In myn opinion, white is the only color you should use in a kitchen.
The thing about white in kitchens is that, tho more cleaning is involved, exactly that reason makes OTHERS see the place as a clean kitchen.
The upper half of the walls was a medium cream/ivory sort of color, and it went well. Actually, there are many colors that will go well with the natural wood. My kitchen is natural hickory, which has some similar tones to knotty pine, with black walls, and looks great.
My bathroom has the same hickory cabinets with white walls. Living room only has the window trim in pine, and is painted Ace Hardware off-the-shelf ivory, with a white ceiling, and looks good. Master bedroom is cobalt blue with pine window and door trim, and looks good.
Sorry, I don't have any good pictures of any of the combinations.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.