * The stone fireplace in the living room will have an arch at the top, but we're not set on using arches in the kitchen * There are large/tall windows in the living room and dining room, so having a window in the kitchen isn't necessary unless it helps the design * The view from a kitchen window will be the side of the neighbor's house * The upper cabinets will be 42" - regretfully we can't afford to go higher * I would like suggestions on 3D kitchen software so I can experiment before asking the kitchen designer to make more changes * I would appreciate any suggestions on 36" wide decorative range hoods that are affordable (if such a thing exists) * We plan to vent the range hood outdoors, but we want to keep the CFM down to avoid makeup air requirements Now for the detailed version: My husband and I will be the only occupants in this house - there are no kids in our future either. We very rarely entertain, but if we do, it's usually limited to 1-2 guests. We make almost every meal in the kitchen, but due to medical dietary restrictions, we often cook different meals, sometimes at different times. We definitely aren't chefs or bakers, but my husband grills outdoors and smokes meat quite often. Our new house will be informal and transitional. However, there is a lot of axial symmetry in the floor plan. For example, you'll notice that the foyer is centered on the fireplace, and windows flank either side of the fireplace. On the horizontal axis, the sofa and TV cabinet will line up with the island. The stone fireplace will be the main focal point in the living room. It will go from floor to ceiling, and there will be a stone arch at the top above the wood mantel. The ceiling height throughout the public area is 10 feet. There will be large windows in the living room and dining room, so it isn't essential to have a window in the kitchen unless it improves the aesthetics. Note that our best view will be looking out the large windows to the back yard - if we include a window in the kitchen, we'll have a fabulous view of the side of the neighbor's house. The cabinets will be mitered flat panel in the center (not slab). From a distance, they look similar to shaker cabinets, but up close they have a more detailed profile. The drawers will be 5-piece as opposed to slab. The plan we've chosen was designed by a local architect for the builder as a stock plan. We are customizing the plan a bit to meet our needs. The kitchen designer has provided 3D perspectives of the previous iterations, but I don't want to ask for additional changes until we have nailed down the design. If there are computer programs that I could use to easily create my own 3D model, I'd appreciate recommendations. As I mentioned earlier, we are on a budget, and we're already stretching to get 42" kitchen cabinets. It would be great if we could afford to stack the cabinets to the ceiling, but it's just not in the cards. We may be able to afford drawer bases instead of doors, but I will need to consult the kitchen designer for pricing. The sink is currently located in the island with a dishwasher on one side and a trash pull-out on the other. A second prep sink would be nice, but we truly don't need it given the way we cook. The range will be a 30-inch slide-in. I feel like a 36" decorative range hood would improve the aesthetics, but I don't think the budget will allow it. If anyone has suggestion on decorative yet affordable range hood options, that would be great. There will be 36" between the refrigerator and the island. We're between houses and living in a rental house that has the same island/fridge configuration, and honestly it hasn't been problematic so far. Given that we have limited space, I'd rather have a longer island than have another foot of clearance on the side of it. We are not set on using arches in the kitchen, but I suppose they would tie in with the stone arch on the fireplace if we do. The main reason for the arch in the kitchen is to dress up the open display cabinet a bit. I don't like clutter, but I do like to have a few places here and there for pottery and artwork, so I'd like to have at least one display cabinet in the kitchen. In the house we just sold, we had a tiny kitchen, so in comparison the new kitchen will seem huge and roomy, and the walk-in pantry is icing on the cake! I don't mind wasting one or two upper cabinets so that I have places to decorate and break up the wall cabinets, but I want any display cabinets to be well placed. In the same vein, I'd prefer not to add another cabinet to the right of the range run so that I have a small piece of wall for artwork. The room behind the refrigerator wall is a laundry room with a mudroom next to it. The extra space in the laundry room will likely be used for some unsightly exercise equipment. Function is very important to me, but my OCD eye also requires that I address what's behind the island very carefully. For my sanity, that small section of wall cabinets directly behind the island either needs to be symmetrical or else there should be nothing but cabinetry behind it so that my eye doesn't perceive an imbalance. I know that's super anal, but that's the way I was built, and now I have to build my new house to accommodate! :) Thanks again everyone - you're all awesome! Please keep the suggestions coming. This post was edited by broken_arrow on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 17:08

How far does the hardwood extend on the rest of that floor. I would find out if you can find the same hardwood that is in the dining area, extend it into the kitchen and refinish the whole floor in a light color. Although I do like the darker floors. However, I would not rip out a good hardwood floor, just extend it and finish in a color throughout that you like.