Many older homes have beautiful oak millwork.  This house was no exception.  It has an oak mantle and built-in bookcases in the adjacent room.  We decided to tie the two rooms together by incorporating a quarter-sawn oak island in the kitchen.  The inset shaker style cabinetry created the  custom furniture look necessary to match the period look of the mantle.

We also included a shallow pantry using the same quarter-sawn oak (not shown here).  Using stand-alone pieces to tie other features of the house are a great solution and should be considered.  Note, we also put a matching white furniture piece in the adjacent room.