I think your choice is beautiful. I have the creamy white cabinets on the perimeter with Hanstone Magellan counter. On the website it looks really dark, but it is a lovely grey pattern which doesn't show anything (dust, food) and is not too shiny. My island is a red stained wood (similar to mahogany in colour). I chose Zodiaq Bianca Carerra. I love each of them equally. I have had them for almost 2 years now and have thrown just about everything at them (messy and kids aren't any neater) and they look like brand new. I think anything you choose you will LOVE. Good luck and enjoy your new kitchen. It will be fabulous!

Hickory is always described as an "energetic" wood, but it isn't a dark one. I think you could go light or dark, especially if you have plenty of natural light in the kitchen. I also think the energy of the cabinets can support movement in the stone beautifully though. Whatever you choose, I think in this case you need color contrast (no beige or light brown stone) to avoid the "jeans suit" look, if you know what I mean. How do you feel about adding a little color - a little green or blue, something not totally white and brown, like White Ice?

I really do like that glass, I have to say. You'd have to be careful how you lay it out, so that the light blue doesnt get lost in the paint color, but I think it is do-able. The slate that your hubbie picked out looks nice, too. In the photo without a flash (assuming that the colors are accurate) the tans of the slate really pick up some of the accent colors of the counter. At least in the photo, I like it better than the ostrich, and I may have to nix my previous comment about the "yellowness" of the slate. But I really like that glass.....

Lighting is one of this week's rotating renovation obsessions, so I understand your dilemma. I made an appointment with a lighting designer at a good sized local lighting store last week ($75 for an hour, which I think was money well spent), so that might be an option for you if you live in a place where that's available, as I found it really helpful. Soft, incandescent-like dimming is a goal for me too, and I know that most LEDs just get dimmer rather than also getting warmer like good old "real" bulbs. Satco, however, makes warm dimming bulbs, and Juno has warm dimming housings. I haven't actually seen either of them, so I can't comment on how they look, and there may be others out there too, but that's an option you might want to throw into the mix (even though we're supposed to be clarifying things, not making them more complicated!) Let us know what you decide and how you like it. I keep wishing there were ONE easy area, but I haven't found it so far.