I have oak cabinets and worked with them as they are - though I did refinish them but kept them close to the same color. Pictures are in my "my pics" idea book in case there is something you see that is helpful. I know it is difficult to find pictures with oak cabinets right now. My trim is white. I painted my 70's dark stained pine many years ago. My style is a sort of Victorian cottage / French Country style: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/57579129/thumbs/my-pics-work-in-progress

Thanks so much, catmom, arcy, purrus, nini, and lisa! They did the real estate photos yesterday and after some light staging I think the house looked amazing. We just edited out a few more things from the counter and added some decor items. We brought in a bistro table and stools to take the place of the sideboard that was moved to the great room. I also used the floating shelf I just had made for over the tub and used it for the blank space over the sofa instead. I convinced DH to hang it as part of a compromise in which he did not have to move and rehang the heavy wall clock :) These are just a few cell phone pics but I can't wait to see the professional photos!

Maple takes stain poorly, so I would not recommend it for what you are trying to do. I don't think your choice is dated, just not on trend. Honey oak is still considered dated, as people haven't forgotten the 90s yet when it was used in 90% of new builds and remodels for a decade or more. Even that doesn't mean that you shouldn't like it, just that is was overdone and people who care about such things got heartily tired of it. But your dark stain is a very different look from the "golden oak" trend. In the stain you are looking at, the Cook's Kitchen is saying it evokes Craftsman kitchens from the early 20th century, which is so old that it is now vintage or retro rather than dated. You'll see people do that look in homes of that style. Current trends in oak--which you can take or leave according to your taste--are toward lighter grayish/driftwood color stains. If you Google rift-sawn oak and look for slab cabinet doors, that will be some of what you see. Oak comes in two species, red oak and white oak, which differ in colors (neither is really red or really white, but white is lighter and I think doesn't darken as much over time). If you are going with a dark stain, I don't think it will make a difference. The plain sawn, quarter sawn and rift sawn are about how the tree is cut into boards, which affects the grain pattern. Oak has a very pronounced grain, so people are very opinionated about it, and how it is cut. Rift sawn is the most uniformly linear, followed by quarter saw, and last plain sawn having a lot of the oval figures you see in your sample. It depends on what you like and want. And can afford, since quarter and rift sawn are more expensive. It sounds like your cabinet maker may only offer plain sawn (though if you said rift sawn/quarter sawn and he didn't understand what you were asking, I might be concerned about their experience and competence, unless it was a salesperson who only knows their line). If you like the grain of plain sawn oak, I think it can work, and I don't think the dark-stained oak is a look that has been done enough in the past 40 years for it to seem dated. I'm doing a similarly stained cabinet, but with alder (alder is softer than oak, but has a subtler grain pattern). I'm doing Shaker, though.

@millworkman Honestly, that might not be an option given the high number of people in the same position I am in. Much like the attempt to get a restoration company (where you get an answering service, are lucky to get a call back within 24 hours, when most reviews say they were out in an hour or less... some have messages saying "we cannot help anyone new we are backlogged"). I also don't know what it would cost. I'm hoping with the massive disaster, the adjuster will be more understanding. It doesn't help my husband is a salvager by nature and doesn't see the point of destroying things that are technically fine. (sigh) He feels keeping the upper cabinets is perfectly okay because he just wants it done and surely they can make it match... @latifolia Getting a lot of estimates right now is also challenging, as most good contractors were already busy with people remodeling due to COVID and low interest rates (and no homes on the market to move to here, I think inventory is 40% of what it usually is). Adding tons of apartment buildings, hotels, and schools that were damaged, along with all of the homes means you might be waiting a long time to get someone to get back to you, and the last thing I want is one of those contractors that works one day a week and rotates between 6 jobs or something (I have heard horror stories of that) because at least now my kitchen is somewhat useable, compared to when it is fully emptied for whatever we have done.