Are you thinking painted cabinets or natural wood? Do you want stone etc on the counters?

I like your idea, to pick up the gold, peach and terra cotta tones. Are you keeping the brick, too? It seems to go well, with the floor.

Are you going to have an island? If so, maybe Parchment on the perimeter and Honey Spice for the island? You could have all the countertops match...or maybe a darker countertop in one area and the blush/apricot on the other?

First thought of painted cabinets ( Kraft Maid Canvas in Maple) but am worried about paint chipping off, stains etc. However, our next option, which is KraftMaid Parchment in Maple is stained - but because it is light-colored it will probably also show stains eventually. So at this point, I am still dithering about which to choose.

Yes, either engineered stone or granite for countertops. The white tile countertops we now have look really shiny and new and quite lovely in the picture, lol - but they are a PAIN to keep clean ( held up for 22 years, though) and I can't stand the grout.
The current cabinets are oak and 22 years old, too.The drawers and cabs beneath the cooktop and those beneath the sink area are really dinged, scuffed, sticky ( I've cleaned and cleaned, faded and have marks of water damage. The oak looks dreary at night with the lights on.

We would have refaced but the countertop needs to go as well as the cooktop ( also 22 years old) and because we plan to downsize in a few years and hope to put this house on sale, we decided to go ahead with the new cabs and new appliances now and enjoy them for a while before we sell. The footprint will be intact.

lavender_lass: yes, we're keeping the brick ( it forms the alcove for the cooktop) and we won't be putting in an island. The current layout works very well for us.

The cooktop area has all the white tile too, for counter and backsplash and ceiling, and I've almost given up trying to keep that tile clean, aargh. I'll try to post a picture of the cooktop area.

You said it better than I did - I'd like to pick up the peach, gold and terra cotta tones, for the countertop! Thanks! ;-)

Okay, here's the cooking niche! Wow, it looks brand new in the picture, lol. So clean, too!! :-).

Bring home a sample of the wood you are thinking of. The color of the current cabinets do not look good with the floor, on my computer screen. I think having a live sample will inform you of your choices. I wonder what the underlying maple color has and if it will look good with your floor. BTW your tile is pretty.

Enduring: Thanks! I will get samples to compare.
You are correct - the oak does not go well with the floor at all. The original flooring was a whitish patterned vinyl and the cabinets looked better then ( plus they were newer, of course).
The tile does look pretty until you come close to it, lol. The grout picks up dirt and I no longer have the desire or the energy to scrub and scrub.
I once saw a granite slab in a tile store that had beautiful swirls of cream on a peachy background but can no longer find anything resembling that :-(.

Ooh, I like that! Lots of charm and character.

Here's another idea...and I posted the link, if you want any details :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Hacienda kitchen

lavender_lass: that countertop is so similar to the one I saw! ( Less of the yellow/gold though). Thanks for the link. The floor tile looks a bit like ours, too :-)

I plan to do a colorful square or diamond-shaped tile insert on the cooktop backsplash ( the one in the picture is rectangular with neutral-colored tiles) as well ...but first things first..have to figure out which cabinet color and which countertop. SIGH.

Thanks again :-)

Your floor tiles are beautiful. The key to making a good cabinet color choice is to go either darker, or much lighter than the tile in a harmonious hue. Your current cab color isn't that attractive because it is similar in depth to the color of the tile, but in a clashing hue. A dark cherry, mahogany, or even ebony would be lovely, but my favorite combination with terracotta-hued floors is actually white or pickled cabinets. As long as you lean toward the red and away from the yellow, you'll be fine.

EAM44: Thank you for your feedback - much appreciated!

When you say white cabinets, do you mean white painted? ( I'm a newbie to kitchen renovations so please put up with me).

I did think cherry would be lovely and it was our first choice but we had to look at the whole. The problem is that the adjacent family room is all oak - walls are paneled, oak beams on ceiling, wood floors. It looks pretty, though, and has a fireplace surround done in the same brick as the kitchen cooktop area.

This oak was continued in the current kitchen cabinets ( by the builder) and the ceiling light fixture ( which we will be changing to recessed lighting at a later date) is edged in oak as well. Also there is a recessed ceiling in the dining area of the kitchen - it is beautiful..but has oak molding. We wanted to keep this latter feature as it visually connects with the family room wood along with an oak 'sill' on a pass-through to the family room from the dining area. Cherry cabinets in the kitchen would clash with the oak, but white or cream cabs will look nice and actually lighten the space and give it an airy feel.

When you say, "as long as you lean toward the red," are you referring to the countertop or to the underlying color in the light-colored or white maple cabinets ..or perhaps both? What kind of countertop would *you* choose with the white cabs?

Thank you so much!

I'm no expert but I would either do painted white maple or darker stained (chestnut color?) oak cabinets if you want to tie in with the existing oak molding etc. Or you could try Lyptus. We have oak wood floors in our family room adjacent to our kitchen and chestnut/auburn stained lyptus in our kitchen with a travertine (light gold/pinkish) tile floor.

I wouldn't do a stained maple in the colors you described...with a light/peach granite, the floor, cabinets and counter would all look the same.

Thanks a lot for your suggestions, itsallaboutthefood ( love your moniker!).
The auburn sounds lovely. Hmmmm...
Why do you specify darker stained *oak* instead of darker stained *maple*? Is it because of the grain showing differently and thereby not coordinating with the existing oak molding?

No, I've heard that maple does not take darker stains very well. If you want a darker stain, you should use a different wood.

But actually....maybe the large manufacturers like Kraftmaid have figured out how to do this so maple might be fine.

Thanks! :-)