Hey, Fori, the repair guy called! At a reasonable time, and I was already gone to meet the cabinet maker and contractor. We had a very productive session. I'll call Mr. G. tomorrow. Meantime, I'm going to post about the cool factor in Appliances. I got 2" of countertop on both sides because the cabinet maker was making pretty frames around the ovens and Advantium. Instead there will be 1" nice frames. The ladder is too tall for the right of the ovens, and I wan't still more counter, so that's going to be a tall pullout like Gizmonike's, only with trays for spices, etc. The little cupboard over the ovens is only going to be about 8" tall anyway, so will have a flip up door rather than swing doors. Should be good for oven pieces. He can do rails and stiles with the bamboo, so the stemware cupboards in the butler's pantry will have inset glass (probably pebble) in the uppers and glass shelves. I think this will cure the bamboo forest problem, because it'll draw the eye away from the slabs. The only view I was ready to go all out Gumby for was standing in the prep area of the island. That, and my mother's jazzy hardware. :) No gumby ;( Glass would be too heavy and unsafe. There will be a message center with an 8" deep flip down writing surface in the center of the pegboard cabinet (on the right from the pantry. We also hashed out a lot of drawer depths, etc., and things look good. I came away feeling very good about the whole thing. I even might have found a top for the island. BTW, sorry for going off on the dye. I'm a fiber artist with respiratory issues so I took that literally. :D RIT's a different story. ;)

How fun to see all the comments and eye candy. Thanks for the conversation on this, it really is something I go back and forth about. @FoozerX - I appreciate hearing from someone who really doesn't like the split. Thanks for your honesty - and for chiming in. @pawa - I'm worried about the gray-dark brown-white thing for more reasons than you know. I've NEVER liked gray and have always leaned to the warmer tones but I find I am really being influenced by the current gray trend. I can't decide if that is because the current grays are more earthy/muddy/warm/zen or if I am just that suggestible afterall... That being said, the dark lowers/light uppers really does seem practical - and easier to keep looking clean. I'm all about that! LOL @palimpsest and jterrilynn - How interesting to learn that this isn't a new phenomonenon, but rather one that is just rarely done. It really does seem to work to ground the kitchen and lighten up the upper half... @MichelleDT - What a great island that is in your inspiration pic. Your kitchen sounds great. I am totally a fan of chunky floating shelves, too. I can't wait to see your kitchen come to life, hope you share lots of pics. @sas95 - There is sooo much to like about your kitchen, including the uppers and lowers working so well together but being different colors. I have always loved that backplash - and those windows are great. @deedles - Those brown doors on white boxes in that picture is not something I would think of, either. While I'm iffy about it, what surprised me is that I didn't despise it. There are other pics that show better how they relate to the island color, but again, not really seeing it for me. If you think of that GW kitchen, please do chime in with it. @rosie - It's a good point about the need to harmonize counter/tile to make something like this work. I just don't see color really working well with it, necessarily. I think the counter would contrast with the lowers and flow more with the uppers, but the backsplash would then need to work with that whole thing to keep it working. I have that backsplash window to work with on the long wall, and remain stumped about how to work with tile PERIOD on the other wall... @chiefy76 - Thanks for the pics. Neat to see all the different ways this can work. My partner isn't sold on this idea, either. Which I find interesting, given I first came up with it as a compromise point between us. @marcolo - Are you saying you think it works as long as there isn't a lot of contrast or that brown/white doesn't work? I often hear the case made to go black/white or brown/cream, so I'm not sure if that's what you are talking about. A lot of the pics posted here by myself and others do show high contrast. Are you saying none of those work or seem intentional? @nap101 - It's interesting to hear you talk about darker lowers to ground the soapstone, and going light above. I don't think I've seen that application and I keep being drawn to light counters on dark lowers/white uppers. If you find pics, please post them. You do make a good point about how dark counters work on white cabinets and soapstone/black granites tend to be the strongest example of that. While I like the look, I've had chocolate brown counters on white cabinets for the past 13 years and am ready for something different. @loves2cook4six - You definitely have the 2-tone thing going and I've been lurking on your BS thread to see what you come up with there. How is that going? You and others show an interesting reverse of what I was thinking with the lighter lowers and darker tones in the uppers. I wouldn't have thought that could work but it seems to! @francoise47 - Egads, that picture really shows how the uppers can fade away into the walls, doesn't it? I love that... but you make such a good point about whether it is too much for the house. If it is too much for your house, it is definitely too much for this little 50's ranch stretching towards 1,000 SF. Hm...but then I look at bossanova's carriage house kitchen and it seems like it really works there without being too much? Same with the little IKEA kitchen with the beam... It's confusing to me, I admit. Thanks so much for sharing your own reasoning process and feedback from a honest friend! (Those are worth gold) @secondhalf - So glad this thread is helping you find clarity! I'm not clear what my house is really suited for, except for simple. lol @sis2two - See, you are making jterrilynn's point! How fun is that? Mixing it up a decade later. Please do share plenty of pics. @jterrilynn - What a neat kitchen. I love that it is shaped so uniquely - and those tall ceilings are great. Love that light fixture! And, the portrait of your FIL is wonderful. You clearly have talent! I like how the lighting fixture plays off the color of the lowers and brings a bit of it upwards. Hm...I was thinking silvery fixtures but this gives pause if I decide to go this direction. I'm going to keep this in the "maybe" pile and when it comes time to put some ideaboards together, I'll likely do at least one with 2 tones. In the meantime, we'll see if this thread has continued eye candy to provide! Thanks again, everyone.

You can use white for doors and trim, and it will give you continuity between rooms without clashing with anything. The light maple cabinets and dark island will look fine with white trim. For the stairs, I would stick with one of the maple woods with your wrought iron, especially for the handrail, which will look better over time than a painted surface. Be sure to consider your flooring choices with everything as well.

Rip it out and replace with a different floor? Did you not see samples? Pictures? What type of flooring is it?