Oh! I am so far from a professional but just went to see a cabinetmaker's local operations today to order our vanity, which will have a maple cabinet with horizontal grain. They had pretty cool machinery, they can put a whole sheet of wood on a digital cutter, and it cuts out all the pieces they have programmed in....he said they can get up to a 10' sheet of veneer, and they put it sideways and match up all the fronts of the cabinet! So in the photo above, how the grain runs in a continuous line from the drawer, to the door, etc. I don't know how hard it is to do if one has never done it before -- perhaps if you can agree on what the goal is (matching continuous veneer as above) and what he would do if he can't achieve that (lower price, re-do vertically, etc.) Good luck, we love the look!

For drawer fronts horizontal would be the "normal" direction-- one most often runs the grain in the long direction of whatever you're making. Doing something like you picture just requires care. Pretty straightforward if they are made from veneer or large sheets of plywood, more challenging with solid wood-- no room for mistakes, or joints! If you are working with someone who doesn't normally pay attention to grain patterns and direction, figuring that their semi-opaque stain will cover it all up, it could be problematic. For a cabinetmaker who pays attention it's pretty easy. You are going to want to find someone who thinks like a furniture maker, not a bang 'em out cheap kitchen cabinet shop.

Horizontal grain for drawer fronts is normal. Horizontal grain for cabinet door fronts is not normal, but is also not difficult.

There will be a situation he has never experiences with horizontal grain---matching front to the next to the next and so on.

Agree with rwiegand, you need a furniture minded craftsman. Not saying the cabinet maker you have cannot do it, he just needs to do a lot of planning with grain matching.

Example: there can be a break in the grain matching on the two sides of the open shelf.

As others have said, the trick is matching grain from one drawer or cabinet to the next. In your inspiration photo, it looks like the cabinetmaker laid out the door/drawer fronts as a single layout, and then cut them to fit drawers and doors.

It's always good to be as specific as possible about what you're asking for. In this case, that means not only horizontal grain, but also matching the grain side-to-side and top-to-bottom. The longer your bank of cabinets, the more difficult this will be.

That is a lovely photo - good luck with your bathroom.