I love your idea of alder wood with a stain. Think it would be gorgeous.

We have walnut wood floors throughout our house including the kitchen and I chose painted white perimeter cabinets with a liquorice glaze and rustic alder island with same liquorice glaze. Countertops will be soapstone. I'm stoked about the combo and think it'll look great in out rustic western Montana home. I think it's important to pick what you like and what fits the style of your home and go for it!

It's tough to make those decisions. After I changed my kitchen plan entirely, I had room for an island. I'd never thought about whether to make the island the same color as the perimeters because for so long I thought I'd have a galley type kitchen. I struggled trying to decide on whether to vary the color os the cabs between the perimeter and the island, or whether to keep them the dame and vary the tops. I agonized. I looked at hundreds of kitchens online to see what appealed to me most. I think that just confused the issue so I narrowed down my kitchen pics to one of each style and thought about those. I had to let it marinate in my head for a while without putting pressure on myself to decide (yes, thats hard) until I just knew. Thats all I can suggest. Take a deep breath and relax. Hth.

For what its worth, I like White Springs better than the other one. And wood floors instead of tile for kitchen use. Tile is hard on my feet and back :)

thanks for the input!
we'll keep looking through builder model homes to get an idea of what we like..as of today i think we are leaning towards the alder wood with either an antique brown stain on it perhaps something a little more rich in color...we love white springs granite and i think we'll stick to it even with the alder wood cabinets and do oak floors...thanks again

For internet fun perusing kitchens, check out Houzz.com. And leave yourself a couple of hours because you'll get lost looking at gorgeous kitchens.

I like the idea of White Springs if you're going with wood and darker glaze/stain. The lighter color will give some relief to the rich woods. A granite with more rich yellows and golds could read too heavy.

thanks, i also LOVE delicatus as a granite color. Seen it on white cabinets with dark stain as well as with a java stained cabinets.
Any ideas how it will look with brown stained cabinets?

I am a little confused. Let me try to clarify and maybe
you can help me that way I can post pics for you.

Option 1 : White cabs, java glaze, java island, and
dark alder stained floors

Option 2: Alder cabs, java island, dark floors, no white
cabs.

If option 2 is wrong then these pictures can help you.
Otherwise I will post some new ones.
~boxerpups

Divine Kitchens Mass

Paint Believable buff

Mullet

Tile floors

It read to me that your second choice is all one wood, alder, with the light counters and stained oak floors. I think that is a great combo. If I were to do another kitchen, I'd probably do a medium to dark wood with a light color counter next time. I love our current white kitchen, but I have to make a plan for when we win the Lotto and move to another house ;)
I'd never buy the same color car twice in a row btw....

I think there is SUCH a big difference, character-, light reflection-, and impact-wise, between glazed alder and the painted white. Please try to envision each in your space. Which do you want to walk in and see/have greet you each morning? What atmosphere do you want to work in while you're hurriedly making dinner? While leisurely baking or making a nice weekend brunch? How about at night when it's all cleaned up and you're gazing at your new and beloved kitchen, which sits better with you and thrills you more? Will you sit and enjoy coffee or a glass of wine? Which is more fun or more relaxing, or more... whatever it is you want the space to be?

Have you tried the Sweeby Test? It might help you pinpoint the vision/style/personality/feel you want for the kitchen, which then can help point you more in one direction than the other.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweeby Test

When I think of Alder I think Rustic, Country, Warm,
friendly, rich golden glows, shiny polish, black accents,
maybe oiled rubbed bronze hardware, Rod iron accents,
knots in the wood, mellow, strong, stones, earthy,
comfortable,...

When I think of White I think of fresh, clean, classic,
delicate, cool, shiny, polished, silver or stainless,
bright, light, clear, pure, simple, snowy, refined...

But since coming to GW. I realize there can be a mix
of many different designs. You can be classic and
dark wood and knotty pine and modern... The sweeby
test is a great place to start.

Meanwhile, Here are some alder kitchens...maybe this can
help with trying to figure out what you love. looking
at some of these Alder I would have trouble choosing
they are all so pretty. Both may be the way to go.
~boxerpups

Alder and white

thank you sooo much for all your input!! the pictures are wonderful and great help!
so to clarify our 2 options:
1) White cabinets with a java glaze on it with java colored island (exactly the way the pictures are)
2) No white cabinets at all..only alder cabinets with the light colored granite..flooring hardwood or tile, but leaning towards hardwood..

thanks for all the pictures! and yes, i will try out the sweeby test and hopefully it will help me in narrowing down my choices.

if we do white cabinets, i worry about glazing it a java color..i love the distressed and antique look it gives, but how will look a few years from now..will it be out of style??

There are a couple ways to look at the glazing question.

1) It certainly could date the kitchen in not too much time, and is it enough of an impact that you want to do that, rather than leave the cabinets the more classic and timeless plain white?

2) If you love it, and will continue to love it...and it goes so well with the rest of your choices that it creates one all-over look that 'works,' trend or date doesn't have to matter. Plus, the glaze tends to go where dirt can sometimes gather on white cabinets, so you won't have the constant struggle of digging out corners and crevices. ;-) Not to say you will want to leave the cabinets dirty, but from just having my island in cream, I know that 'clean' doesn't always look it without some extra effort.

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!

I am not a huge fan of glazing light painted cabs. It has become popular and therefore may become dated sooner than simple cabs would be. I am with Breezy in that you can always glaze after the fact...

I like wood cabs a lot, but the wood floors with them in the same tone could be wood overload if not done carefully. I do think they look great with lighter counters and think that helps them from darkening the room. Your appliance and wall color choices factor in too.... With white appliances, it would not look so dark....

I am an interior designer, and often am called to help clients figure out what they love, and what they can live with. Evocative words are good, but can mean different things to different people.

Here's an exercise I recommend (and I do it myself, occasionally, to try to keep in touch with my own tastes!) Pare down the input. Look through photos of kitchens and choose three photos of kitchens you like, and three pictures of kitchens that just leave you cold. Don't think about it too much, just respond, and choose. There will be a thread that connects each group of three, and it may help you with the smaller choices you have to make. I find that there are things that are hard to articulate (the amount of contrast you like, for instance) that can be seen clearly in an exercise like this.

In any case, it's a way to declutter your decision making, and get back to the real purpose of these decisions, which is to create an environment that speaks to you. Good luck!

The interesting thing that complicated things like exercises and tests, at least for me, is that when I looked at kitchen photos when planning ours, I kept loving white kitchens. But I KNEW white kitchens weren't 'me' and I knew I could not walk into one every day and feel at home there. I had to look deeper to see what else was speaking to me in the particular white kitchens I loved... to see what was the feel or atmosphere in those white kitchens that I could have without all the white paint. It's not necessarily easy, but worth it to take the time and know where you're headed.

Best wishes!

Not that my opinion means much, but I thought I would throw it out there anyway.

A friend of mine got new cabinets last year. She went with a chocolate brown stain on the perimeter with a off white, glazed island. I hate to say it, but the glazing looks sooooo dated, and IMO ruins the kitchen. I thinking having the glazed cabinets throughout the entire kitchen would look worse. I am all for the dark wood.

thank you all for the wonderful feedback...
just like rhome410 stated, i just love the look of white kitchens in pictures..it looks so lighted and crisp. but at the same time i know that i am not a white cabinet type of person.. so i think what i am infact liking is the full of light natural look i am seeing in these pictures..
i will have to find the perfect wood cabinet that helps me accomplish this look and then i will need to get the perfect flooring..like mentioned i dont want to overload the wood in the kitchen with the cabinets and the flooring all being the same color wood. need to brainstorm some more...thanks again for the feedback

For me it was not only the light, but the atmosphere and overall feel of the room. The ones I liked just looked like places for family and like there'd be baking going on there. There was a warm hominess mixed with obvious functionality. I looked for other common elements, and found that the white kitchens I chose also often had a section of butcherblock and maybe even some stainless counter, and not a country look, but the comfortable and clean austerity of a farm kitchen. Those things may not be what appeals to you, but there might be more than just the light color you can find in the kitchens you are drawn to.