Semi Gloss would be the more appropiate finish, easy to clean, not too shiny and not too dull in sheen. As far as wood type try paint grade maple hardwood doors and drawer fronts. Looks great with paint finishes. Have you ever considered a swiss coffee white color with perhaps a light glazing. Check out Taylor Cabinet Door they have an excellent paint grade maple doors all sizes are custom made at great prices. Contact them for pricings and color block samples to be sent out.

I love slab doors, and white slab doors are a very cool choice. White slab is clean lines. A lot of people need busy. They want each element to beautiful due to detailing. But elements can be beautiful because of their purity. A couple of things to keep in mind, what is the norm on GW is not necessarily the norm where you live or in your demographic. You should consider the style of your house when deciding on the style of your kitchen. Everyone looks at pictures during their kitchen remodel and second guesses their choices- be prepared. My kitchen is a combination of walnut slab perimeter and painted slab door island. I definitely got the advice to 'do something different' with the island doors. I heard 'they will be so plain' . They are not plain, they are simple. They have clean lines. Clean lines soothe me. My house is busy architecturally from the presence of exposed beams. It is busy in general because we have a lot going on. Here are some pictures from Houzz to help you. You may want to think about the tone of your kitchen, what will balance the white slab? Will you go cool, or will you add natural elements, texture, color for warmth and contrast? It can all work, just make deliberate choices to ensure that it does. [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Vancouver Architects & Designers mango design co [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Other Metro Interior Designers & Decorators Deborah Freedman Design [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Miami Architects & Designers Jorge Rosso Architecture/Interiors

Hey abbeycat - your cabinets look beautiful - I don't think they look country at all! I guess it depends which style you liked better, the shaker or the slab... Sounds like you're more of a slab person. :-) I wanted the big drawers not to stand out so much in style from the cabinet doors. Plus I love my shaker style and wanted as much of it as possible - it's a wide shaker with 3" rails & stiles. I thought it looked a little more contemporary than the standard shaker. (After I'd ordered the cabinets, it occurred to me to wonder how they were going to do 3" rails on 6" high drawers... or would the 6" drawers be slab after all. Turned out they did 2" rails with 3" stiles - looks great!) Someday I'll have photos to post. My contractor messed up my cabinet installation... I'm currently waiting for the replacement cabinets to come in. (Sigh.)

White Shaker cabinets are timeless and beautiful, as are white subway tile with black black grout. What is NOT timeless and beautiful are trendy expensive items like farmhouse apron sinks, black faucets, glass tile etc...anything that makes it clear the exact year the renovation was done. If you want trendy, stick to items easily replaced, like drawer pulls and knobs, pictures, even paint. Plain slab cabinet doors with hidden pulls look like a dentist's office...it's a kitchen, not a surgical suite. FYI: All those kitchens are way too busy, way too much going on, especially in the backsplashes, and the idea of a white kitchen floor is laughable. And please stop making a big deal out of the range hood which for some reason has become the focus of the room!