Late to the game but would echo the Waterlox idea. We have BB counters at the lake and have "experimented" with multiple finishes: 1) Our first try was satin urethane. Bulletproof, no maintenance, but even satin has the very glossy look of "plastic" and would seem to defeat the whole purpose of using reclaimed wood. Even on our BB counters it screams "fake" and I hated it. 2) Next, we went traditional with mineral oil. A huge PITA. Applied many many coats, laboriously worked them in, and the counter still stained at the first hint of wine, strawberries, grease etc. We also had some delamination which required repair, and I think that was in part due to the poor water repellency of the MO. I considered the beeswax/mineral oil approach but still felt it would be way too much trouble for less than ideal protection. I'd be even more concerned if we had used more "delicate" wood like yours as opposed to generic BB. 3) My "light bulb went off" moment. We had already done our floors in Waterlox and loved the look--totally natural wood with none of the plastic appearance of urethane. It's been four years and they are holding up great. Checked to confirm it was food safe and, having done so, sanded away and then used it on the counters. They look great and are totally stain repellent. Water beads up, unlike with MO. If you use the Satin finish after the initial coats of Sealer the final result will be quite matte. Waterlox is polymerized tung oil. It maintains many of the advantages of pure tung oil but to quote my definitive expert source (see below): "Polymerized tung and linseed oils dry faster, harder and are more durable than raw oils." Pure tung can take days to weeks to dry between coats. We didn't have that kind of time. And, on the subject of mineral oil: "Mineral oil is recommended for cutting boards. MO will not cure as it is a non-drying oil and will continually leach out with every washing, requiring periodic reapplication. It will also leave a mess on your countertops if you apply too much Ick! The problem with cutting boards is that you cut on them, so any type of film finish is pretty much out of the question." I do not cut directly on the BB counters. I'm careful to use cutting boards, mainly for sanitation purposes (I can throw them in the DW, as opposed to having to try and scrub down countertops after raw meat exposure, for example). Therefore a film-forming finish like tung makes sense for my purposes. BTW: I have been cautioned rightfully in the past to warn folks with nut allergies that there is at least a theoretical risk of reaction to tung oil based products including Waterlox. Though, as I said then, given the consumption of peanut butter in our household, anyone with a real allergy would anaphylax just walking into the kitchen. Here's my source: Incredibly detailed, extremely useful discussion by SteveRussel of oil finishes for wood

I have an thick end-grain square butcherblock that sits next to the sink and is the non-meat cutting/chopping worksurface we use on an almost daily basis. It gets wiped off several times and then gets a more vigorous cleaning at the end. I have another thinner board I use for cutting meat that is easier to scrub clean in the sink. When I first got the block I drenched it in pure tung oil thinned with citrus solvent. Let it soak in. Put more on. Repeat, repeat. Let it dry until it didn't smell. What happens over time is that the center area where I work the most starts to look "dry" like untreated wood. There's enough tung oil in it that I don't worry about it drying out or splitting but aesthetically it looks like a well-used block. Maybe twice a year I apply a coat of thinned tung oil over the whole thing to keep it sealed. I much prefer the soaked-in protection that the tung oil gives than the surface protection that frequently-applied mineral oil does. So to me there are two considerations: how well sealed is it to protect it from splitting and how does it look. The tung oil will give the best long-term protection but if you use it it will look used. If you want it to look "wet", then mineral oil and/or wax will give that look on the surface.

Agree about moving the DW to the other side of the sink. The move gets the DW out of the way of the secondary Prep Zone b/w the sink and cooktop. While it's not as crucial as it would be if the only Prep Zone was b/w the sink and cooktop, it's still better design to keep the DW out of both Prep Zones. Disagree about moving the refrigerator. If you move it, the island becomes a barrier island b/w the island Prep Zone and the refrigerator. In addition, you would have to cross back & forth through the Cleanup Zone to get to the refrigerator. It will cost more for all drawers, but I strongly recommend them. Is that the Artesia door style? I love that door, especially the drawer fronts! I originally had selected it, but due to budget constraints I ended up with the Anson door. The Anson has the same drawer front as the Artesia and since I had more drawers than doors, it worked out fine. (I picked out a rather expensive counter and we had do a lot more work than anticipated on the infrastructure, so I had to cut somewhere - I changed the door style since I could still have my drawer fronts and the finish I really liked.) ETA: Looking closer at the elevations, it doesn't look like the Artesia door style.

I think white makes the most sense too. I haven't done any cabinet painting for a few years and i think there may be better paints then i used, though what I used has held up well - Zinsser 123 for primer and Diamond Vogel Nu-Cling for top coat (Diamond Vogel is a midwest area reputable paint store.) The Zinsser 123 is still a great bare wood primer, but now there are specialty cabinet top coat paints. I would ask at your local reputable paint store for guidance and check out some YouTubes. I think there are some threads here on cabinet painting. You can start with just the white primer and see what you think - how close is it to the white you want. You might go with similar to the window trim. My hood has room to place something on the main rectangular part. Right now I have the vertical small trim pieces, but they pop off. I did buy thin boards to possibly mimic a ship-lap look, but when I mocked it up I did not think it was working because there is no other shiplap in my house. I do have areas of beadboard and it seemed I was adding one more different type of treatment with shiplap. I've considered staining a piece of beadboard and putting that in the space, but I've gotten used to it the way it is and moved on to other things. Maybe I will want a change up down the road and rethink it - so I understand trying to figure this out:) You might not feel like it fits till you add the shiplap elsewhere. I have seen sage green and black used well with oak, but with white appliances, I would go with the white. This is a new style kitchen - with new cabinets - but I think the look of a mix of light with wood could work for your kitchen - but in a small space, contrasting grout on a subway tile backsplash can be a little busy - but that is a question for another day:)