recommendations for kitchen cabinet-top speakers?

My house is prewired for stereo but no speakers have ever been installed. I plan to start by getting it working in the kitchen. The speaker outlets are 12" above the kitchen cabinet tops. The cabinet tops are 7.5' off the floor and 15" deep. I was thinking about using bookshelf-type or satellite-type speakers as opposed to on-wall speakers, since the depth of the cabinet will partly block the sound propagation from an on-wall speaker. Given the height of the cabinet tops, I was also hoping to find a speaker that I can point downward. Basically I just want to fill the kitchen with music. My current approach is to blast the stereo from the living room :(

One thought was to use something like a morel soundspot, but the house is very warm/earthy looking with lots of wood, some I would prefer not to use something silver and high-tech looking.

My questions are:

(1) What do people think of using a bookshelf- or satellite-type speaker in this situation vs. a wall-mount type?

(2)If I use bookshelf/satellite speakers, can anyone recommend one that could be placed on a cabinet top and pointed downward, or that is already built for the purpose (i.e. pointing downward when sitting flat)?