This has been so helpful- argh I wish I had posted earlier instead of agonizing for weeks. I thought I had a long post yesterday after about half the comments came in but may not have hit submit so repeating some info. I did not think about the dark cabinets weighing down the room and lower whites being more susceptible to dirt. we talked about that a great deal yesterday evening. I'm still trying to distinguish whether I really like grey because I am seeing it everywhere or if its something I can live with for a while- right now the answer is yes of course as I have been planning this kitchen for almost 3 years but plan on going back to look at other colors with a more open mind. I included a pic of what the kitchen may look like with current revisions. Grey base for island and cooktop. White uppers. Initially thought the cabinets on the right here would also need to be white but grey looks nice. Also mine will be a lot less grey as the refrigerator/freezer columns are SS front so only about 5 feet of cabinet. The one other thing I should mention is that I plan to have bright colored pendants over the island to provide pops of color there and in other spots around.

It looks like you have knotty alder for cabinets. These are natural coloured (light gold in tone) wood cabinets. That means you want to work with things that work with natural wood tones. The other thing you need to worry about is how BUSY the wood is. That means you want to work with counters/floors that are CALM (ie. not a lot of movement; not a lot of UMPH in the visual). Only ONE THING in the kitchen should have that "kick in the gut" impact (visually). The high-impact item you already HAVE = cabinets. Good. Now that has been established we can MOVE ON to the next thing: colours. Light gold wood likes to work with 3-4 "colours". The #1 = White (white counter tops...just like you have there...you would be replacing "like for like"). With a white counter you would look at white or very light flooring (just as you have already = another like for like replacement = not much of change for all that money spent). The #2 = Black. A black counter top (like Uba Tuba = black with hints of green in it) can be used to really set off the light tones in the wood. The easy-peasy floor choice would be (you guessed it) black. Ouch. This can be stunning - but VERY hard to live with. I do NOT think this is an option for you. The #3/#4 options would be BLUE or green (personal choice for colours makes blue more viable than green and vice verse). I personally LOVE blue with light gold wood. I love a blue slate (counter tops AND flooring) with a country-style wood kitchen. This is a great way to get a modern country feel (sigh...yes your kitchen is country in style...there is no way to change that without changing the cabinets). The BEAUTY in using blue slate is it works NICELY with gray. Gray and blue are often compatible (assuming the gray you choose has blue undertones). If you work with green, you will need to rethink the carpet and the paint. See how much fun this is? This is why Sophie suggests a designer. Personally I would go with blue slate. It has LOW visual impact. It is simple and timeless and it will EASILY support a modern country kitchen....it also works very very well with gray (again, watch your undertones in the paint/carpet...do NOT work with beigy tones...it will get ugly in a hurry).

conversion varnish is the best 2k poly is probably the best but most shops don't use it

eld6161 It is like bright white and so are the baseboards, crown molding and stairs that go up right beside the kitchen as well as all of our doors. Our house is open concept, so all of our space is like one big room. :( freedomplace1....thanks so much for those suggestions. Will definitely get samples to try in our space!