Freaking out over Raven decision - is it too dark?
Hi all,
I am having the hardest time deciding on a countertop. I know I've said that before, but it's still an issue...here's the story: Dark wood ceiling, not a lot of natural light in the kitchen, fake laminate wood floor, and we're doing Bamboo cabinets - keeping them natural, no stain so we hope that will lighten things up. I have been leaning toward soapstone but talked myself out of it due to the maintenance issues - we want as low maintenance as possible. And we're not granite lovers - so we got around to Caesarstone, and after much debate landed on Raven, thinking we needed contrast with the bamboo.
Woke up this morning feeling like we needed more lightening, but I don't like any of the light colored C-stones - they all look fake to me, which the Raven doesn't. The Raven looks like stone to me.
Meanwhile, I already purchased and have sitting in my living room a cafe-brown Blanco Silgranite sink, which I bought because I liked the way it looked with the Raven. So I'm sort of committed (unless I can sell the sink on Craig's list or something....). So please tell me if you think i should do a quick u-turn now on the Raven, before it's too late - and deal with the sink issue however. Here's pix to help you decide:
(let's see if I remember how to do pix....)
bamboo + raven (with the current white laminate counter visible)
wood ceiling
soon to be demo-d kitchen
{{!gwi}}
Thanks for your help!
Comments (33)
sweetd313
15 years agojb1176
15 years agoRelated Discussions
NE1 get freaked out by their all over paint color?
Comments (9)Ugh, I haven't seen the color in the light yet, but I'm having the first real freak out of the build. I hope, Marthaelena, I'm not kicking myself for not going the believeable buff route. I thought of going Ivoire like many had suggested, but for some reason it read too tan. We are in a rental right now that has tan walls, and I don't like them at all. They just seem really drab. So, we were really trying to get away from tan. We were basically going for creamy with undertones of yellow. We had that in our last house, unfortunately, I didn't have the name of the paint and we don't live there anymore. I used that paint so often to do touch ups around the house, that I thought I had the color burned into my memory, but may be I was off in my recollection. Here are some links to our old house: Does it look like this: Here is a link that might be useful: SW Concord Buff...See MoreCabinet Stain too dark...are we out of luck?
Comments (39)Lindy--can you hear my sighs and oohs and ahhs? Gorgeous--everything! What a great job you have done. Be proud! Love it, love it! Don't change stain at all! This is off the thread, but I noticed on another thread your progress pics and that you used board and batten. (Gorgeous everything again--love your style!) If you don't mind me asking, did you use, (for a lack of technical terms), real wood or manufactured siding type? What type of maintenance will you have with your choice? And, did you carry it all around the sides and back? DH not too handy :(, so I'm worried about a lot of maintenance. If we have to start cutting things on our plan due to budget issues, I don't want to lose my stone on the front, (call it my!), but I would rather lose the brick. We were thinking cedar shakes and/or board & batten. Just was hoping to "pick your brain" and see what helped you make your decision. Thanks in advance. If you want, you can email me. Thanks too for sharing your photos and experiences....See MoreFreaking over cabinet glaze - Don't do a long distance reno!
Comments (28)I am going thru this exact problem with my Diamond cabinets. They sell them thru Lowes, but I bought them from A KD. I also wanted a special amount of the glaze, in my case we wanted heavy. Our cabinets are maple with a palomino glaze that makes the edges darker, almost dark brown /black. We were told it can't be ordered that way, so we ordered a sample door and it looked great. We placed the order and when they came in, we loved them. The appliance panels came in later and they didn't match at all. They were much, much lighter in the maple color as well as the glaze. I was upset after spending so much money to hide my refrigerator, it now stood out like a sore thumb. My KD had the Diamond Rep come to our house and she agreed they looked very different, She said that it didn't matter that they weren't ordered at the same time ( I didn't believe this at all). She has sent in one our cabinet doors that match and they are making the new appliance panels right now. They are due to be done any day now. So, it can be done right if you get the Rep involved. I will post here when they come in so you can know if it worked or not. I am hopeful that it will. She promised me that I would be happy. It's funny how we wanted the darker glaze at first and now that they are all in, I like the medium glaze that we got. The darker would have outlined the cabinets too much for me....See MoreAccent wall too dark or out of date
Comments (31)I like it, but I also think it would look nice painted the existing wall color or the gray owl. I think it looks really nice with all the other blue in the room. What is the light paint color in the LR? You mention painting the mantel with chalk paint. Is it currently the same color as the rest of the trim? I like it as is and wouldn't paint it. What color chalk paint were you considering? Have you been looking at a lot of blog inspiration lately? I found that when I was spending a lot of time planning a certain project I started thinking about making all kinds of other changes - changes that aren't me. I took a few week break from looking at anything decorating related and realized I still love the same look I have even though it's not trendy. If this applies to you, try taking a break so you can see if you're being true to you. Very pretty rooms! - Also wanted to mention I really like the mirror. I think art would look nice too if you found something you liked, but I honestly like it right where it's at. It appears expensive, is very nice looking, and I think it works in that spot. I wouldn't change it unless you're tired of it. This post was edited by sheesharee on Tue, Apr 22, 14 at 12:43...See Moremomorichel
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15 years agoI like the contrast of colors and I also have Raven (honed) in my kitchen. Here is a pic of it in case it helps someone else. It obviously is a dark counter, but it's nowhere near black. It is actually a medium gray with a lot of light gray variation in it that makes it look darned close to natural stone. Did I say I love it?
joebayarea
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