^^ yes!

You have too many options. You have to narrow your choices down, so my advice for starters it to review the samples and 'Say No' to any samples that do not please you to get the choices for starters down to 10.

I started to X out stains IMO do not work. Your space has lots of light, your cabinets will fade over time. I started to X out anything too light, anything that has too pink undertones, or any stain that has too yellow undertones.

This should be easier to do when the wood is in front of you because going from a photo is not idea.

IT IS EASIER TO SAY NO TO YOUR OPTIONS THAN TO SAY YES TO YOUR OPTIONS when you have this many. I think you could also consider one stain for the island cabinets and a complementary stain for the perimeter cabinets to make things more intersting.

Also, if you knew what you wanted to select for your table and chairs, that might have some effect on what stain you choose. None of these decisions are made in a vacuum.

As you can see different stain colors on the table create different responses in the room.

would personally like some contrast..but not a huge degree. skip the 3rd door samples ..those are all too dismal. On the left and middle doors , some of the swatches in the middle..I'd say [ medium shades ] [ not gray] .....would be a good start . Pick out 3 to 5 favorites and label them w numbers to get better opinions.

Fantastic house. Wonderful drawers.

1. Are the walls painted or will they be another color?

2. I see wood beams outside your home on the patio. Are they carried into your home anywhere? It might be nice to have that wood color tie into your kitchen cabinets as a through line.

If that’s not a good look, I’d narrow your choices down to two ideas and then figure out which stain color makes the most sense with those. First idea - something naked nearly a clear finish. Depends on whether this is your final wall color and what others have to say about the wood color changing due to light. Won’t these all change due to light and fading over time?

Otherwise, a medium brown with zero grey in it. I circled two.

Narrow your choices to two or three and then make who boards of each color. Look at them in different locations of the cabinet and different times of day.

3. Do you own furnishings for this space? What wood tones if any will they be?

@BeverlyFLADeziner - thank you for this, very helpful advice and appreciate you giving opinions on the samples. It is way too many samples - I kept thinking if I would know the right color when I saw it so kept on sampling until I got overwhelmed.

@Kendrah - 1) The walls are painted - its SW Alabaster. 2) The beams on the patio you are seeing are steel beams. We cantilevered our patio covering so to keep our view uninterrupted and the covering hasn't been added yet. Here's a photo from when they were first put in before the stucco was added. These will be powder coated black when done. We thought about inside beams but eliminated them with such a high ceiling they looked dwarfed in the renderings. 3) The furniture is pale blond wood. Thank you for your suggestions!!

Oh my word what a view!!!

These will be powder coated black when done

Powder coating requires an oven, as in, the parts need to go into an oven.

Agree with Beverly’s advice. That’s what I do when picking paint colors. I toss all of the ”No‘s” immediately & then divide the remaining into ”Maybe” & ”Probably” & narrow it down further from there, usually leaving just a few choices.

Beverly is dining table examples are extremely helpful. I think a medium tone brown - no red; no grey - would look best. Your view is very important since the house has huge walls of glass. If the kitchen is too pale, it doesn’t hold up to the outside. Too dark, it will seem severe.

‘Pale blond wood’ furniture - can you hold your stain samples by this said wood and snap a photo and post it?

If the kitchen is too pale, it doesn’t hold up to the outside. Too dark, it will seem severe.

Yes to this @RedRyder. You nailed it.

Can you post pics of inspo pics for your space and of your furnishings? I think it will help inform the stain.

Sorry your steel beams will be changing colors. I love them as they are with the landscape.

@PFF - There are some methods of powder coating on site with infrared heat. Usually done on pieces that cannot be moved. Not sure why it wasn't done elsewhere prior to these beams being installed, but it doesn't rule out powder coating.

Why on earth is there a science lab in the house? Cabinet finishing should be done at the booth at the cabinet makers. Before install. Just like that steel had to be electrostatically coated and baked before it ever got to the jobsite. There’s a few other issues I spot as well. The thermal bridging is a massive problem. I don’t think your GC has a clue how to run a job site here. Or your architect how to engineer. You really should pay for an independent inspector, ASAP.

@kendrah - the first 2 are the original renderings but we decided not to do Saltillo tile floors so strayed from original design plan. If I could have any stain it would be the last 2 photos.

@Rasmussen - what do you mean thermal bridging?

It is a giant invitation for the outside to enter into your home. With condensation and rot as one of the nastier side effects. But with a whole host of bad things attached to it.

What will your countertops be? That is a crucial part of the puzzle

If I could have any stain it would be the last 2 photos.

You can have any stain you want, right? What is stopping you from using a stain like in your inspo pics? It is very trendy and slightly too grey for my tastes but if you love it, why not?

I'm so glad you didn't go with Saltillo floors. What you have now looks much better to me and more connected with the view.

Are you really doing a glass table with blue upholstered chairs or are those just holding pieces from a rendering? Are you really doing a white marble in here?

Nothing about black powder coating, marble, or that glass table seem to have any connection to the look or feel of this location.

Maybe you find a countertop stone you love first and then do the stain depending on that.

@Rasmussen Design Build - I've learned that a lot of West Coaster and SW folks on Houzz have their cabinets finished in place rather than in a booth. I was shocked to discover that but it seems consistent from what I have read on here.

Here are photos I found of various modern homes in rural Texas. Maybe some of the finishes will inspire you. I think context is everything considering your view. I'd really account for how the whole feel of the interior relates to the exterior. Counters first then cabinet color.

I can understand your pale brown preference as shown in the two photos you posted. Pale European Oak flooring in widely available in similar tones. I'd vote for somthing in that range. And that means your test samples on alder should be only in that tonal range AND must be provided with the finish included. The finish can change the color. What products are you using for stain and finish. I think a flat board of alder is OK for samples. 3 doors is a waste. General Finishes is a source for stain. They have a water based clear. Getting the correct finish, not too thick, is a skill. The correctly skilled person to finish your cabinets will impact how all your color and finish choices actually come out.

You don't power coat on site, or finish cabinets on site. The results of site finishing are FAR beneath that of a professional booth applied finish applied to the disassembled parts for either.

Powder coating in particular requires an oven to melt the coating. That is not possible on site, and liquid paint is not a 1:1 substitute for the durability achieved by oven cured powder that is electrostaticly attached to the metal.

@Kendrah - you have a great eye! Thank you for taking the time. In your original response you said you circled 2 choices- can you re-post the 2 you liked?

A few words about stain colors and photos:

I'm in the process of building a computer desk for my son, using red oak. I made a sample board of 4 stain colors, and sent him a photo. The color that we both agreed looked best in the photo was definitely NOT the one that looked best in real life.

Folks can comment on overall thoughts (dark versus light, for example), but for the exact color, you need your home, your lighting, your floors, and your counters.

Those little squares on the 3 doors is definitely not the way to test out colors. The only way to get what you want is to narrow down your choices to at most 3, then stain and seal a sample door and view them in your room with your light. Then select the one you like best. No one here can tell exactly how they will look in real life--computer monitors don't render colors well. Everyone sees something different.

First off - OMG those views. Absolutely gorgeous!!! Am going to say NO to painting the cabinetry. The wood is too beautiful to paint. Am thinking a medium stain might be appropriate and would recall the wood often found in Texas mission churches and buildings.

A clear finish is perfect . That view is the star everything else simple

Narrow to three. Make large door sized samples. Your paint color reads more yellowish in different places so be sure to stand these up around the room and view at different times of day. Stand them up on fridge cavity so you see how your tall pantry doors will look up by the ceiling where I see the most yellow - at least at the time of day this pic was taken.

I'd have chosen stain and then wall paint, but here you are.

Your inspo pics have wood floors and more clearly white walls. Your walls are much creamier. Read everything you can about wood tones to use with SW alabaster. Don't use any grey-ish stains.

The pics I posted have wood floors, wood walls, more pure white walls. Pay attention to all of this.

The aesthetic of your structure and cabinets feels contemporary. You don't want your colors reading country kitchen.

The fact that those horrifying 3 patchwork doors even exist make me profoundly grateful that I am not involved in this build. That isn't how you choose anything. That sampling and site finishing isn't the process to a happy, successful, and durable outcome. That's a recipe for the exact opposite outcome. The properly designed detail for the metal is offsite powder coated. That's not Corten. And there is no thermal break. Bad news.

You really need a cabinet finishing professional here. "Painters" ruin things badly. Finishing is a specialty art, and usually is 50% of the cost of manufactured cabinets that you purchase.