Hello everyone, I apologize for a delay in my response. Here is what happened, after getting very mixed votes, I kept going back and forth and back and forth and ended up going with the ones on the right :) I think some of you may have liked the ones on the left because of how they look in the picture but the ones on the right look really nice in life too. After leaving a sample for the tile guy to work with, I rushed to the store to get the other ones and of course got held up by other chores. Just got back and rushed to the PC to see the rest of the feedback I got :)) Thank you so much for your advice!! Here is how it looks so far:

If you know yourself to be a 'wood finish' cabinet person, I wouldn't force yourself to go to painted just because it would 'look right.' You want to feel at home and like it's your room, not a stranger's kitchen that looks nice from afar. Although it's not necessary, including some painted sections or pieces can be fun. DH and I are definitely wood cabinet people, but we have some painted mixed into our kitchen and I love the combination and it's a nice change for me. And although I love them, it still wouldn't have been 'me' at all to have everything painted. The funny thing for me is that my inspiration kitchens were almost all painted white or cream. I just had to find what else there was about the rooms that spoke to my heart and try to emulate the overall feeling without the white paint. I think that if you take this out of the imagining stage and go look at flooring samples with cabinet samples, you can pick 2 things that both would be considered in the medium range, but that provide enough contrast from each other. Pcjs's suggestion for red oak, I think is a good one. Birch is another that is gorgeous and not too light, while being a good base for some pretty cabinets. There are so many choices and possible combinations. Don't despair. :-) Best wishes!

With the open concept, I don't think it matters that one corner of one room has dark cabinetry. You can have light walls and backsplash. Which floor plan are you doing? I prefer the first tile. It looks like it's got gray and beige, which will be easier to work with than the peachy tones of the travertine. That's kind of a Tuscan tile, which was popular in the 90s and still, unfortunately, is hanging around in tile shops. My goal would be to tone down the reds of the Bordeaux by letting the granite be the warmest element in the room. Ideally you want to go look at slabs and bring a sample of both floor tiles and the cabinet doors. You'd want to pick a slab that has a lot of cream like this one.

I think some of those laminates are mimicing level one granites; many have commented that level one granites were actually less expensive than the laminate estimates they got...not sure if that included installation costs. Do you live in an area where designers are readily available? Not all of us do....I found a tile store designer with A great “eye” who I hired to advise me on paint colors and other design input I wanted. I would consider painted cabs with your flooring choice since I am having a hard time thinking of a stain color and wood that would compliment. A darker, greyed-brown might work but the wood would have to be carefully chosen to avoid orangish/reddish tones.