I live in a 1980's vintage condo that currently has 30" medium oak cabinets in the kitchen and oak railings and post on the stairway to the second floor. I'd like to replace the cabinets and put in a new wood flooring across the entire first floor. The problem I am having is picking the cabinets and flooring that will not clash with the post/railing. I don't want to do with Oak cabinets again. Here are some photos of the kitchen and the floor layout. http://www.flickr.com/photos/84875158@N02/
Dave, welcome to the boards. I'd suggest that you post this in the Decorating forum under General Decorating. That site gets most of the traffic, and I guarantee you will get lots of help.
Strip the newel post, the handrails and the column, stain them kind of dark - something like Jacobean and stain your new floors the same. The balusters on the stairs can be the same color or be painted white to match the rest of your trim. Your kitchen cabinets can then be anything you want.
