Forgot link to the example photo island color we want to replicate. It's #113.

Thanks in advance. So excited to be in the home stretch!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Island Example

I too planned a white island. I chickened out at the last moment and changed it to wood to match the perimeter thinking it wouldn't show the dinging-up as much and it saved us about $1K to have it stained instead of painted. I actually love it as wood, but my gut told me that in my case I could be fine with either. I have 2 other white pieces in the kitchen.

Go with your gut. I have a friend who did a whole-house new build and wanted dark perimeter and white island, but then thought it may be too dark and without having an actual space to judge the light, she flipped it to white perimeter and wood island. Now that the house is built she can see it has plenty of light and really wishes she would have stayed with her gut instinct.

I have Shiloh too. Oxford soft white beaded inset on perimeter and walnut with black glaze on the island/hutch. I was all over the board on the two tone thing. I went from one tone to a different colored island to making lowers dark and uppers white, back to colored island, added hutch, dropped colored hood- you get the idea.

Ours just went in and we are still in construction mode but I am happy with the two tone thing. I realize it might date it in 10 years, but I figured everything dates eventually. We also did a lot of stand alone detail- legs, hutch ends etc. so that it has a semi furniture look.

We are happy with them. Our carpenter complained a lot (he is amazing though) he felt there was a lot to do to them. More building than he is used to I guess. And lots of trim pieces attached that have to be shaved off onsite. I will be interested to hear what your installer thinks.

I am totally jealous of your 12 foot ceilings, are you coffering them?

Thanks for both your responses!

Question--How are you handling the countertops and backsplashes? Are you going light for both or mixing those up too?

adlb673, I am not coffering the ceiling. And maybe a sign of how much of a newbie I am, I had to google it! LOL. We are keeping it simple. The tall cabinetry...and now the dark island will be drama enough. It's actually a small space.

My island color is not repeated on other cabinetry and was built as a piece of furniture. Even after five years, it is my favorite part of the kitchen - if not the entire house.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

It almost seems like the MAJORITY do their island in a contrasting finish. I would be surprised if you find anyone with regrets...it is well within the boundaries of "classic".

I love having a wood-stained island with our painted cabinets from a practical standpoint--it takes a lot of bumping from the stools and vacuum. The little nicks are much easier to touch up with a stain pen than a can of paint.

My island, hutch and hood are painted creamy white and the other cabinets stained. Love it! NO regrets.

Actually, "almost seems" is the important part of what Shanghaimom said. The vast majority do not do their islands in a contrasting finish. They're just more noticeable and more likely to read this thread. It has been trendy recently, and that's probably where the seems like comes from, but by far the majority do matching. I agree that contrasting is as normal as anything else, though.

What I'm hearing from you, Gsmama, is that it's not so much that you want a contrasting island, but that you're unsure of having too much white. Regarding the bench, if you intend to put cushions on it, I'd reconsider making it wood. I think it would have more continuity if it was all one tone, with a vibrant cushion to set it off. If the bench area is open to another room, however, I do see the point of doing the wood to ease the transition, and delineate it as separate from the kitchen proper.

Before I saw your elevations I thought matching the island to a contrasting bench might be a mistake. As it is, I think it would look fine any of the four possible ways: all white, all white with wood bench, white perimeter with wood island and wood bench, or white perimeter and bench with wood island. Any of these would really look fine!!

What do YOU like best? Not which do you think will do this or that to match whatever, but which makes you happiest? Because, really any of them would be nice.

(Or you can just wimp out and say wood, because it's a lot easier to refinish wood with paint than vice versa.)

So is the bench for a table?

I think it would balance it more if the island was also dark. That and that the island will be taller will both contribute to its "furniture" look. I will be interested to hear about how you feel about the 40 inch island. My husband is also tall and we thought of raising everything at the 11th hour but got overwhelmed. He rarely cooks so his special needs got bumped :-) He must be used to hunching over counters by now, Id think.

So my vote is contrast if you are doing the bench seats in a wood. Google images. Its the best way!

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I think that if "everyone" or even "almost everyone" is doing something, then you know the backlash is coming and it will not seem special much longer.
Do what you like because you like it and not because it is in or out (although if you suspect something is being overdone, you may want to think longer and harder about it). If something is being done a lot currently, then if I really want it, I try to do it with a little twist so as to not do what is too common.

I agree with what most have suggested. Go with your gut instinct and what you think makes you happy. Here in OR, I was told that white kitchens were for an "older" crowd and more dated, but I just could not wrap by head around a "brown" kitchen! Anyway, I went with my gut on my cabinets, and although they aren't even installed yet, I know I made the right decision for me -- it's what I like the best and by goodness, I'm going to be the one cooking everyday!!

I hope this helps! This community here is wonderful! Happy Holidays!
Mom to 4 in OR

I went with a medium cherry perimeter and natural type distressed maple island. I didn't want to be overwhelmed by one wood color either. We went with different counter top materials too. I love cooking in my new space.

Your design looks lovely. And I like the probable color of your center island. You need to do what you feel comfortable with. It can be tough to figure that out though. Like adh673 suggested, google is a great way to check out other photos that may be more similar to what you are wanting. It helped me to look at as many different kitchens as possible to narrow down what I really was drawn to.

Hope this helps you.

Here is a link that might be useful: doonies kitchen

Gsmama - As said, you are getting the response of the tired and true two-tone (or more) crowd. I love the two cabinet finishes in my kitchen, but definitely second guessed myself because I hadn't seen much of what I was going to do. I felt it looked more natural (is the term unfitted) than a kitchen that was all one color. I found that for me, segmenting was important. Perimeter uppers and lowers are natural red birch. Full length pantry, separate build in desk/hutch and island are white. Some say it will be trendy, but the beauty is if you are getting nice quality cabinets you can refinish them in the future - paint the island white if you are really un happy with the look.

I would just be thoughful with the paint and the stain finish choice, that they compliment one another. The red birch has some lovely gray almost green undertones that I picked up in the white cabinets. If I had gone more creamy I don't think it would have come out as well.

Good luck.