I can't upload photos from here, but they wouldn't be a big help because when I saw how beautiful my (special, expensive, no VOC) plywood was I said that we couldn't cover it up with laminate, so the cabinet maker found a place that could do a factory finish on it. My cabinet doors are bamboo, and the interior is maple.

When I was going to do the laminate they use with the ordinary plywood and fiberboard, I didn't like the maple color. It was too pink and I thought it would look awful with my yellow bamboo. I looked everywhere for a kind of retro speckle, but most of them, like everything else nowadays, look like stone. And the colors of most of the laminates are wrong, including the boomerangs and other decor patterns. I ended up choosing a premium maple that has a texture (which I really didn't want, since the whole point of the laminate is for spongability), but it was the yellower maple that would look good with my doors.

Which is a long way of saying it can be whatever looks good to you!! Choose something wild and fun, or restrained and woodlike, or in between. The standard thing to do in glass doored cabinets is to finish them like the doors. Therefore, in your top cabinets, you could have basic put on, and paint it to match. Or you could choose an accent color that will make your things look good. For instance, if your tureens and vases, or whatever you're going to put up there, are mostly white porcelain, they'll look better against a dove gray or soft green than the creamy color I believe Hush is.

As for the rest of the cabinets, going with a color that matches your doors is the elegant thing to do. Or a soft accent color, such as the dove. It helps if the edges of the boxes, which show when the doors are open, are veneered to match the doors, however.

You could do bright red, or do each section a different color, but matching the paint is the "right" choice. Trust your instincts. You know what you like and want.

Thanks, plllog! I never thought about going with a color other than a cream (yes, Hush is a cream) for the melamine. I like the idea of making the upper cabinet display area unique. My only hesitation is that this display area will be way the heck up there (9' ceilings) so is that where I want to draw attention? Or is this even an issue since the display area will draw the eye anyway. Dunno, have to think about that.

After talking it over with hubby this afternoon, I'm as close to certain as I can be at the moment that the interior melamine will match our paint choice as closely as possible on all cabs, even the quartersawn oak cabs (except for the glass door area on the hutch).

And yes on the edge veneer matching the doors. We assume it will be the same wood as the cabs so it can be painted to match but that's a good question to bring up. Thanks!