Have you seen vjrnts' kitchen? I am planning a kitchen with painted cabinets, but this is my favorite darker-wood one. She says it's oak with a coffee stain.

vjrnts' kitchen

One word of caution: It is notoriously difficult to stain hard maple "dark" and have the color turn out evenly. If is is not done right the color can be very blotchy looking.

If I were you, I would want to see several actual sample doors and drawer fronts, made of maple, stained the color you are interested in, before finalizing on a decision. Just seeing the color sample on a brochure or a website is definitely not enough in the case.

Funny, I originally wanted a modern country kitchen, but then decided that white cabs would be too much upkeep and too stark, as my kitchen is open to my FR. I went with espresso cabs, and while I didn't go country, I'm not going for cold modern. I'm using a stone backsplash (forum favorite Fire and Ice), stainless appliances, and a tawny granite countertop. My cabs are stained oak, and the grain contributes to the natural effect. I call the look "earthy modern", and I'll be finished in about 2 weeks, so no pics yet. Maybe your espresso kitchen just needs a few touches of natural materials to make it cozy.

Could you do the stained wood in an oak? That would give you the grain you want for the country look.

You know, I had been so sure I wanted a white kitchen, too. But when decision time came, and the more I thought about it--mainly thinking about the scuff marks and dents that would surely mar the finish anyway--I decided on stained maple cabinets too. I just love the grain-less look of maple! After redoing our kitchen this past summer we love the casual country look of our maple cabinets.

For the perimeter we chose a light stain, that pale natural light color that you don't like--although I love it, and while not in style right now it looks so beautiful after junking our crappy dark 70's cabinets. However for our island we did a dark maple stain--called Country Cinnamon-- and I gotta say we absolutely love it! A beautiful rich reddish-brown, and I love the minimal grain look. We also used the satin nickel cup pulls on the drawers and simple knobs on the the doors, and it looks beautiful. The island with the dark maple stain and hardware reminds me of an old general store, with the bins of candy and flour--that kind of casual antique-y style.

Now I know it is more difficult to stain maple dark, but there are special techniques that the cabinet makers should be using if they know what they are doing. Make sure to get a sample so you can see how it looks.

I will try to post a picture tomorrow. Right now my island is covered with about 20 little pumpkins and the craft supplies my daughter and I used to decorate them today!