I agree with you. I generally think there should be some contrast between the cabinet and the flooring. So I like the light acorn better with the dark floors.

I see what you mean, but am having a hard time liking the light acorn. What will your counters be? It looks like the dark door may be just barely lighter than the floor, which could make it work, or is that because of the flash or something?

The counters are going to be honed absolute black. My knee jerk is to like the sable but I want to make sure it's not b/c I don't like the door style of the acorn.

Also, the sable reads more contemporary and the acorn more traditional/rustic. I'm planning a large farmtable in the dining. Hmmm....

Definitely the acorn color wise. Like the slight variations in the stain color and that the darker floor is picked up in parts of the acorn stain. The other looks like you were trying to match but didn't quite get it.

I think that's why I didn't like the acorn...it reminded me of some 80s colonial furniture my inlaws gave us once. But part of it is the door style, too. Neither one is the color's fault! ;-) I do think you probably need the lighter color with the black counters...as much as I love dark counters on dark cabs, not with the dark floors, too.

What does your dining set look like?

If it goes with that, I also vote for the light acorn.

I don't have a dining table yet, it will need to be purchased. It will be someting like this:

or the RH table linked below...

I could also use some advice on the layout of the dining room cabinets. I'm concerned it will be a 13' wall of cabinets and counter and look kind of blah like this:

We took out the sink and the wine fridge is going to be centered. there will be a wine rack above it with hanging wine glasses like in this picture. Un fortunately stacked cabinets were out of our budget:

But my space is a lot bigger. Any ideas on how to mix it up a bit or make it look more furniture like? I thought about bringing the uppers all the way to the counter at the ends with 2 drawers and putting some glass fronts in the uppers like this: Which cabinets should I put the glass in? in the middle? at the ends?

Here is a link that might be useful: RH table

bump! Any ideas?

Acorn gives a more furniture look-see if you can get matt finish.The sable is a little muddy. I see round crystal knobs
on that acorn and you're good. Maybe a glass door on an upper?

I too vote for Acorn stain. Definitely should create a difference in shades between cabinets and flooring for a striking effect. Since shaker style is traditional, I'm sure that stain would look great with that style. Good luck!

I like the acorn also, it contrasts better with the floor & it looks like it's glazed & the glaze color is closer to the flooring. Am I right ?
If you can't do glass across the whole top, with the ends coming down to counter, I'd maybe do open shelves in the middle & glass on the ends , somewhat like the last picture

I vote for the one on the RIGHT (acorn) I believe. Goes really well with the table and flooring.

Thanks everyone. Went with the acorn with the glaze. Now onto to the configuration. Here are the 2 options. I prefer option 2 b/c for cabinets 24-36" I can get them without a center stile. These will be inset. Drawers can be as large as 36".

Option 1. How I originally wanted it. But don't want center stiles.

Option 2. I moved the glass to the side cabinets and made them a bit bigger.

I like option 2 as well, but think that the doors surrounding the wine fridg should open the other way.

Another argument for acorn... Are those cherry cabinets? It sure looks like it. If so, they will darken naturally over time. So the darker sable color will eventually get even closer in darkness to the floor. Also, like others who mentioned, I prefer a contrast between the floor and cabinet stain. Otherwise the kitchen feels like a brown box.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Bungalow and Kitchen remodel blog

Do you really think it looks odd that the doors face away from the wine fridge. Since the space is so big (13'), I was trying to divide it into 2 smaller hutches with the wine fridge in the middle. Maybe that doesn't work.

Do you think it would be better if the drawers were next to the wine fridge and door next to each other?