amberm145, that would be one of my most thrilling points! Traditional, flesh eating strippers don't do anything with stain. However.... [insert drum roll] If you put a coat of Citristrip on your stripped wood, it will such the stain right out of the grain. See my pictures above. And we're talking a very dark, 1920s door with tons of paint and clear coats on it. and I have not sanded a speck on the 15 doors I've worked on, nor the kitchen cabinets I've done, other than to brush off the dried Citristrip as I mentioned above. The golden oak cabs I did got very light natural wood, too. I was able to ceruse them with a vinegar (I choose ume plum vinegar, just because I had it) and then a very thinned wash of Varathane 'Sunbleached'. I wanted them to stay light. I love that I don't have to sand.

If you are planning an island then try to make the size that will allow you to have 3.6 feet all around and enjoy what you have to work with. The lighting position can be 12 inch centers from cabinet faces to wash color on the cabinets and bring out detail....try for spacing centered on the cabinets around the perimeter of the room. The lights need to be colors that work with the cabinets to make them look good....over the island you might want bright LED to give maximum work light.....lastly puck type lights under cabinets on the perimeter to make the back splash shine. Inspiration or possible rooms that might be what you are trying to envision. Candice Olson has a book about kitchens and bathrooms you can find online or in the library. She discusses recessed lighting in the kitchens I believe and online on her design site. Good luck.

I'm not going to get into the conversation over height of pendant lights, but I will add that you should definitely mix metals. It's what gives kitchens visual interest, makes them look custom/new/modern, and keeps them from looking like builder grade. And that would be especially important to you because your kitchen is so white and could lean to the boring side if you're not careful. So in other words ... do not match your pendant lights to your faucet finish.

I like them. Your kitchen is lovely. But I am not a lighting designer... Check out this link. I cut and pasted a little of what she wrote. She even has an amazing diagram. https://kathleenjennison.com/2015/how-to-pick-a-perfect-pendant-light/ Kathleen Jennison wrote: For example if your room is 9 feet by 10 feet, then your pendant should be great than 19 (9 + 10) inches in diameter. To calculate the size of each pendant in a threesome over a kitchen island, follow the same formula. For example, if you island is 6 feet by 3 feet, then each of your three pendants will be greater than 9 (6 +3) inches in diameter.