First of all, congratulations on your new house. The kitchen space looks really fantastic. It has a lovely island and it looks to be open to a living space with a beautiful fireplace. If it were me, I would choose stainless steel range and fridge and either try to sell the dishwasher as well, or wait out it's death before replacing. My oak kitchen (darker, not golden) had bisque appliances and I slowly replaced them with stainless steel. I really like the crisp, cool, contemporary look of stainless with oak. But I also think black or white can be successful. Your kitchen has a lot of warm neutral tones, so I think the stainless would look great, and it sounds like you prefer that as well. Don't be afraid to take your time making your new house fit into your style. It's ok to have one (or more) mismatched appliances while you're saving up or waiting for its demise.

Hi, I was waiting for you to start a new thread, but I guess that you couldn't figure it out. This is the kitchen of my daughter and son-in-law. I painted the walls for them in a BM Woodstock Tan. It really did wonders for their yellow oak cabinets and floors. The walls were previously light yellow when they bought the home. They also added stainless steel appliances and granite, plus changed the hardware to a darker color. Sorry that these photos are so grainy. I took the photos with my cell phone. BEFORE: AFTER:

I slowly replaced all of the bisque appliances in my kitchen with stainless steel, including switching from a coil electric range to a slide in stainless. I started with the dishwasher when it died, then the range and fridge. I still haven't replaced the microwave above the range which happens to be black. I have dark oak cabinets and I love the stainless. It really helps make the kitchen feel less dated, though it took several years until we replaced most of the appliances (as they slowly died). I think you need to have a long term plan for what you want to do with your kitchen before you decide if you want to go from white to something else. The white looks nice in your kitchen so if you may only change out one or two appliances, I'd keep with white. If you plan to change out all the appliances over a few years, choose whatever color makes you happy. If my vote counts for anything, I'd choose stainless or white (in that order).

The new lighting could effect the wall color and the color of the wood - so definitely do that first. Do some research into the lasting effects of gel stain - I've heard both good things and bad things. Here are just some unasked for thoughts- if I was working with this kitchen on a budget, I would possibly remove the upper trim piece and the small wood piece over the windows. I might remove the entire cabinet to the left of the farthest left window and replace with some shelves. I would remove the over the range microwave, which being short I could not even use, and replace with a stand alone vent. You could do a stainless vent for a more modern look. It is more expensive, but you could stain an unfinished wood hood with insert for a more farmhouse look. You have so much lower storage I actually would be tempted to remove all of the upper cabinetry - especially if there is a pantry cabinet - I was wondering where the fridge is - is there a pantry cabinet next to it? As far a curtains - I do like the softness and color window treatments add, though tis is a person style choice. This vent is a little larger than you would want: Less uppers - pretty window treatment: Rustic shelves: If you like a bit of country / farmhouse, beadboard makes an inexpensive backsplash and works well with shelves - rather than tiling, which might possibly need to be redone if you got new counters down the road. This is my basement kitchenette - done very economically with some of my original cabinets (refinished), shelving and beadboard - though in this case I used the beadboard wallpaper to save money - might replace with the real thing in time: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~65270573 My main kitchen is also oak and in my "my pics" idea book - if you want some possible ideas for counters/ backsplash / farm sink - but it is done in a vintage style.