What color appliances do YOU like? White is cheapest, black is next, stainless is usually more -- but that's what I like, so that's what I got for my kitchen. You should get what you like and can afford. Then you can work your decor around them, just as you probably would decorate a living room around your sofa selection or a bedroom around the bed.

Ok any reason why you want white counter tops? Why not start out with decision on color for appliances/cabinets/wall paint/floor color and then tie in counter top color. White is not as neutral as you might find out. Go to Barnes and Noble sit down with all of their books and magazines (it's free)and look at some kitchen colors and design.
Good luck with the project.

I'd love to see you move the cabinets up to ceiling height. Doesn't look like there's much space between the ceiling and cabinets anyway.

If you don't want to paint the cabinets, I suggest going with a bright blue/light turquoise paint color and another hit of bright color in the back splash (maybe a lime green?). Or paint the cabinets white and still go light turquoise with the wall color, but with a more muted back splash.

I'd also look at carving out the upper cabinet doors and replacing that part of them with glass (inside the groove that's already carved out. A tempered glass with go a long way toward achieving the retro/modern look of today's stylish kitchens.

I'd stick to white appliances, personally.

Additionally, see about adding some kind of hanging light fixture in the center of the room instead of relying on the dated recessed lights.

Your kitchen looks very similar to our kitchen, which we're in the process of modernizing-- same exact cabinets, same appliances, same formica (except ours was bright yellow). We decided to go for a modern, arts and craft style, which was in keeping with the house.

We kept the cabinets and updated with new pulls (cup pulls for the drawers and modern streamlined pulls for the cabinet doors). That instantly modernized the cabinets-- people thought we'd replaced them.

Since we didn't buy new cabinets, we splurged on counters and got soapstone (we had also considered charcoal paperstone and a uniform-looking silestone). I love soapstone and it looks good with they honey colored stain of the cabinets.

We also installed a white subway tile backsplash.

We're in the process of replacing appliances to stainless steel-- don't have the money to get them all at once. We painted the walls with Benjamin Moore paint in Vanilla Ice Cream-- a creamy white (not too yellow). And we're also adding a 7 ft. stainless steel rack from ikea for extra storage.

I'm not going to say it's the most uber-modern kitchen you've ever seen, but those changes have made a big difference. In the end, we will have spent $4000 on everything, but if you choose a cheaper countertop, you'll save a lot more.

Good luck!

your idea of "very old" appliances appears to be different than mine.

Could you take the doors off the cabinets entirely?

This is a repeat of a question posted a week or so ago.

The same question was on the DC forum.

I'm totally into bottle green walls right now. You could lime/bleach the cabinets to give it a modern 'vintage' feel. As for the appliances, I agree with the posters that say get what you like and can afford, but I also tend to think of resale value and, as far as I can tell from all the open houses I go to, stainless is definitely the most popular.

If this was my kitchen, I would repaint the cabinets Dove White (Benjamin Moore) and get brushed silver hardware for the cabinets. I would paint the walls a brighter color like Sea Star. I would live with the counters and appliances as-is for a while before making any major decisions.

I can't tell how old the appliances are but they don't strike me as being particularly ancient. Maybe it's because they're white?

I'll break my post up a little bit:

Cabinets - good suggestion by Kimmie - hardware makes all the difference. I would consider painting my kitchen cabinets white, but I just love the creamy white look. If you like yours - keep them this way.

Backsplash - I tiled mine and love the easy cleanup. I'd also suggest subway style, but maybe in some classic finish - light stone look would work great with the wood. If you don't want to spend too much on the real stuff, porcelain and ceramic tiles look pretty good these days and are easier to maintain.

Walls - my parents have similar color of cabinets and I talked them into olive green. Worked great. I also like wood / soft yellow combination. Not too bright and not with orange undertones. Mustard and honey colors would be my choice.

Counters - if you are decided on the white ones, I would get them first and then try sampling backsplash and wall color around them. I have bright white laminate and quite hate it. It's not the newest one, so maybe that's why it stains so easily, but I'd have to treat it with bleach bath every few days to keep them in a decent shape. Everything from red wine and tomato sauce, to sunny-d and cucumber will leave marks. If you want laminate - go for some neutral color or stone lighter look. If you want to spruce up - maybe it's worth investing in stone counters?

Appliances - I'd get stainless. I know it may be a trend, but stainless just looks better with this type of wood. And if you want to modernize - stainless definitely helps. I think black would look better than white in this kitchen, too, but I'm not against white appliances, especially with while cabinets.

Good luck with your new place!

I would paint the cabinets, wood just never looks modern or attractive to me. I love cabinets in a smokey grey or a fresh, light mint color. Add some nice hardware and it will make a HUGE difference in the kitchen. You can upgrade the appliances if that's within your budget, or wait. I would display some nice glassware or some kind of small collection across the tops of the cabinets.

Not a comment about design exactly but use: When we redid our kitchen we put in under-cabinet lighting. Wow! What a difference! I can see what I'm doing without shadows. I even put my can lights on a dimmer but I rarely use them.

Personally, I really like black appliances with wood... but then I think you would prefer a darker counter. I agree with accessoryshy... the counter should tie all your other elements together.

I say stain the cabinets yourself dark cherry color type with stainless steel appliances will go with it. If your looking for a color go for a light brown.

I think the appliances are OK as is. White can be effective, especially if you take the advice above and paint in a bright color. Also take the magnets and stuff off the fridge and it will look a lot better.

I wouldn't be afraid to paint the cabinets - if you don't like them. Just because they're new doesn't mean that you should keep them as-is. Check out this great post from Layla on The Lettered Cottage about just this topic.
http://www.theletteredcottage.net/2010/04/easy-affordable-ways-to-personalize-new.html

I personally would paint the cabinets either brown, black, white or taupe. I also like your idea about white countertops. We have white Caesarstone counters and they really brighten up the kitchen.

I also share LSUGrad03's idea to move the cabinets up to the ceiling. You can install shelves underneath - like in this fabulous painted kitchen -
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/the-best-kitchen-redo-ever-and-a-few-tips-we-can-take-from-it--110958

I have seen pale green being used on cabinets done on HGTV. Also, I think stainless steel is the way to go (especially for resale). Adding tile or glass tiles not only as a back splash, but also to accent the kitchen, will give it punch of color and personality.

http://www.hgtv.com/designers-portfolio/room/modern/kitchens/1889/index.html#/id-1889/room-kitchens

I would suggest replacing the cabinet doors with new, flat plywood doors (fin plywood that has up to 7 layers and looks fantastic edge on). The current doors, no matter what color, will never really look the way you want them to. I would paint the plywood upper cabinet doors a flat charcoal color (but just the doors, the rest of the cabinets could be white or a natural birch color or even the oak you already have). The lower cabinets could be painted white with wood accents, and the counter tops made of 3/8" charcoal colored paper stone (that's what I have in my kitchen so I may be biased... but it is environmentally less harmful and the fact that it is thin makes it much cheaper).

The walls could then remain a white-ish color (warm, but still white) and you could introduce color via the appliances. Get a fire engine red fridge or stove - or both (though these may be very expensive)

Removing the fussy details of the kitchen cabinets and going with very dark colors against white will really make the kitchen pop. I'm not sure about the white counter tops myself.

No matter what you do, though, I would remove the cabinet in the upper left corner of the picture. It seems really awkward.

Have fun whatever you do!

P.S.

Here are some photos of Farina in San Francisco. I can't really find a pic of the furniture that I like so much, but if you scroll to the bottom you will see some of it... basically the colors they use are black metal, white cabinet faces, and wood cabinet bodies. Nice combination.

http://www.nosaladasameal.com/2008/07/farina-san-francisco.html

When we built our house, we had black appliances installed. As appliances needed to be replaced, we decided on stainless. If (when) I build again, the only color I'll consider for appliances is WHITE. White has been around forever and is NOT a trend. If appliances are white, just paint color alone will change the whole look of the kitchen and allow you to change more often. If you want sunny, white appliances are fine wth yellow. Every color goes with white. My next kitchen will be totally white (appliances, cabinets, walls, floors) with the only color being a bouquet of fresh flowers!