Cpartist... I mean light, airy, clean, crisp. Not fussy. Not ornate. Not glitz. Leaning toward casual and carefree. Transitional and contemporary-coastal are fine, not modern or traditional. I want a feeling of relaxation that will go with the rest of the home. I like the porcelain, wood-look plank flooring. I like the pale gray cabinets, white cabinets. I like shaker but not married to them. Like light countertops. It's a smaller kitchen so keeping it light makes sense. Flooring color is a bit of a wildcard - thinking of the wood-look and like the distressed beachy colors, that will transition will into the carpeted bedrooms which are neutral. Prefer not to recarpet but if necessary.... Here is a picture of a shell/driftwood/seaglass mirror I have on my wall. My walls are in BM "Calm": ....very light. The colors, particularly the driftwood....are perhaps the colors for the floor wood...grays, beiges, off whites. In the reflection is a painting that belonged to my parents and while the frame is ornate, I can't bring myself to change it. I know it's not consistent with what I described for the kitchen. No worries on that. Can I just call it eclectic? :-) The wall is just one accent wall but the rest of the home is very light paint. The chandelier will eventually go when I pick out new fixtures. I'm not going to base any kitchen decisions on the style of the dining room. Love your points about ice, water, stone, fire. I will have that layout after I move the frig.

i would do some research online about the pros and cons of both.. what is trendy now may not be trendy when you sell the house..if you plan on staying awhile you can compromise - blue on the bottom and white on the top :-) you should do what makes you happy... when i was planning our reno everyone said white cabinets.. i do not like them and went with an nice old school brown and light creamy counters and backsplash - i love it and am happy.. that is what matters..

@Gloria yes, my cabinets are from Ikea - they are Axstad. I am ashamed to say I haven't tackled the under sink trash set up yet! You have given me the kick I needed though, and I plan to do it this weekend. I plan to do what is described in this thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5851240/progress-on-ikea-axstad-kitchen-backsplash-lighting#25487123 the instructions are pretty vague, but I think I'll be able to do it.

@lynnheins, I am so sorry about your roof! Gosh, that sucks! We are having a roof issue, too, that the builder says is a non-issue. It only shows for a brief period of the day when the sun is at a certain position.... His response was, “It comes from the sun hitting it on just the right angle and shows up any tiny bit of irregularity on the sheathing. It seems it happens more with unfinished areas as the temp change makes it condensate more when the sun hits the top side and the bottom is still cold. I’m not sure there is anything we can do with it but we will look at it.” Ugh.