I didn't make any changes but I pondered, analyzed and researched for months before I finally decided. Plus I had an excellent KD who provided outstanding guidance and advice that I usually listened to. So by the time I went ahead with it all I was confident about my decisions.

How can polished nickel not look good with a whiter white? I think you are obsessing. Have you seen a large sample door painted in the color?

I think polished nickel looks fine with whiter white. I didn't use a KD but I was changing my design constantly during the process as I learned new things or as I bought different appliances due to budget constraints.

It's a common thing.That's why they charge for it.Don't feel bad .It's your money.

What Snookums said.

Put the whole thing on hold until you are ready.

At some point you are going to be told - "It's too late". And then what will you do. You need to have all this decision-angst taken care of before you start.

Will you still wonder how things will look? Sure, you will. But until you are super excited to see how your choices and your plan will all turn out I think you need to slow down.

When I made my final choices I was so excited. However, when I made the granite decision I felt like I was settling for something just to have the decision made. I still feel that way 5 years later and I should have listen to my inner voice and looked a little more. My point being, until you are excited about seeing what you have chosen, wait.

If your order hasn't been submitted, it's fairly simple to change finish colors, especially if you're changing colors in the same price group. If the order has been submitted, and is in production, it can get a bit more expensive.

If you're still in the design phase, change it. It's your kitchen, you need to get as close to what you want as you can.

Yes. Major changes. If I had to do it again I would spend much more time in the dream/photos/plan stages and try to make many of the decisions ahead of time so as not to get backed into any corners or time crunches. But, the reality is that once you see something installed and it looks different that you expected, that affects subsequent choices and changes need to be made. My choice of sink changed the whole feel and color pallet of my kitchen. I am with you. I am a major obsessor. Good luck. It will all work out!

That is a good point. Get your ducks in a row but you don't necessarily have to order everything at once. Unless you are very sure of what you are receiving, how it will look in your space and how things will work together, wait to see your cabinets in place before committing to the counter or hardware, for instance.

What whites did you narrow it down to?

Did you do large sample boards?

What is it about the white you chose that makes you feel like it doesn't go with the polished nickel?

Just curious… I'm going through the same process.

What Precision said.

If you are being charged for change orders (which can be quite expensive according to GW - I have never been charged anything), place everything on hold until you are comfortable with the design and are ready to have the order placed.

One of the primary reasons for using a designer is that they never get lost in the trees. They see the forest, and always stay on goal. There are a lot of right major choices out there. But, the field gets narrower and narrower as each major choice is firmed up. Then the small picture choices are down to very few that work.

"There are a lot of right major choices out there."

Absolutely. But they are not always for everyone. It's all very personal. It takes time, patience and effort to hone something that personally fits an individual, versus a design that's based on formulas, generalities, market trends and a superficial understanding of a client's taste and needs. It's a home. People want to live in their own element, not someone else's no matter how attractive and functional it is. It takes time to get there.

I can really relate to what Sophie Wheeler said. "the field gets narrower and narrower as each major choice is firmed up. Then the small picture choices are down to very few that work." That is exactly what I ran into that I wish I had seen coming. My sink choice limited backsplash choices which limited paint colors......etc. I did not see that domino effect coming. I would have chosen a different sink.

Thank you everyone for some good solid advice. It is so true that altering one decision affects another and so on and so on. Allison and jpmom to answer your question - the polished nickle took on a gold color that reminded me of 80s gold. It's probably my lighting. I really need to put my sample doors side by side. I haven't had that opportunity. They don't have many sample doors available so my time allowed to keep the doors is limited. The color changes as the lighting changes. Whites can be difficult. They use sherwin Williams colors so I will try to find out the names of them Jpmom, although it won't help you that much because your lighting is different than mine. Thanks again to all of you that responded.

"It takes time to get there."

Amazingly, snookums2 and I agree. It does take time to get there and as long as the customer is paying for the time it takes to get there, she can take all the time she needs.

If your posts are an accurate timeline, you only started thinking about even appliances and cabinet "look" in January. IMO - unless your kitchen burned down or something, you need more time before making final decisions if you want to be a part of the process. It sounds like you feel rushed. Perhaps put everything on hold and just think on it for a few months.?

I made few changes, but I also spent at least 3 years planning. I had a solid idea of the materials and colours that I wanted to use, a list of what worked in my current kitchen, and what I needed to change. We are currently mid renovation, so I don't know for sure that I've made all the right choices - I doubt anyone does - but I am so excited about having a better functioning (for me) space.

The three white contenders for me were:

Simply White, White Dove and Cloud White. All BM, but SW could match.

These are the most popular whites for kitchen cabs, according to the designer at our local BM (who has been there for 20 years and keeps up with the trends)

You need to be as comfortable in your decisions as possible. And you should have everything thought out in advance so that you have complete control over what everything costs. While it does cost some money for you to direct changes to the piece of paper that cost is nothing compared to what it's going to cost if you start changing your mind once you're halfway through.

Polished nickel looks nice side-by-side with almost every shade of white from ultra pure white to just off-white, so the nickel-white conundrum is not really the issue. For me, it was the cost. When I added up all of the costs I did not think that redoing the kitchen was going to give me a level of satisfaction in proportion to what I was about to spend. Once I understood that, I ended up buying beautiful used cabinets.... And all of the related decisions became final and everything was redone in a relatively short period of time.

Take a moment and write down the exact things that you are trying to accomplish with this change. Then look at your drawing and see if in fact those exact things are being accomplished. One of the worst situations is where somebody falls in love with something and then realizes that what they installed didn't actually respond to the reason they made the changes in the first place.

"These are the most popular whites for kitchen cabs, according to the designer at our local BM (who has been there for 20 years... "

The 'designer' at the BM store near me knew squat. It was strictly generalities and when it came down to specifics, she was way off on tones. Of course, that is one store, one designer, but I don't think stores are where you will necessarily find the expertise and knowledge needed to make selections.

I think the paint stores just like to have a 'designer' on board, for marketing purposes.