Not too traditional at all. But, maybe too transitional and formulaic ''current'' to read truly modern. Shaker can look OK as ''modern'', but there's too much of the other trendy choices to say that it would work here. You need some out of the ''Design Box: Popular Transitional'' choices, and slab doors as a start. And color. Color blocking should give you the modern vibe here.

I agree with you but we are limited to the line of cabinets our builder is working with and their slab doors look cheap. And their color choices are limited unless we want to do high gloss red (which we don't). There are lots of stains, white, a couple of warm grays, a very dark slate gray-blue (which may read as black but I do like it) and just plain black.

My take would be, since this is a one wall kitchen, basically, the aluminum framed top cabinets will steal the visual sight line ...what are they exactly-smokey glass?? I read those as soft contemporary-getting an industrial look would need a little more lending with rustic species. The shaker goes back to being traditional in a way. Rustic hickory with a dark stain rather than black would also be a good blend with the flip cabinets....but I'm just not that big on black-a dark stain like espresso on oak or the darker hickory or alder is preferable......but describe the flip cabinets a bit more. Watch out for too much mixing of elements in a small space. I think for me-I would do all cabinets the same, contrast a bit with slightly lighter or darker floor and keep the counter and backsplash more simple and spend plentifully on lighting and hardware...details count.

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I love industrial moder, and I would be living in a warehouse if it werent for DH. My dad had a metal fabrication business and took me to jobs with him. There are lot of cool, old buildings out there.

I think the two kitchens above are pretty different but equally beautiful. Maybe it depends on what vibe you're going for with the top one being new and.industrial especially with the SS cabs which you have to have something of. You could get away with black or white cabs on the back wall and SS island. It would still be beautifully industrial.

I think the second kitchen is probably in an old warehouse because of all of the exposed, worn brick.

This is very similar to the house we are building, to give you an idea of style. The floors on the main floor where the kitchen is will be unstained white oak. There is an open staircase with white oak treads and silver railing right next to the kitchen.

I would love SS cabinets but the closest option that I have for that are the aluminum framed flip-up cabinets (which, to answer questions, are basically a shaker cabinet but with aluminum frame instead of wood and a frosted glass panel).

I hear you palimpsest. And I love slab doors when they don't look cheap. But in the last house our builder built, they had slab doors that didn't fit well together so there was a small space between the doors and it just looked cheap. He has switched cabinetmakers, but I'm still wary. How would stacked cabinets look with slab doors?

All cabinet doors require spaces between them if they are to be opened. They all should come with 6 way adjustible hinges to get the gaps even.

The gray/blue/black sounds interesting. Especially with a quartz top in a similar hue on top of it for the color blocking effect that I mentioned. Which cabinet line is being offered here?

Thanks Sophie. It's KitchenCraft. They are going to have samples of the slab doors that I can look at next week.

Yes, as soon as I saw the word shaker I thought "oh oh". That may not give you the look that you want. However, slab doors on top would help and something I have wondered about is whether or not the width of the rails/stiles would define transitional vs contemporary look. You may not have a choice of course but I seem to remember reading that wider rail/stile is more contemporary. However, that may have just been someones opinion.

Can you do a waterfall installation of the granite - that for me reads more modern/contemporary as well. : link showing examples

And yes, hardware, lighting and barstools can really pull the look into contemporary.

We selected counters today and settled on brushed black pearl granite. It matches the dark gray-blue cabinet color they offer so we are going to go with that for the island. Here are the light fixtures we are planning on for the island and the open dining area next to it. Seeing these, do you think the white cabinets behind it will read modern industrial or should we do dark bottom cabinets for the wall as well. After talking to you guys, we're leaning toward the flat panel doors now...hope they turn out ok!

Love the light fixtures!

White can definitely read modern, but it depends more on the style than the color. I do think the white will bring some brightness to the dark island and countertops, so it would be a great choice.

White gloss slab for sure. With white quartz tops for that section. The lighting is cool as a decorative art element, but as actual lighting, not so much. Kitchens are work rooms that need lots of light. Those will provide lots of shadows, not light. Is there recessed lighting or something like cable lighting planned?

Yes there are recessed lights as well as under cabinet lights. The pendants are just for decoration.

Just don't put them directly over your actual work surface. They will throw shadows there. Make sure that you have several recessed lights directly over the work surface and that the ceiling is low enough for them to actually get the correct number of lumens on the work surface. Consult a lighting designer if need be. Recessed lights have a hard time providing task lighting when they are 12' up from the surface.

Thanks so much for your help Sophie (and everyone!) I'm actually feeling so much more comfortable with the design since you guys convinced us to go with the slab doors. And as far as lighting goes, we are thinking now about different pendants that will give off more light (although the ceiling is only 9 feet so the recessed lights should still be sufficient).

Look at adapting an actual garage light as a pendant. Or a surgical light. Or a barn light. Something very real industrial rather than steam punk faux industrial.