I think it's good that you are thinking about this now - I was hit with trim questions/issues in the middle of my remodel and left limited to what I could do about it in that timeframe. What I followed was that if a room was "contained", it could have all the same trim, and different from the room next to it - and I even stretched this because basically I opened up my whole first floor and now I have a combo of painted and stained trim. I have resisted painting the trim for so long, not just because of cost and time, but because of maitenance. One you paint, you can be sure that in 2, 5, 7 years you will be repainting. I just couldn't see myself doing that, so it has stayed stained. I think you could have two different crown moldings as long as they weren't radically different, and I think a kitchen can be set apart from other rooms - at least mine is right now, so maybe I'm justifying :-)

Boy, with no kids or grandkids, this is all I have to do today. LOL, thanks for the advice. I don't want to spend any money on cabinets since I'm selling in a year. I'm in the process right now of remodeling the bath, it has those 12x12 sticky tiles o the floor, so a ceramic tile floor is going in in the next few weeks. Oh, the bath has no tile on the walls, the former owner thought it much nicer when the cast iron tub "broke", she had all the time removed and a one piece bath/shower combo installed. I just hate it. Back to the kitchen, there is not enough cab space to even put food away, so on the other side of the fridge, I have one of those white storage cabinets that HD no longer carries. I just want the kitchen to appeal to buyers. I hope the green does, I love it and don't want to change it. I also thought about the larger trim and will look for a taller moulding for the tops. Anything that will make the 30" cabs look taller. The box light fixture will probably go also when I repaint the ceilings. Since that is the only bright light for the kitchen, what do any of you recommend for that light? Karen

If it were me faced with your goal and constraints I would order new paint grade doors for cabinet uppers in the same profile as your lowers and cut for glass. Then I'd paint all the cabinets a light warm grey with a satin finish (I wouldn't worry about the color going out of style any time soon) and use a white frosted glass in the uppers. I'd mount 5 inch brushed nickel pulls 3 1/2 to 4 inches up on the door frame. I'd have the granite honed so it has a more of a matte finish and and I'd use a 4 inch granite black splash- nothing else. I'd paint the wall below the bar with a low sheen paint in a color to match the cabinets and I'd also investigate trimming out the soffit with wood molding and painting it to match the cabinets. I would not lower the counter because I wouldn't want to see that much of the stove. I'd paint the bar stools and the kitchen chairs a shade or 2 darker gray than the cabinets. If replacing the stove is an option I choose a slide range rather than a free standing.

Gray IS neutral, as are beige based and off white colors. Why invest in "trends"? Invest in a more timeless color that is not subject to fashions trends. That is sound advice when building a wardrobe or adding elements to your home. Who cares what "NO ONE" wants? The real question is to ask what it is that YOU want? "NO ONE" does not live there....you do. You cannot go wrong with a neutral and non dictating base color. You can always add accent colors. Those should be the trendy colors---the accent colors. They are usually the things that are more easily changed out. This kitchen needs more that just a change of color for the cabinets, though. It is almost a moot point. I agree that painting them is not always a good choice. I had painted some cabinets in my kitchen at one time. Once you opened the cabinet door, you saw that it was really an old cabinet. Unless you are going to go behind the doors and renew that space as well, you might as well not waste your money and time. They almost never look good. I have seen some that do. But, most times it is not a good look. Besides, the finishes on a new cabinet door are finishes that I could never attain from using ordinary paint. And, to get such a resistant and smooth factory finish as what is on my KitchenMaid cabinets would require materials and tools and techniques that are not readily available to me, the DIY person. One advantage for you is that your doors are a slab door and are easier to work with. The two colors that you chose are beautiful. It looks like what ever is on your floor has a gray tone to it.