I'm having a similar dilemma only it's regarding having lower and upper cabs all the same color, but the upper cabs will have black hardware while the lowers will have polished nickel! Now is that crazy or what?! The upper cabinets (and on the other walls too) are hundred-year-old cabs which are multi-paneled and have little multi-bevels around each panel. The lower ones are brand new with only one panel each and simple shaker style - so not matching except for in color and in being framed and inset/flush as the uppers are. But to change out all the original black hardware (or old, if not original) would be too costly right now. So I'm hoping that having them be different is okay. I want PN on the lowers because it looks so beautiful w/ the gray-green color I'm doing all the cabs in (based on my inspiration photo). I'm telling myself that because my lower cabs have feet where it bumps out in the center (about 6 or 7 feet in width), that I can pretend it's furniture and therefor has the right to be different. But I won't know till it's all done, and yes I'm probably going to ask Garden Web's members for their .02 on the matter, too! ;) If it looks horrible I guess I'll just change either the uppers or lowers out and lose that money. So my long-winded point is that yes, I think you can and should have your island hardware be different! And I think that while the faucet et al is like a T-shirt, it will still go nicely together, if only sub-consciously. Do I mean sub-consciously, or do I mean unconsciously? Well you get the idea!

Lovely kitchen! I agree with others those bar stools aren't working though. Since the dining room table will be close by the island, I might do something different in color to set them off. What about a molded Eames-style chair in a bright color? I don't particularly care for the color below, but they come in a host of colors, and you can get ones that swivel: Depending on what color your back splash is, I think this peacock blue color would work well in your space: I have the chair version of these in white as our dining room table chairs and have two young kids are the are easy to wipe down and worry-free.

Thanks for all your input! To clarify when I said darker I meant darker than white, Bruxton white BM is darker than White Dove, its the darker shade I painted on back splash as sample. The color for the island is not blue, bad photo. Paint swatch is KendalL Charcoal HC-166, Amherst Gray HC-167 and Chelsea Gray-HC-168. I am currently leaning toward BM Stone Harbor 2111-50 or Gray Huskie AC-26 for perimeter cabinets, light subway backsplash and dark gray of one listed on island. Agree , no gray floor, Jacobean or walnut I need weight in room, as cabinets surround entire kitchen. I attached some inspiration photos. Not concerned about trendy as long as I am happy, its paint. Here is current kitchen status post rib fest mess, and paint swatches everywhere. It is basically a U shape open to family room. Obviously all walls are being repainted and light fixtures will get changed out.

Color is so different in different lights. I’d suggest printing out the photo, taking it to the paint store, and looking through the paint chips for the closest matches. Then I’d get paint samples in the most likely colors and paint very big swatches on foam board to check the colors in your actual lighting (look at them in morning, afternoon, and evening lighting).