A brighter kitchen space makes it a lot more fun and comfortable to cook or just prepare a meal.  To achieve this, use pale, light reflecting colors like whites, pastels and neutrals to make your kitchen look spacious.  You can also try using butter-yellow for your cabinets.  Open shelves and glass doors can be used to break up any solid panes and in displaying your favorite pieces.

In general, designing is all about highlighting the good stuff and downplaying the eye sores.  Everything also has to match - from floors, to cabinets and furniture to achieve that easy, cohesive style.

Combine something old and something new.  This gives your kitchen a rather unique look.  Stainless steel is also ideal since it can perfectly match other furniture.