Thanks AnnKH. I agree re: re-sale. In fact, we don't plan to move so this is all about what we like/want. I am just torn... the unknown about paint vs. light stain (neither of which I've had before). Since we plan to stay here for a while, I just don't want to get sick of our kitchen. Thx!

I'd go with white. Painted finishes are much better today than in the past when most were actually thermofoil.

Go with what you like the best, and you won't get sick of it. I have white and I don't even notice it anymore. It's just my kitchen and I like it. I could also be happy with a mid to light stain, but I think white works best for this kitchen in this house. I also don't care one bit if anyone else likes it.

I can't imagine a house where stained wood of some sort wouldn't be appropriate. Do you have a personal preference? Cuz if you want wood, show us your house and we'll find you one that goes.

I have unstained walnut cabinets, which are sort of a medium tone--maybe that would work. Stained cabinets in general are pretty much classic and won't go out of style as much as cabinet styles do.

I've had painted cabinets and depending on (I assume!) the maker, they can be satisfactorily durable.

And there is a lot more to painted cabinet choices than...white!

My prediction is that Shaker is going to look dated soon. 90% of the kitchens here use them, and while I know they're a classic, I think ubiquity will breed contempt.

The truth of the matter is that tastes change, and in unpredictable ways. Get what you enjoy.

I think "simple" tends to last. Those arched, triple-raised panel cabinets of the past, were doomed from the beginning - just WAY too much going on. I think that as kitchens have become more and more expensive, people are trying to find simple classic styles that will not be dated before they are paid for.

In the end, it's really about ones own taste. When I was looking at cabinets in the mid-1980's, everything looked like really bad reproduction furniture. My house is filled with 18th century English antique wood and it would have looked awful in my house. So, I kept my very simple, very cheap cabinets and painted them, put new pulls on and added to them to get more counter space. The only thing that looked truly "dated" in my kitchen when I replace it this spring, was those god-awful extending soffits above the cabinets. Simple and painted still looked good.

Today, people very rarely stay in a house very long - even their "forever" house. People move, decide they want something different - a million different reasons. Depending on the price of the house, it may be a given that the kitchen will be gutted when sold, especially in very high end houses, so it really doesn't matter.

We really cannot always decorate or design for some mythical potential buyer in the future. Built-in tubs with a Jacuzzi look very dated today. Tomorrow, the huge free-standing tubs may look the same way. At least they'll be much easier to remove!

I used painted (gray) Shaker cabinets when I redid my kitchen a few months ago. It suits my taste, and I feel it suits the rest of the house, even though it is not an "open concept" kitchen. It still needs to flow, open or not! Whether a future buyer likes it is simply not my problem. It's really quite classic and neutral and not something that someone would feel must be removed before they could move into the house. But who knows - some kitchen diva may feel that way. It's why I did NOT put a very expensive kitchen in my house - I was doing this for me and not trying to increase resale value. That rarely works in my neighborhood - people want their own taste and regularly tear out new kitchens.

I have oak cabinets but my kitchen is still light. Everything else is light and it is an L shaped kitchen so there are only cabinets on two walls. I think that some of the dark kitchens I see have an over abundance of stained cabinets. I do like white cabinets too. My grandmother's kitchen had white painted cabinets with pink walls:)

Thanks for all the great ideas and comments. Very helpful. We definitely want to keep it simple. And I'm leaning towards a lighter beachy stain or white paint. Has anyone done a light stain like these? Photos anyone? Thank you!

That second photo - wow, let me tell you, in person that finish doesn't look like the photo at all. I'm currently working with my designer on a Brookhaven/WoodMode kitchen. I told him I wanted to see the sample for the last picture above. It's actually a medium grey wash stain. It's nice, but not what I was after. I was after what's in the first picture you showed. I wanted lime washed oak. Currently Brookhaven/WoodMode doesn't have a lime washed oak (they have a nice wood veneer in modern slab though that does look similar to first photo) unless you ask them to custom make one and after all the money we're spending, that's not going to happen. I'm planning to mix white painted cabinets and light stained oak.

In our kitchen at our vacation place we have white washed maple. Or pickled maple. It's pretty. Can go either modern or traditional.

This is one of my favorite kitchen pics - I am seeing more light toned wood show up in the designer sites that come to my email.

Here are a few more:

The blue tile, white, light stain is one of my fave pics too!

Kompy (one of GW's pro kitchen designers) recently posted this kitchen she designed. River Rock by Shiloh. It's gorgeous & she combined it with white cabinets.

My kitchen has a lot of windows & natural light. I love my white cabinets. I grounded them with a warm wood floor.

Here's a link to a few more pics.

Shiloh River Rock is gorgeous

Thanks Romy718! Beautiful!

I'm really liking the light stain colors but we want a mid-tone wood floor so now am worried about too matchy and not enough contrast. Hmmmm..

We chose a light stained maple. I love light and bright rooms, and white just wasn't the right look for my house, although I do love a white kitchen. Lighter stains have not been popular for a while, its interesting to see that jhmarie noticed more light stains are showing up from designer sites. Of course they are! They have to keep changing so we keep thinking our kitchens are dated and must be remodeled. Just because everyone seems to be doing white shaker is no reason to do it in your kitchen, if you prefer something else. Its your kitchen, get what you love. And don't be surprised when honey oak comes back around as the "must have" cabinet, eventually its bound to happen!

yep..light wood is making a comeback, definitely so

I'm still in my walnut and teak stage(and probably will stay there for a while lol), but I love some light woods too..maple for example...cherry..

I like the idea of mixing both:) some cabinets are light stained and some are white(or some other light color). why not, if the overall design supports it of course?

I think the most important for kitchen is to make sense within the context of the style of the house. then it will always look like it belongs.

second most important-that it makes sense with your own individual style and preferences. then it will a) be cohesive with the rest of the space b) will make you happy(you can switch a) and b) places))

I don't get this "looking dated" thing..either it's pretty/nice/beautiful/cute/gorgeous-or it's not

whoever doesn't like it in ten years (including you), for any reason anymore-redoes it if he can afford it. and if he can't-he waits until he can. if the kitchen makes sense-one can wait for years.

its the ones that seem to be glued to the house, stylistically disconnected, or dysfunctional-that you wish to rip out

others, you work with. you like them despite being "dated" too. unless you're told day after day you shouldn't...)))

I don't think any natural color wood will go "out" if a kitchen is designed to function properly and is mixed well with other design elements.

Iam702, do you happen to have any photos of your light maple to share? Thx!