I went through magazines and ripped out all the pictures of kitchens I liked. I collected at least a dozen and then I looked at them and analyzed what I liked about them. I found I had quite a few more white than anything else but many had a darker island. I do find that specific types of wood can come into and go out of style but white does appear to stand the test of time. It is also bright and light. That is personal preference and opinion though.

Stained wood is timeless as well and allows you to see the wonderful wood grain. Personally, I am not fond of white kitchens. When we were looking to buy a new house, DW and I would not even look at a prospect that had a white kitchen. Others love white kitchens. So, it really depends on your taste. Anyways, if you will be staying in the house for several years, I would be more concerned about what you like, as opposed to what is the latest trend.

White kitchens have been well-represented in every decade for more than a century, although the specific cabinet styles have changed. But then, so have stained cabinets. Specific wood species and colors have come and gone, however. Right now, golden oak (maybe what you currently have?), which was ubiquitous in builder-grade kitchens in the 80s and 90s, is particularly "out"--largely because it was overused, but also because the grain pattern is very strong and the honey color (bordering on orange) was very hard to work with, as it didn't look good with a lot of other colors.

Very dark (almost black) stains have been popular in the past decade, and I think there is a sense that they are on their way out--maybe because it is a fairly extreme look. This would parallel what happened with pickled oak back in the--when was it? 90s?. Fairly extreme look, came in, went out, was widely reviled as dated.

But in general, I think that stained woodwork is classic.

I have white, but I like stained wood too. Depends on a lot of other things in the kitchen.

cheryl has some good advice. Without preconceived notions, go through magazines (or Houzz.com) and circle or bookmark what you like, without analyzing anything. Eventually you're going to discover a theme and it's what's attractive to you. Unless you're fixing a house to sell, I'd go with what you like. Life's too short.

Thanks for all of your responses. We renovated our current kitchen in 2002. I cannot remember the exact oak it is however, it isn't the golden oak - its lighter. I still really like my kitchen but thought with the new house I might like a change. I've looked at hundreds of white kitchens and I still find myself going back to wood! The house we are building will be our last so I guess who cares what the 'now' or 'right' thing is.....I'll install what I prefer.....and I believe that will be wood! Thanks for easing my mind.

I wanted a white kitchen but I just didn't think it would fit in with the rest of our home. I went with stained maple with a glaze and I am so glad I did. It just looks right in our home! I am glad to see you are going with what you love.