Pillog, you are right on. The other half of "we" is DH. He immediately got on board, no hesitation, when I told him I was thinking of woodgrain instead of white. You're also right that whatever makes a "happy wife" is good by him. ("Happy wife, happy life" -- something a husband on "Househunters" said.) I like your way of thinking on including him. Jenny, I'm so glad you mentioned no oil base on the floor because I was planning to have them use oil-based Duraseal this time, thinking it would look richer. Thanks again to all. I/"we" are still sorting this out and will let you know what we decide. Still have to learn to post pictures. I'm not comfortable with the fact that my photos apparently have to be available on the general internet, as in photobucket. Correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far, and sorry for my late acknowledgement/response. The cabinets aren't yet installed, so I can't yet provide a context photo. We've gone through the Wilsonart deck, and have narrowed it down to these possibilities: The floor will be polished concrete (gray); hence the top 4 which are grayish to tie in with the floor. The 3 in the middle are nice browns, but I don't know if they'll work with a gray floor. The 4 on the bottom are brownish, but have some gray in them to hopefully bridge the gap. I should mention, this will be a break room in a factory, shared by both office and production workers, though most of the production workers are smokers, so take breaks outside after getting their food from the fridge/warming it in the microwave. Thoughts?

Suzanne-- I agree about the grey. I'm very limited in color, however. Custom paint is out of my budget and I am not up to painting them myself (ugh, perish the thought!). I'm going with Marsh maple cabinets, Apex (slab front), and they don't have a ton of colors. The only other two that may work are the "canvas" (that's actually what it's called, not linen), and there is a black stain, Onyx, I think, which is nice. Once we decide for sure about the jungle backsplash we're going to buy a sheet of it and then make our final choice based on that. I think we really need to see it in person, and in our space. I wouldn't even mind buying it and then just putting it in our bird room if we decide not to use it in the kitchen! I really love that pattern and the birds (parrots) would appreciate it. Nosoccermom-- yes the tall cabinets will be some kind of neutral color so they don't stand out. We aren't going to have any uppers, just some floating shelves. The ceilings are too low, there's an immovable soffit, and we don't need the storage. Works out great because I never liked upper cabinets and doing it this way will help with the "contemporary" (yet retro?) look. It's also much cheaper! Lisadlu-- awesome! That's what I'm hoping for. Thank you :) I was looking at the marmoleum samples again and I love the moss/sage green-type colors. There are a few different ones and they are rather neutral, I think it could work... It's a risk but I'd hate to miss out on a chance for more color! Green also looks awesome with the slate, the field stone, and the orange-red wood paneling. We bought a bright moss colored couch and brought in some plants and it brings everything to life!

Have you looked at Comfort Gray? It is next on the paint strip after Sea Salt, a slightly darker green-gray. I have SSalt in master bedroom and Comfort Gray in master bath with Baltic Brown granite, medium brown cabinetry, and light beige floor tile. CG is beautiful with brown!