I just used a similar tile in my new build, but I wish I had gone lighter. Once it was installed, it looked a lot darker on some walls. With a lot of light, it might not matter as much to you. It also depends on what your inspiration photos look like... :) do you want a light, neutral? .... do you want something that will cover dirt spots better? In the end, your two options are VERY similar. I don't think one will be overwhelmingly better than the other. For my taste, I'd pick the lighter "athens"... #1: #2:

I popped in to tell you that I have Brookhaven and am very happy with them We came down to Brookhaven of Medallion and decided we really wanted the frameless (Brookhaven has both, Medallion has only framed) and we were more comfortable with the people at that dealer. We looked at Dynnasty and Omega but never got a quote from that ddealer -- never even returned out calls, actually. We didn't get very far with exploring that option. Fomr what I remember of the displays, they were nice, but I think Medallion and Brookhaven have the nicest finishing among the semi-custom lines. Now, that said, if you think you are happy with your kitchen, I would not go looking at new cabinets and ripping out the current one. I knew I hated mine and the process still stunk. I wouldn't go through it unless I knew it had a HUGE payoff. Make sure that some simple updating won't do just as much for your need to make new before you take a bigger leap. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

indedecisive- ply sides always cost more and veneer interior also costs more than melamine. Better, well.... Last I knew(3 yrs ago) Wood-Mode used ply sides for framed cabinets but frameless were furniture board (particle) with veneer and there was an option to "upgrade" to plywood. The biggest difference aside from style between BH and WM is in the finish. WM adds a final step applying paste wax. Things may have changed. Unless I wanted the veneer interior I personally would not pay to upgrade frameless cabinets to ply- I actually prefer not having ply for frameless. Many brands higher end brands have switched to ply for frameless. One that I carry just switched from this fabulous composite of veneer/mdf/osb/mdf/veneer- to ply. I not thrilled with the idea as the old material was atomic. The switch was entirely due to consumer push back and has nothing at all to do with what is best, it was the strongest most stable material available for that application, but the public knows better. Re construction options- you can request 1/2" bottoms for drawers that carry a load along with heavy duty glides, Plywood shelves when shelves are over 30" and will be heavily loaded (for my own BH kitchen I got 1/2 bottoms on one cabinet, skipped all the rest- 8 years now). With all the drawer upgrades I would not expect any problems as happened to a2gemini, even at 42", unless something was defective or improperly done.

Thanks Buehl. I appreciate you chiming in. I believe I had seen your comments on Omega/Dynasty before, which were among the reasons I sought them out to consider them. I have to say though, that after I posted yesterday my father and I went to check out CWP and Omega again. My dad, who is a retired boat carpenter (specializing in interior finish work), was not thrilled by the finishes on the sample doors in the showroom, especially on the painted doors, which caused me concern. Conversely, he thought the CWP finish was good. Unfortunately the Candlelight and Tedd Wood locations near me aren't open on Saturdays so he couldn't see those. At this point, I am leaning towards Candlelight, especially because they have the door style I like with square corners vs. mitered ones, so I'll be heading back to the showrooms to scrutinize them. Based on some other recent reviews I've seen, I'm beginning to wonder if something has changed at Omega/Dynasty since yours were installed (and others I've seen positive reviews for). It's so hard to tell! I'm glad you are happy with yours though and that they've held up well. It's such a big decision and investment, that any time I hear "they look as good as when they were installed" it makes me thrilled for that buyer. I'm hoping that whatever I choose, I'll be one of those people in a few years! Fingers crossed! Thanks again!