I read Dan's question about the stiles as being rhetorical - you don't ever see stiles with the grain running sideways because the long pieces of cabinetry and furniture go with the grain, not against it (unless of course you're trying to use more material than necessary). To my eye, it would look strange and unsettling. I have mocked it up in my woodshop but have never wanted to build a door that way. True Shaker style shows vertical wood grain in both the door stiles and the face frame stiles. To insert a door panel with horizontal grain would make the cabinet surface look busy and interrupted. Horizontal grain on doors is a more contemporary look, and it does not fit with the more traditional Shaker profile. If slab doors don't go with the style of your home, then horizontal grain in cabinet doors will probably not fit with it either. All of that said, do what you love. If you're trying to make your kitchen integrate with the style of your home, consider that horizontal grain in Shaker cabinets will make quite a statement.

Laughing at the chicken wire comment. Only walker zanger could make a tile that looks like chicken wire (and make you pay through the nose for it). Now I really may have to switch to the herringbone back-up tile I posted above! (Skippack-orientation question was about the “paddle” tile in the first post. Herringbone tile shown a couple posts above is my back up and I agree I would not do it “sideways”).

The Minnesota Building Code requires guards to be at least 36” high above the walking surface and limits opening to less than 4”. It also needs to be able to resist a 200# lateral impact load. Horizontal intermediate rails are not addressed in the Minnesota code, guards are intended to prevent accidental falls. The issue of children claiming over them is beyond the scope of the code. Building Code is a minimum standard, if you want to do better, go ahead.

While your children are small, I would install child-proof safety nets on the railings. Safety trumps fashion. Once the children are older, you can remove them. This is no different than having a child-proof fence around a swimming pool. Once the children are older, they are no longer needed and can be removed. Children have to be protected from attractive nuisances. How to Child Proof Horizontal Railings (blueistyleblog.com) Baby Proof: Keeping Balcony Railings Safe for the Children - Boston Iron Works