The cabinets you bought are a "full-overlay" and should work just fine for a contemporary looking kitchen.

Full overlay is a bit of a generic term and can mean something different with each brand. The Kemper you bought looks like about 1-1/4" overlay, meaning if the frame is 1-1/2" wide you will still see 1/4" of the frame on the outside. This creates a visual gap of 1/2" between doors of two adjacent cabinets.

I would guess the kitchen you had your eye on was a "frameless" style of cabinetry with 1/8" reveal or less; or it could have been a full-overly style that covered more of the frame (had less reveal).

At any rate, your choice can still take on a very contemporary look. Showplace cabinetry has a similar "full-overlay" look and I'll put a link in to show you a kitchen where it looks quite contemporary.

Here is a link that might be useful: Showplace Manhattan - Contemporary look

Thanks, ShowPlaceInsider - Your response is quite helpful.

I have another question for you or anyone else. Currently, my lighting is terrible as I am getting recessed, pendant, and undercabinet lights soon but whenever I walk into my partically finished kitchen, the top panels of all of my drawers and doors appears a lighter shade than the bottom drawers/doors. As I said I have Kemper cabinets and I belive the wood & finish is Maple Cider. While I know there is slight variations in the color, it appears very noticable as a lighter shade on the top and a darker shade on the bottom. Are my eyes playing tricks on me to cause the top part to look lighter than the bottom, or is that really possible that I have wood that are two different shades (top vs. bottom)? I am pretty sure I made it clear to my designer that I didn't want wood that had a lot of color variation in it.

It is certainly possible that the woods vary in color. Check the documentation you got when ordering regarding tolerances--the manufacturer may have specified how closely colors may match. While your kitchen is under construction, see if you can arrange to take a door or wherever you see variation out of the room or outside, and see whether the effect is still there.

I am not saying you are wrong at all, but also keep in mind that it is extremely common in home renovation to over focus on the first few elements to be installed, as well as to find reality does not exactly match the picture you have in your imagination. This is what happens when you can't see something in person before you buy it.

There are so many variables that can cause color to look different from one piece to another.

The wood itself can differ even within the same door or drawer. Usually you'll be able to tell if this is the case by seeing if different pieces were glued together to get the overall size (you can see that in the doors on your sink base in photo 2068 - the vertical glue lines).

The glued-up panels are not a bad thing, in many ways they are your friend as they keep the panel more stable. Less likely to warp, shrink or swell. The glue-ups are usually color-matched to give a pleasing overall appearance and would normally not be unacceptable.

More often than not, big differences in color have something to do with how the wood is prepared and sanded.

If it is sanded too much the pores of the wood get sealed/polished and the finish can't be absorbed; this will make the piece look lighter. If the wood isn't sanded enough (this will sound simpler than it is) the pores of the wood may be too open which would allow too much stain to be absorbed and the finish will be too dark.

One other thing that can affect it would be how well the stain is wiped-off after being applied. If the person wiping the stain off rubs too hard or too light that will change it too. Some stains are made to not be wiped-off and are just called spray stains; these most often require some kind of base toner coat to help even-out the finish which could also be an issue.

Sorry, long post, but the best advise is that if you are not happy point out the issue to the person you bought them from and let them tell you if it is acceptable to their standards; if neither of you like them you could work to get them replaced.

Here is a link to a video from EconomicalEco.com that has Showplace cabinetry and Lyptus specie as the main topic, but there is a good commentary on finish about 3 minutes in.

Here is a link that might be useful: See cabinets being made