the 'built over time' looks seems to work best with multiple finishes (wood and paint) different heights for work surfaces and cabinet heights, different work surfaces (in natural materials - marble baking section, butcher block, maple farm table, soapstone counter, separate looking pieces, tables instead of islands, farm house sinks, open shelving, a hoiser always looks great.
Try to avoid the 'wall of cabinets' and overly obvious appliances (twin 33 inch stainless fridge/freezer for example). Hopefully this is not all to obvious.

caspian

I love the fabric and the plate! I think the blues, greens and yellows would look amazing...and maybe some red for the accents.

I like a lot of color, so I'd probably mix white and wood, with the blue and green...maybe with yellow walls. Of course, since the background of the fabric is yellow, you might rather have yellow, green and wood cabinets, maybe with red and blue accents.

Hope that helps :)

Have you looked at David T Smith's website? That might give you some ideas. I think you could do a softer sage on the cabinets to look light without being white if you want to connect with your sage door without matching. But there are lots of choices in the items you show.

A lot of white kitchens caught my eye when I was looking for inspiration, but I knew we are a 'wood couple' and I wouldn't feel at home in a white painted kitchen. So I looked for other elements in the white kitchens that helped contribute to the overall feel I wanted, and mixed in some painted cabinets, and you know I used plenty of colors.

For a busy family kitchen, I recommend staying mainly with med to med-light colors in heavy use or larger expanses... My dark burgundy cabs show flour and baking spatters, the cream island shows anything not light and ends up dark in any crevices or corners, and the gray is the best for not looking dirty. Save light or dark colors for special accent pieces, maybe in lighter use areas, like dish storage, etc.

Keeping other surfaces light can help if you have wood cabinets...Like counters, floors, backsplash, etc. Natural light, lighting, and some elbow room (not overcrowding and doing things like leaving some empty wall space around windows and doors) all help with a lighter feel.

You have great colors chosen and inspiring you to make this work.

Your fridge and freezer do work against a truly old-time atmosphere, but I love a mix of modern and old... If you look at it, it's a truer sense of 'collected over time,' since if you did that, you'd obviously have some later things, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: David T Smith kitchens

Thank you for your feedback, Caspian, Lavender and Rhome.

I like the idea of butcherblock on the counters, can't quite give up an island (need the storage). I really like the idea of open shelves, but cleaning them, well, that's another story. : ) We'll see...

I'm glad you like the colors. We tried yellow walls in there, and while it's a wonderful color, I think I've come to the realization that I love yellow as more of an accent color.

Is this a bit of what you had in mind, Lavender?

I appreciate hearing real-life experiences with the various colors of cabinets. And I love the David T Smith kitchens.

You're right, we can't go for a truly old-time atmosphere, but I'd love some of that old-timey feel, but with the modern conveniences. ; )

Laughable - I third (or fourth) the motion that you have a look at David T Smith's website for ideas.

He finished installing my kitchen about a month ago but I haven't had a chance to post pics. We have a mix of white, light and dark greens, and curly maple finishes.

Very kid friendly!

Doc

Love the color ideas and am especially appreciative of the effort you've made to make your kitchen space 'sittable' with chairs, window seats, etc. I had a sofa in my last kitchen and it was brilliant, we loved it.

If you have the budget, definitely try to get appliances that you can panel over with wood, cabinet fronts, or any material other than stainless or bright white/black.

I'm working on a similar concept in a small space and am having a hard time integrating cabinet corners into any vision of a vintage or unfitted kitchen, since they're such a modern, 'fitted' element. Corners, islands, and marching rows of uppers over counters are the things that work against us there, in my opinion. Hmm.

Laughable- Wow! That's bright, but I like the windows, island and little pot rack. If you like bright colors, I think that would be great! I tend to lean a bit more towards pastels myself, just because on a winter day with all that glare off the snow...pastels are a bit friendlier. Especially before I've had any caffeine :)

Doc, I'd LOVE to see pictures of your kitchen, even if it's a sneak-peak. Please do post soon! It's good to hear they are so kid friendly. That's exactly what we need.

Thanks for the encouragement, Circuspeanut. If we had the room, squeezing a couch in like you did at your last house would be sorely tempting. That sounds so comfy. I've looked at the pics of your place (great kitchen!) but I don't remember seeing the couch...

Panelable fridge doors aren't in our future. Unless we can do some ultimated DIYing with our plain jane white ones. Has anyone done that?

Maybe open corner shelves would work better than the neo-angle corner cabs in an older styled kitchen.

Lavender, I figured with that paint, no caffeine would be necessary, LOL. : ) It is a bit bright, isn't it. I do like the green, but I'd have to tone the yellow down quite a bit. It's supposed to be a Carl Larsson inspired kitchen. His paintings of his home in Sweden are beautiful.

Here is a quieter tone:

[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by New York Interior Designer Marlene Wangenheim AKBD, CAPS, Allied Member ASID