The combination looks lovely - thats a great way to get what you want without making the whole room seem too dark. I picked painted cabinets for my own kitchen because Im not planning on renovating EVER again and I wanted the most timeless option. Wood grains go in and out of fashion but painted cabinets seem to be pretty consistently in the scheme. Of course you can always paint the wood cabinets down the road but I would have a harder time doing that than repainting.

The picture looks pretty close to natural Alder color. Have you tried just using clear topcoats? I used to make lots of stuff from Alder, back when I worked for a southwestern-stlye cabinetmaker. We used primarily Minwax Natural or Provincial to color the Alder. I think a mix of about 3 parts natural to 1 part provincial may get the desired color. But make sure you top coat the sample. The stained wood will look very different once it's top coated. The topcoat will intensify the color, or may make it more amber. Each product will have a slightly different effect, so you should decide on the topcoat before you continue to experiment with stain colors. Make sure you let the stain dry completely before topcoating. If the colors aren't going on evenly, if the wood gets blotchy patches of light and dark, the stain is not being absorbed evenly. This can be corrected by using a thinned coat of shellac, 1# cut, as a wood conditioner prior to staining.

Rhome is right. The difference between a white kitchen and an all wood room is huge. Will your new kitchen have a lot of natural light? I'm biased because I know I couldn't live in a kitchen that was all stained wood, but a stained kitchen with wood floors in a space without a lot of natural light reads dark and heavy. Sometimes that can feel cozy and comforting to people. Thinking about Rhome's questions, the Sweeby test, and looking at kitchens online will hopefully help to narrow in on the feeling you want to create. As to the glazing, this has been discussed often. You could search around here to read some of the discussions. A lot of people feel that a glaze on white or creamy cabs is dated, and that it makes the cabs look dirty. I feel like getting out a sponge and scrubbing cabs like that, myself. I painted the dark 70's wood cabs in my house 12 years ago and I glazed and crackled them. (hey, it was the 90's!). Soon after, I thought they looked dirty and wished I hadn't done it. Tastes change. You could always have them installed without glaze and have it done later if you really miss it. Finding a direction can take some time. Good luck!

Some people like the look and feel of wood w all its texture and variations.....myself included. Hickory w a medium to slightly more intense stain evens out the light/dark feature still leaving some variation in the look.....it's harder without as many knots. Quartersawn oak in a light stain Allows the beautiful grain to show. Cherry of course has beautiful grain . Searching is not giving ideas? Do you have a custom kitchen showroom? Maybe you need to see things more in a real setup than photos. Ikea has a wide variety of set up kitchens...the woods will be various in light to dark ranges but the available species is a smaller offering.