Thanks for the helpful responses. Annkathryn, your kitchen is beautiful. I really like the modern shapes with traditional materials (wood, marble), just what I am going for. Do you know if it is typical for white counters to have very visible seams? Shannonaz, I am not tied to Caesarstone but I can get a fairly good deal on it, and they have a good reputation AFAIK. Also, their Pure White seemed to match my cabinet color the best that I have seen so far, though it is hard to judge with just a sample. I'm getting Belmont 1900 white acrylic cabinets. I also looked at Cambria and Pental. Cambria will cost me more, and Pental's white is almost too bright, bordering on bluish. Pipdog, yet another beautiful room, so bright and clean. I am going with a grayish marble in one of my bathrooms (carrara). Perhaps it is the photo, but compared to the sink, I do notice that the counter appears ever-so-slightly darker than the cabinets, with a touch of a warm tone. Why did you eventually go for the Pure White over Blizzard?

Hi cv2014, I still love the look of our Semihandmade walnut, to me it's very warm. We briefly looked into having Semihandmade make panels for the side and the back of the island, but we wanted a more substantial edge and it just seemed like we'd have better luck getting it to all work out if we hired a finish carpenter to do the job. We're very happy with how it turned out. You can go to almost any good lumber store and purchase a full sheet of walnut veneer for not a lot of $$s. Depending on where it's used, it could be ok if it doesn't match perfectly with the Semihandmade walnut. The corner cabinet has a filler piece, I think it was around 4 inches, that gives enough clearance so that the cabinet door can open without worrying about having it hit the door to the right. In my case I think I was also concerned about clearance so it wouldn't hit the oven handle as well. That was solved by making the pull-out next to the over slightly wider than originally planned. These are the older Ikea cabinet style, so I'm not sure if the new style has the same kind of corner cabinet or not. Good luck with your planning!

Finally made a decision! Had a color consultant from the painting company come out and look at paint samples and tile. Decided an off-white cabinet vs white would look best based on the rest of the kitchen and house. Picked the tile we liked best and the BM Maritime White we originally picked for cabinets and walls. We'll use the same white trim I have in the rest of the house. There's enough of a contrast where it looks good and that's what I've done with the rest of the house --and consistent with the decor style. My 1926 house has a lot of nice moldings, large baseboards, and trim and we show it off!

Kristina, try the bedrosians makoto line. they are matte, a slight variation and 2.5 X 10 https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/makoto-tile/?itemNo=DECMAKSHW2510M or the Cloe. exactly the size you want. they aren't completely matte, but not glossy either. the color varies a bit, but in the white or gray you shouldn't see a big diff https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/cloe-tile/?itemNo=DECCLOWHI28G no variation and completely matte, but these are 11" https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/clara-tile/?itemNo=100000799 https://www.bedrosians.com/en/product/detail/manhattan-mosaic/?itemNo=GLSMANCAS28G if you just want a plain matte white https://www.allmodern.com/wall-decor-mirrors/pdp/hull-soho-2-x-8-porcelain-subway-tile-a000841710.html glazed brick? https://www.tilebar.com/sample-cadenza-salt-cellar-2x9-clay-ceramic-subway-tile-for-wall.html 3x9 matte https://www.tilebar.com/kiln-white-3x9-matte-porcelain-tile.html or they do have a vintage matte clay tile, 2x9 https://www.tilebar.com/cadenza-stroke-vintage-white-matte-2x9-clay-tile.html https://www.tilebar.com/bayou-white-3x12-ceramic-tile.html These are on sale/closeout https://www.tilebar.com/calloway-white-3x10-matte-ceramic-tile.html tilebar has 5 samples for $5. order some of theirs