We like our kitchens and baths to be sort of furniture-like. A big row of cabinets doesn’t look right to me unless it displays some pretty interesting wood, colors, or something to make it interesting. If I can avoid upper cabinets, I’ll try as hard as possible to make sure there’s adequate storage without them. I like the open feeling that fewer uppers give. Of course, the key word is “adequate storage.” It’s gotta work.
Here are a few kitchens we’ve done that aren’t the standard white-painted ones. I’m assuming you’ve seen enough white painted kitchens that a couple of more aren’t all that necessary. We actually like hardwood cabinets with hand-rubbed oil, especially if there are kids in the family as they’re VERY easy to repair with the inevitable scratches. What follows is a bunch of pictures…

Pretty large curly cherry kitchen. It's beautiful in person. This is after the first coat of hand-rubbed oil, so all the colors haven't blended completely.

more curly cherry, with a Port Orford Cedar (old growth) desk top. The old growth cedar can't be cut, it can only be harvested from a natural blow-down or forest fire.

Here's the log the curly cherry ktchen came from. That's right, we start with a tree, old-school style.

Vanity made out of scraps and reject tonewood from guitars. Don't tell anyone the knobs don't match...