Your choices sound very pretty. Do what you love!

We are doing dark stained wood (lyptus). Dare to be different!

It's funny that you're saying you're just seeing "white, white, white!" When I look around, I feel that all I see is wood, wood, wood!

Go with what you like; don't worry about the trends or what everybody else seems to be doing. Your choices sound lovely.

Dark stained cherry for us, on natural oak floors. Not because of an NKBA trend, but because we love it!

I say go with what you will love for a very long time. Does it matter what other people think of your choices?

My husband and I both love the graining of wood so much more than we would a painted cabinet. We chose to go with a Praline finish on hickory as the natural finish on any wood just made us think of construction lumber. Since we are always building something with raw lumber we chose to stay away from something light.

LOVE lyptus! I would imagine dark stained will be glorious!

Absolutely do what you love!! It sounds like your kitchen will be beautiful. I am the opposite from you...I have always loved white kitchens, and even put white cabinets in my kitchen in my very first house 14 years ago. Hardly anyone was doing them in my neighborhood, they were considered out of style and very 90's (this was at the end of the 90's.) I didn't care one whit, put them in and loved those suckers (cheap melamine finish and all) until the day we sold our house. I watched white cabs come back in during this time, lol! Of course, I am doing them again in my new house (white painted maple this time, tho) and am actually glad that they may be on the way out again. I like being different! Enjoy what you love!

pctexas - If you are in Texas as your username indicates then your cabinets will be perfect.

A lot of the choice has to do with location or region. While we have many white kitchens here, I often think they look out out place unless combined with bright colors.

My cabinets will be painted, but not white.

I like looking at pictures of white kitchens, but they're not right for us or our house.
We did medium stained wood cabinets and they are the perfect fit for us.
I figure I'd give this post a picture, hope you don't mind.
Oh, and a month or so ago someone had a very similar thread and a lot of people posted pictures of their stained wooden cabinets. I couldn't find it but I didn link to another thread that might be of interest below.

Note: we're still in process.

Here is a link that might be useful: wood kitchen thread

Harvest Gold-stained cherry cabs here--still love them a lot! I also like some of the darker-stained cabs as well espresso, and the Bordeaux stained cherry we used on our hall bathroom vanity.

I have come to appreciate painted cabs (white, cream, and the like) after seeing so many gorgeous kitchens with them right here on GW. :-)

It does seem to me that painted white is in the majority here. We should do a survey!

I did a medium stained cherry. There's no way white would have worked in my house. Its full of dark orginal woodwork.

We are doing what we love. It will be quarter sawn oak stained to match (or close) our Stickley Mission furniture. I don't really care if that is what is trendy right now, I'm doing this kitchen for me. Besides, we aren't replacing all of our furniture and our kitchen should blend well with the rest of the house and our overall personal style. DH and I have always leaned toward warm natural wood tones, so a white, cottage-y kitchen would be very wrong for us.

pctexas,

Everyone has given such great advice, I'll just add a
few old GW links. I could have added pictures but thought
you just wanted to know about trends and discussions
on wood.
~boxer

GW inspiration for wood
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815481713771.html

Show me your dark wood kitchens
http://ths.gardenweb.com//forums/load/kitchbath/msg0222301811981.html

GW Alder
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg090249042372.html

Alder
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0723140631676.html

Alder
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0723140631676.html

Does anyone have/had Alder cabinets? Hickory?!
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/build/msg0701323726084.html

Oak? Outdated or not?
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg011850001200.html

Kitchens that won't look silly in 20 years
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1020410421483.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of wood kitchens please!

wood here too! I know how you feel; as soon as I finished my kitchen, it seemed like all the kitchens here were white/painted cabinets. If you are worried about re-sale, you might want to check the online real estate listings in your area. Here where I live, they are ALL wood (at least in my price range) but I would have probably had painted if I could have convinced my DH. Still, I LOVE my cabinets, and as messy as my kids get them, white would have been a mess!

Go with what you love!

Thanks so much for the reassurance. I love the look of a dark wood with lighter counters and backsplashes. I'm quickly getting hooked to this site. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

Like others have said, do what you love and what works in your house.

I love dark stained wood cabinets, but my kitchen is in a 135 year old farmhouse and it just screamed for a white painted kitchen.

As it is, only the library has stained woodwork (it's the formal "sitting room" so the fanciest in the house) the rest of the house is painted.

BTW - where I live is so behind the times that no one has white kitchens or even white trim. I expect about the time the rest of the country has moved past that, painted cabinets will start to catch on here.

Was surprised to see that the percentages for wood were as high as they are. When you look at the shelter mags you form an impression that the majority of new kitchens are white.

The majority is white. Even if you goodle kitchens, white comes out on top. But, that said, why does that matter?

I love the stained maple cabinets which will be delivered next week. Darker than the sample but so pretty to my eye. Very excited! Mid to dark(it's hard for me to admit/say 'dark'. But very light no stain maple floors are being installed at this moment.

Ayr Cabinetry, as in loves2cook4six. I am indebted to her.
Big time.

In 1987 I had my stained cabinets painted white so I had a white painted kitchen for more than 23 years.

I think that to look at an all white or cream kitchen in magazines or on this forum is gorgeous, but I think I would tire of it quickly. In my new kitchen, I'm doing on the perimeter a maple cabinet stained in hazelnut and glazed but the island will be cream, distressed and also glazed. The best of both worlds in my opinion!
Good Luck! It's your kitchen, you're the one that has to be 100% satisfied.

Our house is 3 1/2 years old. I liked oak (and its price), and wouldn't paint it for the world. It's warm, and light; just what I wanted.

I have to say sometimes I see folks bemoaning their "orange" oak cabs and I start thinking mine look too orange, but so far I always recover before I start considering doing anything drastic to them. I figure oak will be back "in" in by the time we're ready to sell.

Everything comes and goes. We had a lengthy thread on the 1949 kitchen last month. If you want to do what everyone else is doing, then do it. If you want to make it your own, pick what you like. Either way it will be out of fashion in 10 years and back in again in 20. I went shopping for oak, came home with hickory. I don't paint wood.

Your choices sound wonderful!!!
I'm right in the middle of getting my kitchen done, medallion cherry with pecan stain.

When I first came on here I was so tempted to go with white but DH was against it. After awhile he told me we could "look" at some white cabinets but our KA designer persuaded us to go with wood. I was so surprised she told me that. I was disappointed, since DH seemed to be caving , until I saw the cabinet I ended up getting.

I love the richness of the wood and I think I would easily get tired of the white painted cabinets. I have to say, I do love white/creamy cabinets- just not in my kitchen lol!!
As others have said, it's a good fit for our family. I would have heartburn worrying about paint cracking, chipping and staining.
I was worried about going with a medium color wood as our previous kitchen was all white but (I think) the wood has surprisingly brightened up our space.

before

after...our remodel-in-progress,still have a way to go!

I love painted white kitchens and that's what I originally planned. But after seeing so many in the year it took me to put together my layout, I was tired of them and we ended up with medium dark QS oak with soapstone counters. I still drool over the white kitchens posted here, though.

One of my favorite dark wood/white counters kitchens is Alku's. She doesn't post here anymore but I doubt she'd mind me sharing a pic. If this is what you're going for, you can't go wrong! I LOVE this kitchen!

Stained mahogany cabs here

They just started installing cabinets in our new home today. They are hickory stained with SW chestnut. They are stunning, the pictures don't do them justice at all. I love darker woods, and would never have white cabinets, even though they are beautiful. I'll post some better pictures later. I was just so excited to see them today I quickly snapped a couple during my lunch house before going back to work.

The majority of new kitchens in my area are stained wood.

Yes I see most people today are still getting stained wood. If you plan on staying in the home more than 5 years, definitely get what you want. It is mostly in magazines I see painted light colored cabinets. I have cherry wood cabinets. I love them and everyone who comes into my home compliments them. I think also that light colored painted cabinets are so hard to clean. Good luck, I hope this helps

Cherry perimeter with a painted island. Learning toward a gray-green color. Still trying to convince DH that wood countertops are okay. :-)

Love alder wood! Especially dark stained alder. Our exterior and interior doors are knotty alder, so obviously I'm a fan;) Your choices sound lovely.

Cherry wood with the same stain as craftlady, one wall, top cabinets only, hood and cabinets left and right are painted white. Wife wants it this way, I just hope the painted cabinets are "in" when we sell in 5 years! After 31 years of marriage, I have found it does not pay to go against the flow, hey it is only money!!! I hope other men on this board know what I mean...lol

Tom

I did coffee glazed maple cabinets 3 years ago, even when every kitchen magazine had white or painted cabinets in them. I loved the looks of the white kitchens, but something inside me was telling me to buck the current trend and go for something more warm. I also had DH wanting dark stained cabinets over paint so we agreed on a medium warm glaze. For contrast my island is white.
I am so happy with my kitchen. I found gardenweb after every single design choice was made, and started looking at all the kitchens here and was worried I made a mistake with my wood cabs. However as it has all come together with the little details, I am more happy with it every day.

I adore white kitchens, but I also love a rich wood! White would not go with our house or our lifestyle. Here's our kitchen...

When we started our planning I could have gone either way, either with a medium stain or painted, probably a buttery yellow. My husband was leaning toward stain, so that's what we did. Somewhere, many years down the road, if the layout still serves and the construction of the cabinets holds up (and we've done what we could to try to ensure both those things) I could imagine painting them. You can go from stained to painted, but painted to stained is harder.

We just did a light maple veneer with a light stain (some with reeded glass fronts). We love it.

hi pc...

I have a very dark peppercorn stain on cherry kitchen.

My mom just finished her remodel with a rich sable brown stain on knotty alder...it's gorgeous..wish I had a picture for you!

I love looking at white kitchen pictures..they are seriously beautiful. But in real life, I am not drawn to them as I am to stained wood kitchens.

KA:)

Here is a link that might be useful:

I just did white birch cabinets with a light gray stain.
I'm calling it a driftwood look.

Nancy

I love kiffgirl's espresso stained maple. Scroll down in the post because her Before pic is first.

Here is a link that might be useful: kiffgirl Espresso Stained Maple kitchen

houseful..sorry to hijack but where did you get those stools & do you recommend them?

btw--your cabinets WOWSEE--so rich and beautiful!

We love the stools. If you can find something similar, I would recommend them. However, these are not the counter stools I am using. I just put it there to see how we liked the granite overhang. I have stools with backs. This stool came with three others as part of a pub table set I bought for $100. You are not going to believe that I bought the set at Fry's (Kroger's) grocery store.

Thanks for the cabinet compliment. I am very happy with the color.

I love black and have so much abundant light that I stepped outside the box with black stained maple cabinets. To soften them I did a lighter Bianco Antico granite. I couldn't be happier with my choice and I plan to enjoy my kitchen for years to come. My vote is for you to go with what you want :-)

Probably seems like all you see is white, white, white because that is what gets published in all of the magazines these days. If you believe everyone has what they publish you would have to buy inset styling too; simply not a dominant style for the masses though.

There are cetainly some parts of the country where your neighbors might talk behind your back if you don't do white, but those people aren't your friends :)

Best advise is buy what you love; if it isn't white don't worry, you aren't alone. There are a lot of wood lovers around who wouldn't dream of having anything else.

Alder finishes beautifully in virtually any color of stain. There have been some comments about Lyptus and that is another wonderful specie when finished in stains - my favorite darker brown-tone with black glaze.

There is actually a fair amount of mixing and matching going on these days too. As an example, here is a link to a Lyptus kitchen with a white painted island. Georgous!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lyptus kitchen with white painted island

When we first started planning for our new home every kitchen inspiration picture in my files was white but when it actually came time to design our space, I chose cherry with a painted maple island. It just seemed right for our house.

I agree with the others and say go for what you like-- you can always choose light counter tops if you are worried about it looking too dark.

Here are a few pictures of my kitchen if it helps:

Ours in natural Walnut with a little darker glaze just to accentuate the lines and corners. The island will be painted with white milk paint.

Wish we could afford to do Knotty Alder! What a fabulous cabinetry choice. I was happy we could handle some Cherry.

My motto remains the same: Do what will make YOU happy, what you like. It is your home, you are the one who will be looking at that kitchen first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Get whatever materials you love and don't just follow trends. :)

We are doing white, but are the ONLY people I know that will have a white kitchen. Every single one of my friends and family have wood stained kitchens, (we live in So Cal) so maybe it's just what's showing up on the computers/magazines? I agree with everyone else that says don't look at "trends", do what makes you happy. All my friends think I'm crazy for doing white and I can tell the looks on their face when I told them I was, that they were thinking I was crazy, but it's what I want.

We are doing stained/lightly distressed/glazed Hicory cabinets on the bottom with creamy white/very light glazing on the top. I love the white kitchens but I knew they would not be as forgiving as stained wood on the bottom where my cabs tend to catch the drips and the occasional cat scratch. My granite is Kashmir White in a leathered finish. It's not in yet but I think it's going to ROCK! The best of both worlds. Oh, the base of the island will match the white uppers to tie it all together. The top of the island is butcher block.

I just did maple honey cabs with brown glaze...thought I always wanted a Pottery Barn white kitchen but when push came to shove, I went with wood. Looks richer and everyone has that "white" kitchen"...I think as long as you stay with a classic door and simple style it will look good and be timeless. I'll try to post some works in progress but having trouble doing this...now I just need to get cab hardware.

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