Aesthetics are a personal thing. Personally, I think it would look stupid if you had a 1" gap between your cabinet and the wall without a filler strip. If you already have a top and it overhangs on the side that is closest to the wall, do what people have suggested a couple times above and get a FILLER STRIP. If you don't already have the top, and the drawers don't rub up against the wall or hit door trim then you don't need a filler strip and the countertop you get will be cut so it fits properly. Please let myself or others know if you need more assistance. Thank you and have a nice weekend.

Hopefully what we are doing will help... We are getting a black granite (Diamond Black...like Black Galaxy only w/silver inclusions instead of copper & pink). But, our cabinets are cherry w/a mandarin stain & coffee glaze, so they're darker than yours. We had a similar debate in our house and we decided on brushed nickel faucets b/c we felt the ORB was too dark against the granite. As to other finishes...our pulls & knobs will be "Antique Iron" and the pendants brushed nickel. I was originally looking at black pulls & knobs but it was pointed out to me that the black is usually paint...and I do NOT want paint on my pulls/knobs (I had enough of paint w/our washed oak cabinets and the worn away paint!) I think you will be OK mixing finishes as long as you stick to two finishes (not counting appliance color). IMHO, too many finishes will look like everything was thrown together rather than planned. BUT...I lean toward being "matchy-matchy", so that may be my bias. HTH!

Going against the grain PURPOSELY? Or because there wasn't any choice (money/space)? Most things about my kit would not be recommended on here, but I didn't really have any choice as I wasn't spending $50K+ or totally moving all the walls around. [as palimpest noted above] So for most of it I can't really say, "I went against the grain!" Two things I COULD have done different but CHOSE not to: 1. Kept My Peninsula. Thought about it intensely, everyone IRL (didn't ask on here) said change to an island, but I just don't like islands. I still like my peninsula! :) I think this is MORE against the grain than all the skinny islands with narrow aisles. Most people, it seems to me, do anything to have a island in any size. 2. Ornate c abinet doors with applied rope trim, painted white with pewter glaze. This look is often referred to on here as "dirty". Was also advised to take down the wall between the kit and DR (IRL, not on here) by friends. But I LOVE my formal DR so I did not. So maybe that too? I didn't actually ask for or get advise from this forum as I found it too late. But it did get me to do ONE thing, which I did "wrong"! After seeing photos of MW drawers in islands I decided to put my MW below the counter, and created an open shelf for it to sit on. Love it there. Found out long after those were DRAWERS I had seen and they opened from the TOP. LOL! I still think it's hilarious I had NO idea what I was looking at. Never saw a MW DRAWER before. I stop back here because it's interesting to see how different people change their spaces. Befores and Afters are always fascinating, no matter what you do.

I, too, am having this problem. Our cabinets are on order, yeah, antique white with a glaze and medium color hickory cabinets on the island. Have looked at granite and are set on a cream/brown wavy one(can't think of the name). Plan on using cup pulls and knobs with a small detail around the edge. We are having quite a few drawers so lots of pulls. Our appliances are SS have a white not brite white farm house sink and a stainless faucet. I do agree that ORB would look great on the white cabinets. How about the hickory cabinets? What about light fixtures? Plan on having pendants over the island. Our dining room is connected. Tearing down the wall that seperates the 2 rooms-making the kitchen larger. I mention this because should the light fixture match the kitchens light fixtures, in style and in metal finish? The more I ponder this the more confused I get. Can't wait to work on ideas for a backsplash. ;-) Thanks for your help and input, norma