Thanks I was hoping that is what people would say. My builder had lazyitis, the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, and foyer all match in terms of floor/cabs/counters.

Definitely go with hardwood throughout. It is by far the most elegant solution and will add value to your house. You may need to refinish to get floors to match. Natural is lovely, or choose a neutral stain that works well with your walls.

Yes, certainly, though since the light will be different in different rooms (due to number/size of windows and orientation) the color might look different from room to room. You occasionally see posts where the homeowner used the gray or greige or beige they loved in their living room that looks pink or purple or yellow or green or baby blue in their back bedroom. Also, the same color may look great at one time of day but not-so-great at a different time due to the changing light. Always test the color(s) you are thinking about using in the actual space(s). A lot of people find it helpful to paint a large foam board that they can move from one wall to another or from one room to another.

Generally, hardware is viewed by room. In a kitchen, it is possible to mix finishes for a more custom look. Really just depends on your taste. If you are matching hardware by floor, you really have nothing to worry about, unless it is all the same size shape and too repetitive and not conducive to the item it is placed on. Down a hallway, it is nice to have unified hardware as they are often all in one's line of sight. Rooms behind closed doors, go for what you like inside, does not have to match what is on the entire floor. My advice for your kitchen if it is not too late, it to find hardware that come in that satin brass finish you like but are handles and not just knobs. I assume you cannot return the ones I see in the picture. My suggestion then would be keep knobs on the bottom drawers, of which you have many and get vertical handles for the uppers in satin brass, just to break add interest and break up the repetition a bit. Ideally, I would do the reverse horizontal or cup handles on lowers and knobs on uppers. But go with what you love.