Like you, I did not have a lighting designer. I picked some of my fixtures from my builder's preferred supplier. Others I ordered on the internet myself. And for cans, closet, garage, etc. fixtures, the electrician supplied. The sales rep from the builder's supplier brought his fixtures to the house, labeled them where to go and left all the appropriate light bulbs (without asking my preference as to bulb types). Some of the fixtures that I ordered online (from school house electric) came with special edison light bulbs. For all of the fixtures that the electrician supplied and the internet fixtures that didn't come with bulbs, the electrican called and asked what type of light bulbs. He wanted to put compact florescents everywhere. But, I wanted lots of my fixtures to dim and I could not find an acceptable dimmable cfl, despite quite a bit of research. The light bulb phone call came within the last two weeks of the build and I was tired of making decisions, so I deferred heavily to the electrian.

If you're having two finished for your cabinets, why not two finished for your knobs? In my kitchen, I wanted a semi-unfitted look, and so had a black tall hutch and red island in addition to my stained cabinets. The stained cabinets have ORB handles; the red island has black bin pulls and knobs; and the black hutch has weathered pewter hardware.

@feisty68: thanks for reminding me. I wasn't able to find older threads, so I thought posting a new thread might help others in the same situation. The house was built in 1868 and has a Mansard roof. Very little architectural detail has been preserved on the inside. The first floor basically consists of three 13'x13' boxes connected by arched openings: a front living room with a bay window, a dining room, and the kitchen in the rear. All rooms have the same red oak flooring in a reddish tone very similar to Adel Medium Brown. The door on the east wall, which is being resized, leads to a tiny room (can be used as a pantry) on the north and the outside on the south. The nook on wall D leads to the dining room. The door on Wall C leads to a bathroom. http://kitchenplanner.ikea.com/US/UI/Pages/VPUI.htm?LoadDesign=8bf8333e60ed4994bff77dfdf111ee09&UIContext=Kitchen&IsSharedDesign=1 Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Older Thread: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0420205914987.html

My two cents.....why not get a panelled frig to match your cabinets. "Some" black appliances will look real nice. However, to me frigs in black look big scary and dominating. I feel like they are ready to charge,trample and pack me inside to keep me quiet. I think black refigerators are jealious of beautiful kitchen cabinetry and want all the attention. If you have a big screen tv from the late eighties there is always the risk of them taking off with each other in the middle of the night. If the refrigerator becomes PG you will have thousands of large original cell phone parts in gray at your door step. Do you really want this responsibility? No offence to those who have black refrigerators, my two cents is just that. All your kitchens are gorgeous! Can't help my frig weirdness ....sorry.