It depends on what you have on the floor. If you have wood floors it would be too many tones of wood. I've heard it said that you should only have 2 kinds or shades of wood in a room.

A very dark cabinet with light butcher block and a medium toned floor would look Ok.

A suggestion--this is what we did when we redid our kitchen; Get a sample of the counter, flooring, backsplash and cabinets and put them together to see if they go together.

If you can't do that then get paint chips in the same colors or craft paints and paint some cardboard. Your cabinets will be the most predominent and then the floor.

We are doing a budget remodel using high end (second hand) oak cabinets and installed butcher block from Ikea. The butcher block is much more affordable that the soapstone I wanted, and I really like the look. However, we installed it knowing that we would change the doors of the cabinets in a year or two. After living with the wood on wood look for half a year, I really am motivated to have more contrast. I think it depends on your kitchen and the look you want. Our kitchen requires more light, so we will not be going darker with the wood. I don't like all white cabinets, and am considering a duck egg blue for my baking hutch area, with the rest of the cabinets painted white - conversely I like the look of wood lowers with white uppers. My dh will photoshop both looks.

If this helps, I picked up a few Adel doors in our local Ikea As-Is area just so we could test colors by painting them. It has a similar look to what we want in a door, and no matter where we end up purchasing doors, we think it will give us a good idea as to the look we want.

Hestia

We have a tan and beigy yellow vinyl floor. 2 more layers under it. And then wood. I think. I hate it, so I try not to look at it =D Hestia - we are hoping for high end second hand too! We will find out in a few days if we are going to get them, and hopefully someone else won't beat us to them! They even come with new to us appliances (except fridge). But they are a light/medium shade of cherry. Pretty, but not dark. I wish we could do the samples thing, but the floor is ancient, the cabs we won't even see until later this week and I haven't the slightest idea about a backsplash (that's next)!

I have a feeling I won't like the wood cabs and bb counters, but it'll be better then what I have now!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you get that kitchen! Post if you do or don't, I'd love to hear about it. BTW, the cabinets look HUGE when you bring them inside your house, but they all look just right in your kitchen. I hope you have fun planning what goes where.

If you don't get them, there are a lot of places out there that sell reclaimed kitchens, and I believe that they can be an excellent value.

If you are in or near Pennsylvania, New York State (south of the Catskills) or Connecticut, another of my favorites is GreenDemolitions. They are a not for profit that sells second hand kitchens - some fantastic, some not so great. I am also posting a link to a place that lists places that sell second hand building supplies. The ReConn store in Connecticut just had a beautiful white kitchen/island. I also recommend Craigslist. But here's hoping that you get your kitchen!

Hestia

www.greendemolitions.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Building Materials Resource Association