Look at your inspiration photo (the last one) again. It is not wall to wall windows. There is breathing room and wall space around the windows. While a wall of glass might be different, I don't like a wall of windows, especially without breathing room. Go back to three windows or even one larger and two narrower ones. I like the C-shaped idea, but I would make the cabinets stained like your main ones. Your hood is more like that one above, the barrel shape, right? You are using the chimney style in the drawings and that just doesn't look right with panels around it. I don't think a hood looks sad and lonely if not connected to cabinets -- I think it looks clean and functional, but I wonder where my oils and things, my serving pieces, etc. will go. LOL (You could look into putting in some niche space in your backsplash or to the side.) If you do uppers, I do like the idea of stained better, and I do think the same height is better. Or just put one on the window wall to the counter to balance the one at the other end and forget the other one. (be brave -- the copper is beautiful and can shine on it's own). Make the island less of a cabinet that turns the corner and treat it more like a piece of furniture added to the rest of the kitchen. Give it a different color, different counter, different trim, hardware and even a different (but related - not too different) door style. Maybe put it on feet. My thoughts, anyway. ;-)

Every choice has pluses and minuses, in the end you have to choose which plus and which minus matters the most to you and/or which have an easy fix (like using a cutting board under the crockpot; at work we have an extra piece under the big coffeemaker). budget mattered a lot to me (and I hated formica) so, I ended up with a lesser expensive granite and am very happy, no sealing or extra work for the stone I chose. I had formica previously which looked like h#*! from the day I moved in and didn't get better (except that I could use bleach to remove stains) so those of you whose formica looks like new after 30 years must be taking appropriate care -- using cutting boards (mine had little cuts all over) and so forth -- where my previous owners did not. But, I read that formica now is much better quality than what was installed 30 or 40 years ago. I looked at Burled Beach and liked it. It looked a warm sand-ish color on my samples in my house, but I saw a demo kitchen of it at a big box store and it was a warm greenish tone (I still liked it) under their fluorescent lights. You always have to ability to STOP and make changes unless the cabinets are all already made. If he is just now starting it might not be too late -- call him now! PS do you have an IKEA near to you? Most counter materials are less expensive there.

for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.

I would love to see how it turned out. We're doing a very similar renovation. So far our walls are alabaster and we've only purchased lower cabinets. I painted them Mindful Gray (BM). We just purchased our counter tops yesterday and they are unfinished butcher block. So now I'm panicking on what stain to use on them (our floors are Allen + Roth Russet Oak Laminate). I don't want the floors & counter tops to be too matchy and I'm considering just oiling them without staining. So many decisions!