aklvdb, yes we are also in MB (bit of a shocker waking up to -30 again this morning). We have kitchen craft cabs and I'll tell you what I know, but it is horribly out of date since we did our kitchen 8 years ago. Kitchen Craft was smaller company and dealt with a lot of small local contractors. They had a good product with great quality control. Right around when we did our kitchen, they were expanding to deal with big building companies and starting to go big and bulk. They started to have quality control problems just because they were expanding so fast. I don't know how those problems were resolved as we haven't dealt with our contractor (he had been using KC for years and his wife was a KC designer/sales). When we bought ours, we weren't even shown MDF as an option (that I remember). We were told maple was a great paintable wood and we've been very happy. When I was looking for bathroom cabs about 5 years ago, I looked at many companies including Jake Klassen and noticed a few MDF doors (Klassen told me that was all they would do for the type of door I wanted). I can't remember which showroom it was, but I remember seeing MDF doors with the edges smushed and crushed. I ended up having a local carpenter make my bathroom cabinets - they were cheaper and are a work of art. No regrets there. Our house is over 100 years old and my bias is to real anything. Much of our furnishings are antique wood and my soft furniture is all covered in linen or cotton. I would rather live with a crack in real wood than have perfect MDF. I completely admit that prejudice. You have to decide yourself what is important to you.

oruboris: I don't agree. We do have stained cabinets, not because of any trend, but rather because they fit with our decor. Following your logic, since the 50's stained cabinets have been the norm. There are probally a far higher precentage of stained cabinets in kitchens today than painted ones. I suppose that makes stained cabinets, um, ... well common? And cherry? Often refered to as timless, I suppose that must mean in the next decade or so it will become, um, ...well...tired, and then tiresome? And berryberry: When is the last time you tried to strip off a modern stain finish so that you could paint over your cabinets? Easier said than done. In any case, if your kitchen works well, looks new, has a reasonable level of quality componets, and feels good to you and yours, it will take decades before it will become dated. Only a few trends in kitchen design have not lasted over the past 50 years, painted and/or stained cabinets are not on that list, but Avacado green is. :-)

Okay, you all have probably saved my marriage. If DH had come home to me holding a paintbrush anywhere *near* those cabinets, he would have flipped. Since I hadn't planned on doing a glaze, I was quite the taskmaster when he was painting them. I made him wipe off and re-do a few areas because there were imperfections in the paint. I kept telling him that they had to be darn near perfect, b/c there would be no glaze to hide any of the rough spots. A few times, I swear I saw a flash in his eyes that told me he was about ready to turn that sprayer on ME. He came through, and the finish is like glass. We've even had professional painters come in and comment on what a good job he did. Imagine all of his hard work hidden under a golden yellow glaze..... I'm likely going to do yellow cabs, but in the pool bathroom. Right now they're 70's brown, and they'd be stunning painted a soft yellow with a glaze. It'll scratch that itch for me, and I can be true to my original vision for the kitchen. Thank you ALL so much for your perspective and words of wisdom. I actually learned alot about myself (and the ridiculous need to re-do things) by reading your responses. I feel I may be just a bit more balanced now! LOL!! Love-my-lil, Your post made me crack up. You're a hoot! And my roots are getting a bit long....time for a trip to the salon! Laura, DH used a Wagner paint sprayer (bought JUST for this project....another reason he'd kill me if I sullied up his paint job!). The cabinets had already been painted, but they were discolored and smoke-stained. We cleaned them with TSP, primed with Sherwin Williams Prep Rite Bonding Primer (made specifically for adhering paint to glossy surfaces..it's spendy, but it's amazing stuff!), then sprayed 2 coats of Sherwin Williams latex paint. We didn't want the mess/smell of oil. Patricia, I bought the valance (of all places) at Home Depot. It was only $17.50. I was shocked when I pulled it out of the package and it was *exactly* what I'd had in mind to make. I couldn't have even bought the fabric for $17.50! Of course, adding my frou-frou fringe upped the total cost, but I'm a fringe kind of girl. :)

I have attached a one page info on types of lighting required in a home/kitchen. What you seem to have is mainly ambient lighting - over all lighting at a 9' height and seem to be mainly hidden in your ceiling angles. The window and skylight work fine for the day but not so much when it's dark and you're trying to prepare dinner. Task lighting is specific lights at a specific point (such as a dropped light at your sink to help with clean-up, or undercabinet lighting at your prep area to help with cutting, seeing lines on measuring cups, reading a recipe, etc). Depending on your age, as you get older the more task lighting you require. But like I said - you might be fine with your high lights. I just hope that aren't casting strange shadows but give you the light you need. Here is a link that might be useful: Basic types of lighting required in a kitchen