for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.

Your cabinets are beautiful. Looks like you have a bit of walnut color in there, and I think the counter on your island looks great. Cud you do the same thing for the perimeter cabinets, or at least something with a very similar color. My preference would be something black, but, then you would have to change your island, which looks really good as is. I dont think light countertops will look great in your kitchen.

I prefer the first one. I can tell you from experience that once the slab is horizontal on your countertop and cut up, it won't look quite as busy, but will give just the right amount of visual interest. Plus the first one looks more high end. The second one looks like what goes in every tract home.

I just renoed a similar size home. Put new cabs with granite. No laundry though. $9k for remnants and chinese cabs. My last laundry room was $1k for ikea and laminate (probably less actually). Base budget for current build is $35k. A bit more square footage but it would scale down to $28k for you. So my suggested range is $10k to $28k. Helpful? probably not but really the best I can do. Add 20% for HCOLA. What you can do from plans is get linear feet of cabs. That helps. Island? Paint vs stain? Crown/end panels etc? Custom panels for appliances? Ceiling height and plan for uppers (stacked/tall uppers etc). But most importantly is expectation on door complexity and degree of customization.