White doesn't get any dirtier than the stain...it just shows up more :)

I would recommend a stained or painted island, in a darker color. White will definitely show scuff marks. If DH is set on white, think about beadboard on the side facing the stools. Does he plan to be the one cleaning the white island...because the one cleaning should be the one with the final vote, right? LOL

Oh, just remembered this picture. May not be your exact layout, but hopefully, will show DH the advantages (and good looks) of a stained island, with lighter perimeter cabinets :)
{{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen

I agree that white cabs show dirt more, but they really don't get dirty that fast. And they clean up easily when they do. I definitely clean my cabs more frequently because I see the dirt, but it's mostly a quick swipe around the handle where someone opened the cab with dirty hands.

Given a choice between the island and the perimiter, I put white on the perimeter. I presume there will be less kid activity there.

Lavender lass hit the nail on the head-- scuffs are the issue. My six yr old kitchen has scuffs around the areas that get the most use. My trash pull out- left of my sink. My cutlery drawer ( in my white perimeter), is badly scuffed and shows up more. Kids are tough on white cabinets.

Do the stained on the island, you'll be glad you did. This may raise some controversy, but I doubt I will do inset in my new home. A lot of those scuffs would be covered if they weren't inset. As much as I love them, kids are hard on the frame around the area.

Have 3 kids 3, 4, 6, 2 dogs, a cat and a husband. We did white perimeter, stained island. I like the perimeter because it really lightens up the kitchen, and most of the scuffs are on the baseboard which wipe up quickly with a wet cloth when they are actually bothering me. The island is cherry wood with a medium stain and only shows dust. It definitely takes the bulk of the abuse as my main sink is also in the island. Making my island white would have definitely been a mistake as this is where we sit, chop, homework, run around like a track, etc. and I would have been constantly wiping it down and I have a feeling it would have been dinged up very quickly. The perimeter cabinets only get dinged when they get hit by a cozy coupe (kids) or a vacuum cleaner (me).

Actually, in my kitchen, the opposite is true. The dark stained cherry cabinets are a pain in the neck. Fingerprints galore, dust showing. Ick. The white ones? I just wipe off any shmootz I see.

I will not be doing dark stained cabinets in new kitchen. Going with all painted.

ALL cabinets get dirty. You just *see* the dirt more easily on the white. I know my old dark cabs were dirty. It grosses me to think how dirty they must have been knowing how often I wipe my white ones now. White cabs show the dust, spills, etc so you can clean them.

Like you, I debated a white or dark island (white perimeter regardless) for the same reasons. In the end chose white, and I'm so glad I did! The white cab/dark island trend seems too overdone for me. Those that talk about scuffs from the kids must be shoes-on households. We aren't. I cook every meal every day with the chaos of two small kids and three cats. Maybe my kids are more gentle than others, but I've got no damage from them at all.

This is a bit different, but I had painted my builder grade dark oak cabinets with white oil-based paint 15 years ago.(lots of primer, sanding, 2 coats of paint). They actually held up well, but they got increasingly more difficult to clean, especially base cabs...almost impossible to get dirt out of nooks/crannies in doors. Not sure I would do white again, and would never do nooks/crannies again. Paneled doors may look nice, but are hard to clean.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone. I would love to hear more. We like the colors in the photo below. It is not anything like our layout. I will have to post a layout soon - once I scan my hand-drawn kitchen. :)

{{!gwi}}

Source: hookedonhouses.net via Tamara on Pinterest

Woo! Hoo! I just figured out that pinterest has an "imbed" feature on the right so you can copy the link to imbed the photo into a post. No more tinypics. :)

I have white cabinets and I like that I can see when they are dirty. I usually wipe down the cabinets about once a week because it takes a while for them to get more than a couple of spots on them. The island usually gets dirty the fastest, especially where the barstools are (I have three boys). I would stain the island and paint the perimeter cabinets.