thanks...I'm not interested in painting but I found the DIY tile link and I'm seriously thinking about it

I used LED undercabinet strip lighting with an AC adapter plugged into a switched outlet. I fished the AC adapter cable through a small hole in the drywall near the outlet to another small hole at the bottom of the cabinet. The interconnect wires between the different LED strips were stapled along the underside of the cabinets so they wouldn't be seen. It worked out great. If you don't have a switched outlet, you could use a small 12v DC switch mounted under the cabinet near the first LED strip to turn them on or off. The LEDS are somewhat expensive, but low heat/power use and never need replacing. Here is a link that might be useful: LED strip lights

Vivian, cute house. Gothic revival, not Queen Anne. Looks more like 1860's or 1870's. Sarah, I agree that the cabinets in the dining room could be inspiration for the kitchen. Since they didn't use anything like the kind of cabinets we use today back when your house was new, you could go with whatever appeals to you. I think painted cabinets fit nicely in old houses. Generally they used to paint any cabinets or shelves they used in the kitchen in the olden days because it was easier to clean. Remember you can use another color other than white. I've seen sort of distressed looking painted cabs in magazines and cabinetry brochures that looked nice. Also saw some painted an ocean blue in one magazine that I really loved, saw a similar blue in a cabinet display showroom and wished I could go for that color. DH however couldn't grasp the vision of a blue kitchen, he can however go for a light yellow or off white, so that's what I'm getting. You could go with cabinets that had the same styling as the ones in the dining room, but paint them. Or echo the cabinets in stain. A simple raised panel door in the kitchen in paint would look very nice, and would compliment the old cabinets. I was just now looking at your photos and my personal choice would be the last one. This is not because I'm going that route myself, but because you seem to have a similar situation to mine. wanting an old fashioned looking kitchen and not having a whole lot of bright sunshine streaming in. Partially because of cost, I'm blending painted cabinets with stained. I like the look of stain on the bottom and on the island and the paint on the others. Paint costs more than stain, you see, more hand work. By the way, it's true that sometimes custom cabinet shops can give you a better deal than stock cabinets. We found a shop whose product was much nicer than the Brookhaven cabinets we had been looking at, and cost less.

Maybe you don't want to her this perspective and maybe it does not matter...but I'll preface it by saying I'm an old house snob. If I walked into a kitchen as described above I'd walk right out without seeing any more of the house :o( Now if this is a home you're going to keep for the rest of your life, maybe that isn't a big deal, but if there is any thought of ever selling a historic home, staying just a little on point historically is always a huge plus especially in a kitchen. The sink in the island is challenging visually for a historic home (pet peeve of mine) but that could be minimized somewhat if appropriate materials are used (ie painted cabinets and not the permiter in one color and the island in another which screams NOW). I'm not sure what concerns you have with seams, but something like marble or soapstone, even antiqued granite in a basic black would be much more appropriate, or the copper (which is gorgeous). Corian in a historic home pains me. heck it pains me in any home, but in a historic home the plastic look just screams "plastic" to me when the other finishes in an old home are considered. I wouldn't reduce the fridge size (one can never have too much LOL) especially if it's fridge and freezer. I regret having done that in our other house so my comment is colored with that regret. This is just my old house snob opinion formed after having looked at a lot of homes over the last two year and rejecting several with "new" kitchen they expected me to pay for that were going to be ripped out. Kitchens were deal killers in several houses and in the end we bought the house without one :)