Knotty alder with a medium stain or quarter sawn white oak would be good choices (alder lightens with age so if you have a lot of natural light in the kitchen you might want to go with a medium dark stain). Alder is warm and leans more towards the red tones unlike hickory that leans towards the yellow/green tones. I recommend you choose your wall color(s) and countertops after your cabinets, as cabinets are a larger monetary and visual investment. It will be important to choose all of these items with the type and quantity of lighting you have in mind. It is decisions like these that make time spent with a professional designer, time AND money well spent.

Altruwood. what white do you consider "stark white"? Thanks.

Hi @bridgewater2024! I consider a stark white to be a basic, bright white. Hope that helps!

Are you going to be able to have an island or a bank of isolated cabinets? If so, you could have those cabinets be black or a dark brown. I have been seeing a lot of houses use two different color cabinets lately, and have been impressed with the way that looks. I wouldn't mix painted w/ natural wood though. You could also tie the countertop into the floors by going with butcher block countertops. IKEA makes an affordable butcher block countertop material.

Need much more info before advising. Open plan? Separate kitchen? What style of furniture in the rest of the house? Is the kitchen for cooking or entertaining or both? Might want a cabinet finish that is not grainy wood, since you will have so much of that in the floor! Why not pick you backsplash and then work off of that? Backsplash is often the most important feature of the kitchen - the artwork, so to speak.

That is far too broad a question without much more info!!! Get a good designer ( not necessarily JUST a kitchen designer) who can help you integrate all your spaces, and give you the feel and layout you want in the kitchen, and one that suits the rest of your style as well. He/she will think of all the things you may not, and you will end with a home you love. It is the BEST money you can spend. You do not want the buggy ahead of the horse, and sorry..you are not ready to choose a backsplash. At all!
Use HOUZZ to pull together an ideabook, and then get help in applying some of those favorite looks and ideas to YOUR space.