mhan 101 - those are beautiful cabinets. Can I Ask what name brand they are? Also, your handles, where did you get them from . Those are what I'm looking for in our kitchen. Funny is your entrance looks like the layout of my kitchen, minus the island in the middle and window to the right. Its looks great! http://s919.photobucket.com/home/rufinorox/allalbums

I admit, I'm a little confused as to whether or not you're painting or staining. Staining, I think...? I'd think that now isn't the time to cheap out. "Oh, said the guest/picky MIL, "That would be so beautiful if only that orangey trim actually matched the cabinets." or "How trendy of you." "OH," asked the mean neighbor, "Why you spent all that money on trim and your builder didn't even match your cabinets. Well, certainly is a good thing you like that 'eclectic' look. Honey."

Sophie Wheeler. I recognized the need for additional lighting with black cabinetry. This is an eastern facing room. Adjacent to the left of the single "kitchen" window is a bay window, a set of french doors and a set of double windows. The dining room to the right also has a double window. When we repiped the plumbing we had the entire kitchen ceiling off. The HVAC, vent pipes and plumbing pipes prevented us from taking the existing lighting to down to 4in and adding additional cans. I've installed LED bulbs to increase light volume in the kitchen area. Additionally we are installing under cabinet lighting with the new cabinets. The carpenter- a perfectionist- who redid our drywall used a laser level and added to all the ceiling joists so the ceiling is completely level and ready for the cabinetry with applied crown moulding. I think the first photo supplied by phuninthesun helped me decide to apply black to the cabinetry and white to the walls. I will post once finished for all to check out.

You've got several problems. If you buy more of the same crown from your cabinet company, you'll still have to deal with the gap above the corner cabinet. If you raise the existing crown to the ceiling, it's very unlikely you'd find unpainted crown that matches it's size and profile, plus you'd then have to deal with a gap between the cabinets and the bottom of the crown. Here's what I would do. Choose the new crown mold you want for the rest of the room and measure it's height (how far down from the ceiling it comes). Make a mark on the wall at that height, then use a level to transfer that height to the stained crown and mark it. Then, trace the old, existing crown's profile onto the wall with a pencil. Now you have a mark where the bottom of the new crown will intersect the old crown, and another mark where the old crown will have to be narrowed to fit underneath the new. Carefully remove the stained crown from the corner cabinet. Next, build a frame above the corner cabinet that's the same height as the new crown, and that extends beyond the cabinet to the point at which the new crown will intersect the old. Now, install the new, painted crown around the kitchen and across the new soffit. Last, run the old crown through a table saw and cut it down so that it fits underneath the new crown. With me? This is a tough one to visualize.