Kitchen Progress and Opinions Please

This kitchen mini-reno started a good long while ago, and we're still far from finished.  When it's all said and done it will be worth all the time it has taken.  It's been a slow process because we are doing some of the work ourselves (i.e. cabinet distressing).  We have hired a contractor to do some of the bigger projects, but in some cases the contractor has to wait on us to do our part before he can proceed.  While we were on vacation in Kiawah, our contractor added some moulding to the bases and sides of our cabinets.  It was nice to have something to look forward to upon arriving home besides mountains of laundry!  Here's a peek.

He did the hard part; now I just need to paint and glaze.  I am in love with this moulding.  It's always amazing to me how much of a difference it can make.  The addition of the moulding really gives these builder basic cabinets a really nice custom look at a fraction of the price.  We hired out for this job because the only saw we own is a hand saw.  We figured this wouldn't be a good starter project so we'd better leave it to a professional.  Painting it ourselves did save us a little on the labor.  I'm kind of particular on how I want the antiquing glaze applied so it was better for me to do that myself.  I'm still not done, but hopefully I'll have the finished product to show soon.

Ok, so now for your opinions please!  When we were deciding on cabinet hardware, I was going back and forth between a black finish or a gold finish.  Martha Stewart's hardware line at Home Depot has some gold bin pulls that are just gorgeous, but they would have required that we drill new holes as the holes didn't match up with the existing ones.  I really didn't want to drill new holes.  After all the cabinet sanding and distressing we did, I was going for easy.  Call me lazy - whatev.  I brought home and installed the black finish hardware (Lowe's) that didn't require any new hole drilling......

but I never stopped wondering how the gold would look.  So, I picked up some of this.....

You can find it at the Hob Lob.

for a different project all together, but I decided to give it a try on one bin pull and one knob just to see if I'd like the look.

Clearly we're still under construction.  Back splash is the next phase - I think.  

What do you think?  I'm kind of leaning toward the gold.  I know mixed metals aren't for everyone, but I've always loved that look.  Honestly though I never thought I'd like gold hardware with stainless appliances, but I kind of do. I feel like the gold will warm up the grey tones in the stainless and the marble back splash we've selected.  I also love that the rub n buff will give them more of an antique look as a little of the black will show through.  Plus, the gold will make the gold accents I have throughout the house look more purposeful.

We ditched the bi-swing door that was here when we had the new floors done.  I like this open-ness (that's a word right) much better! 

 What do you think?  Should I go for it?  It would be just as easy to switch back to black if I got tired of the gold wouldn't it?

And now you have a better understanding as to why this project has taken so long!  Ahhhh, there's too many options!