I agree with lascatx. I have raised panel overlay on my perimeter, which is white, and the same raised panel overlay on my island, which is espresso. A separate section of my perimeter, which comprises the stove alcove and flanking cabinetry, is the same white as the other white cabs, but is full-flush with a bead, and raised panel doors. It all ties in beautifully, IMHO, because the sections all relate to each other. The Danby marble counters are the same, in an effort to pull it all together. Although I have that same slab marble behind the range, the b-splash behind the cabs flanking the range is the same tile as the rest of the b-splash behind the white perimeter cabs. Also pulling it together are glass-fronted double-stacked uppers in both perimeter sections, and the same drawer pulls and cabinet knobs throughout. So, like Lascatx says, "keep it related" and it can be gorgeous.

It sounds like you have just the right type of house to pull off the eclectic/mismatched look. Could you post some pictures of the current space?

Definitely personal preference. In our case, we used the same size pulls on all drawers (4"). We used one pull on drawers = 30". We have 18", 24", 27", 30", 31", 31.5", 33", and 36" drawers and, like you, the vast majority of our bases are drawer bases. The only exceptions are the sink bases and the 6" pullouts flanking the cooktop. Cup pulls vs "regular" pulls...originally I wanted cup pulls, but then when we realized that to open the bottom drawers you have to reach under to get your hand in the pull that it would be more difficult than just reaching down from the top, we went w/the "regular". In the end, I'm glad we did as I like our pulls better than the cup pulls for our cabinets & kitchen style. The issue of being able to fit my DH's bigger hands was a concern for us as well when we were considering the cup pulls; since you're also concerned, I'd buy a couple of the larger pulls and try them out. We bought several different pulls & knobs and tried them on our old cabinets to get a feel for what they would be like using them as well as to get a general idea of what they would look like. 24" Drawer, 1 pull/drawer: 27" Drawer, 1 pull/drawer: 33" Drawer, 2 pulls/drawer and 18" Drawer, 1 pull/drawer & trash pullout: 36" Drawer, 2 pulls/drawer:

In my (more than 20 years) experience, polished nickel does not have any greater tendency to stain than any other metal used in faucet fixtures, if the fixtures are a higher grade manufacture. In general it is better to stick to one metal finish as much as possible however, the range hood is a "WOW" factor and can be treated as such....a stand alone piece that has a different metal finish.