Remodelfla, we seem to be of the same mind. I really don't like dark countertops (I wanted white coutertops originally... until I saw the pictures on this forum and remembered that I do like the feel of Soapstone). Soapstone just seem to call out to us... I love the feel of it and matt finish. I've gone round and round with my design and now it's crunch time... I have to make some decisions. I'll try to post some pictures but not sure how to post the layout. I'll see what I can do. The fireplace is red brick. Don't get me wrong... my KD has been dead on about everything so far. She's great! But there are so many options out there. I've been reading the threads on this forum and you guys are so creative and helpful. You're right about just going with what we like. We don't really care too much about resale since we plan on being here for the long run. My DH and I care more about function than anything else... but at the same time, we want it to look nice. Thanks for the responses. It makes me feel better about just going with what we like and make it work.

I'm very happy with mine. I had slab cabinets in the past and these are shaker so having little ledges to catch dust was a new thing for me. My old cabinets were also dark so the dust thing is clearly a function of the cabinet door design because I never noticed dust in the past. It's not a big deal - I do sometimes brush the corners with a pastry type brush to get the dust out of there if I notice it building up. There's no problem with fingerprints. I have good windows in my kitchen but we live in the woods so it's relatively dark in my house no matter what. I also have a galley kitchen and 42" uppers - which could make for a cave like appearance. Even though I had dark cabinets before when these went in after having the white, empty kitchen for a couple weeks it was shocking. In fact I thought I might have made a huge mistake. I got over that idea in about a day though - once I adjusted to the change - and I've just loved them ever since. I do have a lot of types of lighting and glass doors on some of the cabinets. I don't have a lot of stainless though - paneled fridge and dishwasher and mantle hood. I also have a high, vaulted, white ceiling which is helpful I think. Counters and floor are light. I think alot depends on if it's important to you to have a light, bright feel in your kitchen or if you like warm and cozy. I am definitely in the latter camp.

Our kitchen is not finished as we don't have our backsplash in yet and we haven't stained our quarter round yet. The cabinets are Fairlawn by UltraCraft in their Destiny line but with solid wood drawer fronts instead of the 5-piece. They are cherry stained Chestnut. Granite is Black Pearl. The floor is a Brazilian hardwood called Timborana. The paint is Newport Tint by Porter Paint that we had mixed at Lowes because there was no nearby Porter Paint store. We used the same color in our primary residence and love it !! It goes good with pretty much any color we put with it. The backsplash will be Jeffrey Court Fire & Ice (coming this winter to a kitchen near you!! : ) Cabinet front picture is from cabinet company and lighter than real life. Also, the stain in real life is more consistent, not as much variation in stain color as their pic shows. Picture with ovens shows true cabinet color the closest. Backsplash picture above belongs to Jodi_in_so_calif.

4000k bulbs don't brighten a room, they shift the colour of the light away from yellow and towards blue, giving a light quality that is supposedly similar to daylight. Me, I find 4000k too cold a light for my tastes. 3000k is as far as I go, and I accept that it means a slightly yellow light. To actually lighten a room, you need more light-- either more bulbs or more lumens (like replacing a 60W bulb with a 100W bulb back when we used incandescents). Some fixtures will take LED bulbs. Others won't, particularly fluorescent or halogen fixtures. Choose the temperature that makes you comfortable (2700k is close to soft white) and the lumen rating (more is brighter) that gives the amount of light you need.