Are you using a backsplash? If you are, what color will the tile be?

Do you actually mean modern? What kind of furniture do you have in the dining room. Is is colorful? Plastic? Wood? Is the space going to be sparse like most modern settings or are you going to fill it in with lots of 20th century finds?

Photos of the space would help.

If the cabinets are white I think gray would be a more "in" color right now and would also set off the white better. Of course, then you'd have to decide what shade of gray, but I've seen many beautiful grays on this forum.

Thanks for the input.

As of now it's still in the planning/construction phase. The floors, cabinets, furniture, etc. aren't in yet.

Maybe "contemporary" is a better word to describe the look we want as opposed to "modern". Not really looking for the colorful plastics look; more of a sleek, minimal, almost art gallery look. The cabinets are going to be full overlay slab.

We're still undecided on the backsplash. I've thought about stainless steel, but it may be out of our budget. If we wind up going with the black counters, I plan on having a vertical run of black stone behind the range and chimney hood.

I'll try to post some photos later, but like I said at the moment it's just sheetrock and subfloors.

Here's an image of the floorplan if that helps. The doorway opens up into the living room (also unfinished). Living room is almost the same size of the kitchen/DR. The major focuses in that room are a brick fireplace on the east wall; a fairly large window on the north wall; and a nice size skylight in the center. Am considering painting the wall with fireplace (east) and the west wall in the dining room the same color to try to tie those spaces together but I'm not sure if painting those walls darker would be a good idea since the fireplace and floors are dark and it's a fairly small space.

I would assess the natural light before worrying about painting those two walls dark. It could be just fine and look smashing. I do like to pull colors from one space to another to make the connections. That would be my advice for a kitchen color. Rather than try to pick a color in isolation, I'd want to pull something from the LR or DR into the kitchen so that there is some continuity.

I also think it will be very difficult to settle on the right colors without having lived in the space, much less seeing it built. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I would plan to find a single neutral color to start with and then go back and tweak, room by room, wall by wall.

I like your style! We too have white cabs, charcoal counters, stainless apps, dark wood floors. Our wall color isn't what you're going for, but I thought I'd post a pic just to help you visualize how your other elements will work together and maybe that'll help you think through your paint options. GL!

Just seeing your pics now. Your kitchen looks great.... thanks!