We have KM Maple in Chestnut...our kitchen is pretty small as well, and was always pretty dark. I was very worried about getting darker cabinets but I kept leaning in that direction. We did open up the wall between the kitchen and DR/LR which helped a lot, but we get mostly N/NW exposure. We did choose a lighter floor and counters which help but all in all, the kitchen isn't very dark for me at all. I am very happy with our choice.

Sorry about these pics...we finished 5 years ago and these are the most 'final' photos we have!

We have KM Cherry-Autumn Blush, but they are sitting in boxes in our garage waiting to be installed! I do, however, have a couple of pictures of the ones we saw in the Home Depot display--

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We don't have a huge kitchen either, so I hope these will look good! Hope that helps!

You can order samples of those finishes at the Kraftmaid website, and when you're trying to narrow it down even more, you can order an actual sample door. It's $50 per door sample (includes shipping) or 4 smaller filler color samples.

Remember that even the brightest kitchen in daylight will need lighting after dark, and in the winter, that's around 16 hours of the day, so don't forget to add additional lighting while you have the chance.

Yeah, I have to agree with LWO - all the daylight in the world doesn't help if the kitchen is dark at night! We ensured we had good lighting with our remodel.

Thanks for posting the pics.

lnersesian - your kitchen is beautiful in chestnut. This helps a lot in making my decision.

lauramn - thanks for the pics. No one by me had autumn blush and that's suppose to be one of Kraftmaid's most popular color.

I went in on Friday ready to pic chestnut only to walk out still undecided. I ordered a sample door in chestnut to make sure I like it both in the sunlight and at night. If I don't it will be autumn blush. Holding up my own construction - going on 4 wks now. I have the granite, style, molding picked just waiting on color. I also have more lighting being installed in ceiling and under cabinet lighting.

My KD said just place the order and I still have 1 week to change the color. This way they can at least measure my kitchen. This is so tough!

lnersesian:
I ordered maple chestnut cabinets and I'm having a hard time deciding on a granite...some are too light, some too gold, not gold enuf, too dark, etc. (certainly not a unique problem, for sure) But your granite looks stunning with the chestnut! Do you mind sharing the name?

If you click on the picture you can see more pictures of KM cognac cabinets in my small kitchen. I was afraid to go dark too, but had no regrets about my final choice.

I have finally decided on Chestnut!!

limom, lnersesian's granite is called Persian Brown.

Congrats on your choice!!!

limom, so sorry that I didn't see your post...bbell covered it for me...Persian Brown and we got it at All Granite & Marble out in NJ (I'm making the bold assumption you're on Long Island, if not, I apologize!)

Thank you, lnersesian. Yes, limom is a Long Island Mom!
And thanks bbell for posting the granite color. Certainly something to consider!