Take your flooplan to a local kitchen designer who can help you make the most of your space, and select cabinets and finishes that complement the rest of your home.

By all means keep any of the original architectural detail and think about how you want the kitchen to function. There are many ways to design your kitchen so think about how you want to live in it. Do you want an island? Do you need lots of cabinet storage? Do you like some open cabinets? mixed materials? For a house that age you can do some interesting things and bring in ideas and materials from a range of periods. A good designer will be able to use elements of design to get you more than cabinets. They can give you a fabulous kitchen that works in your house.

Thank you. I plan on retaining all the original features including cupboard, board an?d batten doors with original thumb hardware, wainscotting,etc. I believe there is plenty of room for an island. Is it appropriate to have concrete counter tops, since soapstone is so very expensive?

Sure concrete is appropriate - Depending on how it's finished it can appear super-modern or quite rustic.

You may also want to mix materials - for example, concrete around the sink and stove, and wood for the island.

my husband makes furniture and wil make the island which will encompass the stove with concrete counter. He is also making a baking station which will hold the drawer microwave with cabinets on either side and wood counter. It will have old looking shelves above it to hold my spongeware. What kind of finish should be put on the wood counter?

I have a polished concrete counter and a wood island top in a kitchen with a colonial style brick corner fireplace and original oak flooring with walnut pegs. Check out my photos here on Houzz.

Colonial Charm does not have to be rustic all over. Soapstone is nice but sucks the light out of a space. Lighting is very important in a kitchen and there are many ways to help brighten a space without electricity. Your stainless appliances will serve you well in this regard as they bounce some of the light the enters the space, as does anything shiny.

A dark countertop that is shiny helps bouncy light as does glossy floors and cabinet finishes.

Concrete counters are tricky and they can stain and crack. Research for reliable and knowledgable sources whatever you do.

Ice Stone makes some nice concrete countertops with recycled glass and other stuff. They come in slabs like granite and are formed in Brooklyn, NY. Your local granite fabricator can install and seal them.

I don't know where you are located, but soapstone is not expensive in the Philadelphia region. Plus, it is almost a DIY project, as you can use traditional tools with carbide blades/sandpaper to shape. But you do have to review your color choices as there are over 8 types of soapstone, and each varies whether you oil or not, so really 16 choices.

Wonderful information. I live in upstate New York in a small, historic community of 500. The entire village is on both the New York and National Historic Registers as is my home. The location is so isolated that going shopping requires a full day half of which is travel. There is a local craftsman who does concrete, everything else is at least 1 to 2 hours away. About lighting, that, too, is difficult due to the lowness of the ceiling -- ideas?

With real low ceilings you may not need actual ceiling fixtures, except maybe over an island or table. Try experimenting with lamps at different heights and see how they bounce light off the ceiling. You can just hold them up in various places with a low watt light so you are not blinded but enough wattage to bounce some light, and no shade on them.

You can determine how high a light needs to be to give good light in certain areas. Lamps and wall sconces may serve your purpose.

Search Houzz for "bouncing light" and see what helps to bring light into a room and bounce it around without electricity. Large wall art with glass fronts are great for this and subtle.

If your house is registered, doesn't the design have to pass muster with the historical committees? If your DH is a talented woodworker, how about wooden counters? I think they would have been used in the 1790s. Checkout Smallbone Kitchens. They are UK based and their cabinets often look like very old separate pieces of furniture, maybe your DH could make cabinets that look very much like the original cupboard you have. Here's a Smallbone pine kitchen http://www.smallbone.co.uk/handmade-kitchens/pine-kitchens.html Also look at this for the idea of cabinets that resemble furniture pieces http://www.smallbone.co.uk/handmade-kitchens/pilaster-kitchens.html
Here's an article I found on how important Taverns were to our country http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/taverngold.shtml Maybe the ceiling would be higher if you exposed the beams? The beams would look nice, too.