All the doors and trim in my house are Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore, although I think most SCs are about the same. It's not the whitest white out there, but it's fairly crisp and light, a really nice trim. However, I decided it was way too white for my cabinets where I wanted a softer, creamier white. My kitchen window has no trim :( so that wasn't an issue. There are two places at the outer corners of my kitchen where the Swiss Coffee baseboards abut my Cloud White cabinets. You have to be looking at the floor to see them and it's just 5" of contrast. For me Swiss Coffee would have been way too light and bright for my cabinets. I have several shades of off white in my kitchen (cabs, backsplash, walls). They don't match, but they harmonize and layer very nicely.

Whether you go with white or dark cabinets (personally, I prefer the dark, even with white appliances) is your choice. However, keep in mind that if your cabinets are in good shape, they will outlive your appliances. You're not enamored of white cabinets, do you want to commit yourself to them "forever"? Unless you plan to redo your kitchen when the appliances die, you will have a similar decision to make when you need new appliances...and they won't die all at once, so you'll be re-committing to the color over and over again. If the cabinets are in good shape and painting is intended to be your only redo of them in the foreseeable future, then paint them the color you want, not to match your appliances. As Rosie mentioned, you can paint the appliances if they really bother you (using, I think, appliance or auto paint or a paint meant for metal). The bottom line is this: If the cabinets are not going to be replaced when your appliances die, paint them to please you, not the appliances. Then, for your appliances....(1) patiently wait for them to die and replace them with black or stainless, (2) sell them on Craigslist and then buy new, or (3) paint them now. I would wait b/f I decided what to do w/the appliances until you've painted your cabinets...then make the decision based on how you think they look! (If it were me and I didn't like them, I would probably go with option (2) or (3).) (If your cabinets are in only fair or poor condition, then you may be replacing them sooner than you think/plan! So, if you're willing to live with white for a couple of years, then it might not be so bad. Oh, and if they are in only fair or poor condition, don't put an expensive countertop on them now...it would be a waste of money b/c existing countertops very, very rarely fit new cabinets...even w/the same layout...and if you end up replacing cabinets, I recommend looking closely at your layout and changing it to be more functional if it's not ideal now.) Good luck!

A neutral brown, medium tone, will be the most timeless and will go with everything. Avoid grey floors and too dark.

Do you have photos? What is your style? What is your lifestyle? Who lives in the house? The wood work/trim/doors will dictate the colour range you can work in comfortably. To be clear, 'golden oak' is really ambering that happens when OIL FINISHES age. They turn orange. All by themselves...without any help from the wood below. When you sand down your old floors you will find they are beautiful (to me) wheat colour. First things first: make sure you do a SPECIES match with the new hardwood. Oak has many cousins. White Oak is not the same as Red Oak. European Oak is not the same as English Oak. European Cork Oak has NOTHING in common with European Oak. Whew. Pay the $100 fee to have a sample of your old floor sent away to a wood testing facility. They will tell you the species of your wood. You can make purchasing decisions from there. You then need to match the width of the plank, the cut (quarter, rift, plain, etc) AND the grade (Select, Common, etc). Now you can plan your colour. Things to remember: 1. Always have the wood flooring professional (not some guy who says he can do it) sand down a large patch (like the living room) of wood. Then add several colour swatches to your wood (if you want water popping, make sure he water pops the samples as well). And THEN he adds ONE COAT of the finish. 2. Never view colour swatches without a coat of finish. 3. View the colour swatches through the 5 lighting situations of the day. I normally like to see patches put down on Friday so you can view them over the weekend. By Monday you will have a very good idea of what you want and what you don't want. 4. Oil based polyurethanes turn ORANGE! 5. Oil MODIFIED polyurethanes turn YELLOW! 6. Water based polyurethanes are CLEAR and COLOURLESS! Whew. Try up loading some photos for us to see.