hi calimama.. Well...here's my story. We had leftover granite, so since we were re-doing our powder room as well, we used it for the vanity. The vanity cabinet is a similar stain color as our kitchen cabs, and I also had leftover backsplash tile, so we used that too!! I am not a matchy-matchy person at all...and I don't think it's required that your bathroom and kitchen match. But since you are remodeling both, I think it may as well flow nicely if possible. Mine just so happen to look ...well ...alot alike. But heck...I wasn't about to let my granite and backsplash marble go to waste! KA:) Here is a link that might be useful: my matchy-matchy powder room...haha...

We did. . . our living room wall is basically on the same wall about 10 feet away from our peninsula. It previously had a granite on it that we hated and wanted to change when we first bought the house (a pink, speckly granite we called the "disco granite"). It definitely would have clashed with the new granite and, while we considered a rock or tile, we decided to just go with the same granite. Our granite is leathered so it is a more natural look around the fireplace than a polished granite would be, albeit still a bold one because the granite has a lot of movement. I actually like the way the granite on the fireplace turned out better than the kitchen! (Though I really like both.) Here's the kitchen . . . the fireplace is to the left of the window in the far left of the picture.

Thanks everybody for your input. The shaker cabinets are new -- so that's why I hesitate to paint them. True, the lighting in the kitchen isn't that great -- so perhaps it would be difficult for people to notice the difference. I would love, however, to change the hardware. Currently they are the tubular pulls which seem too contemporary for this pre-war apartment. I know I may have to paint the cabinets depending on the new hardware I select. If I can fill in the holes with wood filler and have it paint so it would be seamless, I'd leave it as it is. But not sure if that will happen. If I end up having to paint the cabinets, I figure might as well paint them the same color as the trim/moldings. Decorators White looks good in all of the rooms (with the exception of the master bedroom where colors are more muted) because the furniture tends to run on the fresh clean side.

It's also important to take your time. Really, relaxed planning makes the whole thing come out better in the end. You're not going to have a new kitchen for the 2016 holidays, so let that one go. You could rush the whole thing and let a kitchen company crank out a one-size-fits-all job, but how pleased would you be with the result? Buehl's links may seem like a lot, but it's so rewarding to tackle the subject and plan a kitchen that suits you, your family, and your budget. Reading through threads you'll discover all sorts of things you didn't know about even if you choose not to use them - ever run across Silgranit sinks? I'm not fond of them, but many are and I was glad to know there was such a thing. How about an air switch for the garbage disposal? Now that one I love. And everyone loves lower drawers vs cabinets. The nice thing about doing research and planning here is that you're dealing with "real people" who are interested in getting great kitchens, but not in selling you something. Also you get real people photos, not pros with wide angle lenses and pro lighting. I posted one the other day to illustrate something (spacing on a Kohler Stages sink?) where I didn't take the time to move the stuff that was sitting there (dish rack, knife in use, paper towels) before I took the photo. Those extraneous normal kitchen things were irrelevant to the issue and I'm pretty sure everyone else's kitchen has those items too. Perhaps the most import "real people" aspect is that GW people are dealing with widely varied budgets from counting every penny to what's a penny?, funky 1905 kitchens, 1950 specials, 1960 never-been-remodeled, remodeled badly, bumpy floors and walls, tiny NYC apartments, huge kitchens in Dallas, and all the issues that make real life go better or worse. Start with Buehl's links, ask questions and it will happen. Personally, we (husband and I) sat in the dining room off and on for weeks just looking at our kitchen and mentally working through all the possibilities - add on? not? push out here? use the same footprint? what works now? what needs to be better? You'll get there.