We have Diamond semi-custom cabs from a kitchen store so they are not either line they carry at Lowes. I adore them, the quality is there and customer service is awesome. One of our cabs arrived damaged so they added soft close hinges on the Interior drawers that did not have them to make up for the delay. Very classy...

Update: I ended up choosing the Prelude line, upgraded to all plywood boxes, and with hardware upgrades (soft close, etc.). While the shaker style wasn't as great as the Reflections (the drawers are slab rather than 5 piece), since it's for a summer cottage I decided I could live with that. We have a small kitchen and with all the Lowes instant discounts, and sale, the cabinets came to approx. $5000(with tax and freight). This also includes the "premium finish" of white painted. The Diamond reflections line, with all plywood box, came to about $7500. So, it was an easy decision. The sale at Lowes included instant discounts of $400, $800, $1200, etc. depending on how much the total was, a Diamond promotion that included a free sink base and premium finish for buying 10 or more cabinets, and also a mail-in rebate of 10% for a visa gift card (good for anywhere, not just Lowes). So I will be getting a $470 gift card as well, bringing my total down to about $4500! While this was still quite a bit more than the Ikea cabinets we were considering, we decided it was worth it since the only Ikea is about 4 hours away (we wanted to avoid multiple trips) and our contractor had never installed Ikea. Seemed like headaches were in the offing and it just wouldn't be worth it. The only bummer with the Prelude line was that the base lazy susan cabinet was not great - low sides on the lazy susan and no options for upgrade, and built in a "barrel" style. Really didn't like it, but again, seemed like a worthwhile trade-off, since it's not our full-time kitchen, but a shared summer cottage. The KD at Lowes was really great. He priced it out several ways, and even worked the system a bit for the Reflections line (even though I ended up not going with it.) He added "furniture ends" to my end cabinets which brought the price up, but also bumped us up to the next level of instant discount (another $400 off), actually saving money over not having the premium ends! I'll update again when they get installed!

Just a thought, we have 21" of space above our counter which I love. It's open and airy. The cabinets include a light rail to hide cabinet lighting.. I'm 5' 9" and my husband is a little taller so reaching is not a problem. We do use a stool for hard to reach areas in the pantry but its not very often. Also consider a mirror behind your sink. I did that in a townhouse where I faced the wall and it didn't feel as claustrophobic. As to comments about different color cabinets, I don't think your's are so different that they would look disjointed and I think the space is big enough to pull off the darker cabinets without feeling confined. I found the below color scheme that is the reverse of yours - it reminded me a little of your layout. The difference is that you have quite a bit of wood with the flooring. The island my blend a bit being a lighter color but the expanse of counter top and choice of stools may balance it.

"local vendor" what does that mean. a local cabinet builder who can plan with you to demolish and ready the space......build the new to your specs and finish or arrange finish and install can be worth it. look for comprehensive services from a local person as they may have materials and labour ready and the home sales are slowing so they may have better time window for you along w good customer service for your needs. it just depends. take advantage of slowdown right now. the big box stores arent that responsive to these sorts of fluctuations.