Olga_d, I had the same queries as you when finalizing my kitchen design and came to the following decisions. My goal was a warm and inviting contemporary kitchen rather than stark modern.

As our kitchen was large, I wanted to break up the possible monotony by making the island the mirror-image of the perimeter. Thus, black stained shaker island with White America quartzite (granite-like stone that looks like carrara marble) countertop served as the counterpoint to the natural maple shaker perimeter cabinets with soapstone counters. I have stainless appliances and counter stools, which to me are a continuation of the black/white, dark/light theme.

I specifically did not want to introduce too many colors because I did not want to be limited down the road in accessorizing. My accent color was navy blue/cobalt. The cobalt pendants draw your eyes across to the range blacksplash which is glass mosaic tile in matte and glossy navy plus stainless tile in a random pattern. The walls are painted navy so the backsplash "flows" rather than seeming an isolated statement.

I just wanted you to see how my choices turned out after starting out with similar parameters. Here is one view of my kitchen:

Here is a link that might be useful: More Photos of Nuccia's kitchen

Olga -- I understand exactly what you mean. We are also using maple but with a more honey colored stain. I absolutely love red accents and just picked up fabric I intend to use for the windows (I do my own window treatments). I haven't decided on the backsplash or granite yet, but feel it will be very light instead of dark. I've had black and dark brown counters in the past and need a change. I want to use as much red as possible with red pottery canisters, trays, pottery, throw rug, etc. I picked the fabric today so that I have something to ground me. The fabric has a rich red background, green, ivory, and gold "potted plants" design. So, that's my suggestion. Look at fabrics to see what colors go well with the shade of red you would like to use.

Your drawings look great! With the lighter cabinets and the medium-to-darker toned floor you could do a red glass mosaic backsplash and team that with a solid black counter. In the dining area (on the darker cabinets) I would be tempted to use the same black as the kitchen counters for continuity, or a dark green Emperador marble to get a rich look and define them as a separate piece of furniture.

The walls would look nice in a linen or creamy white colour a few shades lighter than your cabinets and with the angled wall I think it would be great to carry the wall colour up over the ceiling, perhaps lightening it a half-tone. A heavy contrast between the walls and the ceiling could serve to make the room look a little shorter than it needs to.

You've got some wonderful ideas and it will be nice to see how things progress.

We chose BM Masada (Aura paint), which is more coppery brown than is evident in this pic.

In fact, here it is in a different light (and with the red counterstools we replaced).

I have one-shade-darker-than-natural maple cabinets and a medium blue granite. After going through nine different directions with paint I ended up with a light blue-gray paint on the walls, and some cobalt accessories to match the cobalt streaks in my granite. (I tried cobalt on the wall but it didn't work in my space.)

I also love red, and it is relatively easy to change a paint color, so don't give up on yet especially when you're in the planning stages.

FWIW, here's a pic:

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments!

nuccia: Your kitchen almost makes me want to do blue instead of red. I especially like your blue-and-stainless tile backsplash!

mbarstow: Your plan sounds great, however I think fabric patterns scare me even more than bright colours. ;) But we were planning to put a painting/print on the big wall, so perhaps I could use the same idea with that?

sailormann: Those are very interesting ideas. I think making the room a bit shorter is not the worst thing (I think it's about 13 feet at the highest point?) But I do like the idea of unifying the space with the same colour.

abbycat9990: I love your kitchen! In fact, it is one of my inspirations for maple/red/dark counter look. Red tiles mixed into the backsplash sound less overwhelming than doing all red too.

bluekitobsessed: I can't believe you're giving advice for a red kitchen! ;) Your granite is gorgeous, and I love how even your range knobs are blue. Did you pick it out for that reason?

I think we have found our pendant lights, at last. After all the lighting stores and catalogues, would you believe we found them at Lowe's? And DH and I both like them which pretty much never happens. ;)

I found a possible inspiration photo - do you think these colours would look good with my cabs? The red would be on the accent wall only, and the rest perhaps a putty/greenish colour?

Now, what to pick for the granite??

Your new kitchen sounds similar to our last house. I used Verde Jewel granite - medium to dark green with dark red/crimson highlights. The granite has a lot of movement and was gorgeous with the cabinets. I did not have a lot of wall space in the kitchen/breakfast room and painted the walls a dark barn color pulled from the granite (see link below) with a glaze. Pictures always turned out on the purple side, but it was not in person.

Don't have great pictures, sorry.

Here is a link that might be useful: verde jewel

My kitchen has shaker maple (light-medium) cabs, Tropical Brown granite, tumbled marble backsplash and BM 'Grant's Beige' paint (which is a greenish taupe colour). We were looking for a warm yet light feel to the kitchen.

After some debate, we did tile the small section of wall under the window. (thanks GWers :) )