You skimmed over the thread didn't you?
Half of it was talking about staining the cabinets!
I did. I just wanted to be sure you hadn't decided against it. If it were me, I would definitely stain the cabinets. And I'd go much darker. I had super light cabinets, tried staining them, actually had someone try and do it and it turned out terrible.
I had to replace all my doors and have someone put stained veneer over the existing boxes. $7,000 later, it looks great.
Hire a cabinet guy specifically if you do stain and go with a mahogany color. That's what I would do. It will look great with the stainless appliances you are planning on getting.
Also, GE Profile are very good, as are LG. I bought LG, but I think I probably could have gotten away much cheaper on the refrigerator...