Both are lovely. I’d go with green.
I loooove the wood as well. I wish we can keep at least some sort of wood elements.

Thank you HUE colors. It’s a store that sells cabinets not a cabinet maker. The ower said my master cabinets were treated but they are fading already. All the woods in this house are fading, including my walnut credenzas. David Bradford’s work is beatuiful but I think some of the wood is too busy. I have red rock walls in the house i don’t want to conflict with (photo below). I was thinking orange is too bright. I could see green under the island but the long floating stretch is 19 feet and I wonder if it would be too much color? We installed walnut at the bar and imo it’s too busy with 24 knots in a five foot stretch. I just don’t know what to do.

It would a loss for your home to lose the wood. A new veneer with horizontal grain. It would be amazing.

@HU-187528210 thank you! Me too! I think I will ask again about keeping the island walnut and doing white for the appliace wall and floating cabs. I do have white in the laundry which is near the kitchen. Waiting for one more cabinet at the end, white shelf, and mint backsplash.

@Paul F. thanks! I agree! Keeping some wood would nice! I think I am going to have to keep the island all walnut or use a darker color for the island fronts.

The reason all the wood is fading is you need to control the UV from the big windows . IMO walnut would be my first choice in that space and a high gloss the next . This is my MCM kitchen with Ikea high gloss white cabinets they are 15 yrs old in this pic I run a catering biz from my home so they are well used , no fading not one ding. You need soalr shades on those windows I like 10% in a dark color to enhance the view you get.

Going with white would lead me to a white floor. Do you have a plan for the floor?

You need a better cabinet maker than you have been dealing with. Join the Cabinety/Millwork Shop and Install group on Facebook and find one. They are open to homeowners joining and learning.

I’d limit the amount of white, given the overall feel of your space. Perhaps choose locations for walnut where yours weren’t fading from the sunlight. (Wonder if UV film on the sliding doors is a viable solution). I could see a combination like below.

I don't see how you can not do walnut. I guess you could consider teak - which still fades but can be well oiled and more easliy revived?

Are you considering changing the walnut islant top? I could really see a terrazzo or glass Vetrazzo type counter here that would also pick up the cabinet color that you chose. Can you keep the walnot on 2 or the three? like island and floating with colors for the appliance wall?

Please NO white. That is not what MCM houses had. It will stick out like a sore thumb.

The difference is the laundry area is not a focal point. Your kitchen is. You want it to be warm and inviting.

I like the green and blue color options! I also love the walnut, and I wonder if upgrading the windows to modern low-e glass would give you enough protection from the sun to prevent fading. It would be so nice to be able to preserve it.

Thank you everyone for the responses! it is really helpful! I keep coming back to walnut as well, but the fading was so bad. I looked into uv tinting at one time and I think I was told that to get the best uv protection, I had to use a dark tint. I didnt want my windows darkened. I also read about windows breaking due to discrepant heat absorbtion on one of the two panes. Given I live in a very hot state, it was concerning. I also went on a home tour, where it was clear the dogs had shredded the tint. It looked awful. I have two large rambunctious dogs.

The cabinet company already has my deposit. The problem with the walnut is they are having troble getting matched good quality pieces without a lot of knots or movement. I guess they are using younger trees now as they are running out of older larger trees. We had two orders come in and the quality was poor. He rejected them The tile company designer I work with told me she is hearing the same issues from interior designers. I also had walnt put in my appliance area/butler pantry and I don’t like it. It is too busy. It almost looks like zebra wood. I loved the walnut I had originally in the kitchen. It was so rich and beautiful.

Thank you @tupi2020 The windows are low E double paned windows. I replaced all the windows in the house after I bought it.

@just_janni I asked the cabinet contractor about replacing the island top and sides and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said it’s solid walnut.

What about a dark stained oak? I think it’s too dark?

Oh my gosh I dont know what to do. I might have to hire a designer. :(

@cpartist thanks or the mock ups! Very helpful! It doesnt really work well with the island. :(

@dan1888 The floor is intstalled - new large format white tiles, or almost white. This is a photo of the laundry area, not yet completed in white with the tiles.

IDK but wanted to chime in and say you have a terrific space. I'd love to work in that kitchen looking out those huge windows, I'd never want to leave -- lucky you!!

That white tile you're installing in the main area matches your laundry room. If so, that's a modernization step. If you want wood, it'll need to be a variety that you like after it goes through any color change from uv exposure. European oak can be darkened by fuming to get a reaction to the high tannin content not present in N. American white oak. I doubt a local cabinet store will be familiar with that option. DOCA from Spain does it.

Rift sawn oak.

Walnut gets lighter over time, it's just a natural quality of the wood. My Nakashima chairs are much lighter than a newer walnut chair would be. It's just what walnut does. Lighter walnut would just look authentic in a house of this age.

There's nothing the matter with either the blue or the green as colors, but neither one of them would be particularly appropriate for a mid-century glass box in the desert if you want the house to have an authentic appearance.

These are restored or original photos. Look at how light the finishes are. And I don't think any of them are walnut.

Cree House

Farnsworth House (lowers are St Charles metal I believe)

Fallingwater (also metal but pastel)

Not light but allowing the wood to do what it does -might be walnut.

Esherick House

Gordon House

Thank you @palimpsest and @dan1888 That might explain why there is so much rift sawn white oak out here in the desert! I’ll look at this as well!

Maybe I’m missing something, but the walnut cabinets you have now look great to me, and perfect in your space. I believe you when you say the fading is terrible and unacceptable but I can’t see it. Is there really no way to make the walnut work? Maybe your contractor needs to hire a specialist sub to make that happen. I love the photos Pal posted.

@chinacatpeekin The terribly faded cabinets were refinished. You cant tell from the distance but they look terrible. Very streaky, rough and have areas that look like cigarette burns :(

Have you considered uv film for windows to protect whatever you choose to do going forward, including walnut?

Hi @ker9 I did consider it at one point but to really get good uv protection, i think they told me I needed a darker film. I also have dogs and they will scrape it. Also, double pane glass can break if one pane heats up.

We use it in Florida, virtually clear and no issues. I believe the film was called Vista, not 3M. Call professional installers.

It looks like the white cabinets you've already installed in the laundry will work for everything but the island. If so, you won't 'lose' your deposit by reducing the size of the project for the cabinet store.

^^^ The white DOES NOT work in her MCM house. In the laundry, white is fine because it's not part of the public area.

I think the white might come off a bit utilitarian for such an open kitchen. Do they have any medium tone browns that would work with the rock in the house, or pastel colors?

I have always liked this kitchen. This was Marjorie Lord's kitchen in her Trousdale Estates house (John Elgin Woolf). It's probably long gone, since this was a real estate photo. It's a Hollywood Regency house, but they are essentially modernist boxes with elaborate facades. I am not suggesting pale blue, but a lighter color, neither white nor those intense shades you have shown.

^^^ I couldn't think of the wood my mother had in her first house which was built in 1952. That's it. Birch.

I like birch. But there is no way that it looks as good as a great walnut kitchen! Your cabinet makers may not be able to give you a great walnut kitchen. But holy cow, after looking at that link to Linear, there ARE makers that CAN.

Thank you everyone!! Your advice is very helpful!!

I'll look into lighter woods like birch and rift sawn oak. Great suggestions!!!

I'm thinking about a green island witha thin white top. Maybe sage green or more of a kelly green. I also would consider blue, with light wood cabinets everywhere else.

@palimpsest your photos are very helpful!! They give me some idea of where I could go with color

What were the cabinets when you moved in?

If I remember correctly the house was heavily remuddled and 60s regency.

This is the kitchen in the Philip Johnson house in New Canaan. I am not sure I love the grey--it's so cold-- but I wanted to show the wood tone.

This is a Louis Kahn house in Penn Valley

@palimpsest Great memory! The cabinets were 70’s horrid style. The ktichen was a tiny room. Everything was divided into tiny spaces. I tore it all out to open the whole space up to the glass and views. Now it’s shaped like an L where the entire inside of the L is all glass and open space. So I have modified it from the original. I do not want an original midcentury home. I want an updated midcentury modern home. I have already updated it by getting rid of the claustophobic spaces, replacing all of the glass with double pane low e glass, expanding the kitchen, moving the laundry room, adding a master suite and garage, etc.

Those cabinets are great! The wood is very pretty. But I agree about the gray. Right now I am thinking of a shade of green to match the aloe, succulents and cacti that are outside. Make it more of an inside out home.