I also have a lot of colours in my garden - not only flowers but foliage too. I don't think you can have enough color. My containers are usually a mix of foliage and flowers and sometimes I cram in as many as 6-8 plants. I usually do the large pots so its not hard to put in that many flowers! Marg

Also, when I was trying to vary my cabinets, some suggested that I go look at the blog of Miss Mustard Seed. There are others out there as well who give great ideas about taking off a few cabinet doors altogether for some open shelving. I'm considering curtains in some lower cabinets and decorative wire panel inserts in my top cabinets to break up the monotony.

Hi Erika, First, I love your design ideas and layout. The mix of surfaces is great (definitely not too many) and very similar to what I'd like to do. I do think your sink should be centered under the window, especially if you are concerned about it now you will not be happy when it is installed. We obsessed about this in the design phase of our new kitchen so much that we added a third window to that wall to be able to center our clean-up sink under it. My layout is similar to your's with the long island, although my sink (centered under my 3 windows) would swap places with your range. I have a lowered baking center in the same place as your butcher block area. So instead of moving the placement of your large sink - For your prep sink, have you considered putting it at the other end of your island? It might be nice to have a sink down at that end of your kitchen, for entertaining, serving drinks. I think it would look great down near your hutch as kind of a "bar" sink. I don't see where your fridge is but it's always nice to have a sink close by. And a sink at that end would be great for use as a "prep" sink for washing veggies etc for that extra person (guest or not). That extra person would then not be bumping into anyone near the clean-up or cooking center. Your larger sink (I call mine the clean-up sink) seems close enough to your baking center (which I also have in the exact location) and easy enough to turn around to get that measuring cup of water you need for your recipe or to pop a batter bowl into the sink for washing. At least that is my thinking for what would work for me. And did you also say you have a chef's sink close to the range. Sounds like a lot of sinks in that end of the kitchen, it would be nice to put one at the other end. Just my thought anyway, you need to do what works for you and the way you cook, prep, and entertain. On the mix of surfaces - I loooove it. So many KD and "cabinet people" I talked to told me similar things like "it looks like you couldn't afford it all at once" etc. I told them the point is to make it look like I did not get this brand spanking new kitchen all at once. I want it to look like it has evolved over time. I know that doesn't work for everyone but you need to do what you want, not someone else. I am mixing cabinet colors (painted periphery cabinets, stained cherry island) and also mixing door styles as well. My take is if the island is different (i.e. stained cherry) it might have been from a different time period than my wall and base cabinets around the kitchen periphery. I have seen kitchens like these and they are truly beautiful and very period looking. Hope this is helpful to you. Everyone needs to do what works for them. I can't wait to see your finished photos.

Multiple colors is not a problem - the Victorians did it all the time. Multiple gaudy colors, even. Yellow is a problem color - when the light filtered through tree leaves or bounced off a lawn hits it, it turns sickly green. BM shows "modern white", which is a very pale clean grey, as a coordinate color for Coastal plain. Using it as "the white" in all the rooms would tie things together. Gray Matters is a bit on the greenish side of grey, the others you mention are on the blue side ... that might be a problem. Do sample boards! The choice of Coastal Plain sort of declared the overall tone of the paint would be greenish ... shifting to a warm palette or a blue-toned greys might look off. I'll admit to a personal dislike of any shade of green on walls, so I'm not much help.