Thank you all for your great feedback! It's such a hard decision to make! (one of many) I do like honey maple and in some pictures it looks really great and not at all splotchy. In other pictures it looks uneven. I'm not sure what the difference is -- whether it's just the photos, the lighting, the quality of the finish ...? I'm also not sure whether a darker finish on maple makes the potential for splotchiness better or worse. (I know that unstained maple doesn't seem to have this problem and looks great, so that might be an option too). I wish we could have a skylight! Unfortunately there is a 2nd story above the kitchen :( Thanks for the idea though. othertime, your kitchen looks beautiful! Aren't those mahogany floors amazing! I like your choice of granite too -- what kind is it? I had a little look at your album -- what a great idea to use the same granite on the fireplace BTW ... we might consider doing that too. Your kitchen is much bigger than ours though, so I'm worried that going with cabinets that dark may make our little kitchen look like a cave. Or maybe not ... it's still definitely worth considering ...

I think this is one of the times you just need to go down to the paint store and pick up a whole lot of color chips and audition them in your kitchen. Lighting is so different from place to place that it's just better to bring a bunch home and tape them up on the walls. Toss the ones that are clear misses and work your way down to a few. If you still can't decide, get a small can of possible colors and paint a largish piece of foam board or something and prop it against your cabinets to see how it might look. I'd try cream shades too.

ibloomington.com/entryway-light-fixtures/entryway-lighting-fixtures-home-design-ideas/   given the ceiling height, architectural style, the wood tones, and the budget, something along this top picture style might be very nice. I guess it's just nice to put something circular in a square area? I like your house!!!! You might find a simple Tiffany style or Mother of Pearl type or style, that works well?? Enjoy! I like Beverly's middle option tooo!!

how much space between the pendants. Ann, in both comments I mentioned a guide up in my first comment. I guess you keep missing it? here it is again,,,with 3 others. these should give you the needed spacing to choose pendants. while you can play around w/the distance between them, the height should be right at 30" or so, with no more than 36" from the countertop. Since you're going smaller, you don't have to do the 30" between. smaller sized pendants can be a tad bit closer 7" is a mini pendant and far too small to use over your island. shoot for 10-14"