Jubilee, I guess I'll revise my remarks a bit by saying that I'm only going by what my designer taught me about the flow thing... Our house is not huge, it's a medium 2600 sf 2-story, so in essence the downstairs really is not that big. I wanted to mix like that, and she said in a small area (or at least not a LARGE area!) not to have so many different floorings. To avoid patchiness. To give flow, so it, well, flows. And seems larger and more cohesive. I have to say lately looking at model homes, her advice has been borne out as I've seen the same wood flowing throughout houses, with small amounts of carpet and stone here and there. Your carpenter is probably right, but he's probably also talking about very large houses, so that is a different story (than my house). I don't know if yours is a big house or normal house. Also, my own experience has been that the very best and most talented carpenters and cabinetmakers I've had, have not been especially genius at interior design, so I've learned to turn to my designer for design advice, and pretty much take their design advice with a grain of salt. Maybe yours is different than mine have been... Yes I have lived to regret two different floorings in abutting rooms. We had existing yellowish oak in kitchen/family room/hall/powder room (most of downstairs), and added pinkish-yellowish oak to an adjoining study. Actually it was the same wood, just ten years younger. I thought it would blend. It didn't. Since the ten year old floor was pretty grunged, we had someone distress the whole thing, including the brand new... and this included re-staining them to a really warm and mellow toasty color. Now they all match, and I absolutely love it, and have to say my designer was right about flow. I wonder if a solution like that might work for you, then you could have exactly the color you want, and flow as well. It cost me just over $2K to have the whole thing done, and I live in expensive Southern California. Now that I have seen it done, I think I could do it myself if I wanted to work hard.

pharaoh... I truly respect your opinion so can you please tell me why you feel that way. I've always loved the look of a wide rail/stile drawer front. To my eye, it gives a casual feel with a contemporary twist. If you've seen any of my posts; you know my kitchen is atypical. Some vintage, some industrial feel, come tropic feel, I'm hoping to pull it together with a contemporary/casual twist. I do love the look of slab fronts with beautiful graining. And a ignorant question... which I'm sure my DH probably knows the answer to but since he's not here I'll ask for my own knowledge. How does a veneer attach itself to a drawer front? I know adhesive; but I thought some kind of press was necessary to form the best contact. Is there possibility of peeling or bubbling? Why would it be easier then solid lumber? Would I use 3/4" what? Plywood? MDF? (too heavy?), buy a slab IKEA door and adhere it to that? Sorry for so many questions.

So, for those of you that didn't see the doors that came in with the odd glaze, here are the pictures: They looked sloppy to me. The KD suggested that I try the stain in another style. So I ordered the Starmark maple door in the Accord style in honey with chocolate glaze. I also ordered an alder door in the Brekenridge with the ratan stain. Finally, I decided to open myself up to another brand and ordered a Kraftmaid maple door in the Englewood style in honey spice with mocha highlights. Here's a shot of the three doors: The door on the left is the alder door, the door on the right is the Kraftmaid door and the door in the middle is the maple Accord door. I'm leaning toward the Accord. It looks much better than the Brekenridge. What do you think?

I think that going with something that is relative uniform is the way to go. I think that because of the lightness of your cabinets, a darker countertop would be best. I didn't see the color of the floor. This should be taken into account as well. Soapstone is fabulous and would really set them off, but since it is very expensive, you could use Uba Tuba, Verde Butterfly or Verde Peacock (all 3 in the green family-great with the red tones of the natural birch), Tan Brown which looks fabulous with lighter cabinets with a reddish hue, New Caledonia, Black Pearl, Giallo Fiorito, or New Venetian Gold. They are all Level One priced. All of the Blue Pearls (there are seveal of them), Green Pearl, Silver Pearl, and Steel Gray would all look very nice. These are medium to high priced in the Atlanta area Level Two or Three, at times. Whatever you choose, the Soapstone would probably be the best. As you said you can buy your appliances on time and get the soapstone. You can even have soapstone grooved on the side of the sink as a drainboard and it will not hurt the look or the quality. It does scratch, which is why most people don't use it as well as the high cost, but oh so fabulous it looks with a new coat of oil. :)