When you talk about the character of the kitchen in the picture...what kind of space do you have to put it in? Will you have a big open room with masses of empty dark wood floors? High, coffered ceilings? Lots of windows?

In general, yes, you can change one thing like dark for light counters without totally ruining an effect, but what other elements will you be compromising? What is the space you have like? If you have all those windows and lots of lighting, dark counters will be fine. If you're trying to squeeze that look into a more ordinary footprint, with standard windows, maybe, but depending on the space and all, dark counters might be too heavy.

Thanks for the reply plllog--first, I have to tell you that the post you made on another string about marble, and wanting the "thrilling bad boy" over the "mom approved" reliable mainstay, really struck a chord with me! Liked it so much, I read it to DH--who replied, "Well, marble must be right for you, afterall, you picked me!" We both had a good laugh over that, and think you should write professionally, if you do not do so already...

My space has 10' ceilings, the kitchen will be about 15' x 21' and open to a 13' x 21' space that is partly a dining nook and partly an open "crossroads" between the opening to a large family room and the kitchen. So, there will be some open floorspace. The floors are currently the standard honey-toned red oak, and I plan to stain them a bit darker to match the walnut wood in the island cabinets as in the photo. The kitchen will have an 8' wide by about 12' tall arched window over the sink area with a barrel-vault in that portion of the ceiling over the window. the nook will have a 4-panel set of french doors with a transom above, and the adjoining family room also has very large windows, so lots of space and light.

I'll speak to finding a dark counter to compliment Calacatta based on my experience. I chose Carrara for my perimeter and spent a long time searching for a stone in the same color range as you to compliment but not compete for the island. (I didn't want to use marble on my prep island because of cooking with acidic foods.) I drove all over looking at stone yards for many months. Nothing seemed right. Either slabs were too busy and potentially distracting from the Carrara or the colors weren't quite right.

You might look at Black Pearl in a satin or brushed finish. Antique brown would also be a possibility. My best advice is to get a sample chunk of your calacatta and drive to larger stone yards in your area. Hold up your marble to possible stones and see what you think.

I ended up choosing walnut for my island instead of stone. I'm so much happier with it, not only for the color but also for the warmth it brings visually and physically for those who will be sitting up against it in the counter stools.

Purely my opinion, but if you're already planning on doing two cab colors, I'd keep the number of countertop materials to a minimum. I fall into the "more can be too much" camp though. Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words! :)

Yes, I imagine given what you've said, that you can approximate what I see in the picture. Sometimes what people are looking for is more of a feeling. What you've also implied is that you really want the look of the best ever inspiration picture. If you're doing a version of that island, I think you really need light, but you can approximate it with granite or quartzite if you're looking more for edgy guy rather than a real break-your-heart bad boy.

You could definitely go darker on the perimeter. Regarding soapstone, you might look for one of the harder varieties. Try scratching it with something pointy like a screw or nail. If it's hard to make a mark, you should be able to live with it, even if you're not big into patina. I think unoiled soapstone would give you the kind of color you're looking for, it looks great with light marbles, and is very functional. If you get oil spots on unoiled soapstone you can use a grease cutting detergent like Dawn dish liquid. It's really not that much maintenance. If you go with soapstone, however, do get installers who really know soapstone. It's different from granite or marble, and has different requirements (though simpler tools).

As to patterns of stones, it really depends on the exact slabs you choose, but you should be fine doing veins with veins or spots with spots but not veins with spots. Similarly, it's nice if one has more and one has fewer veins, but you want the veins to be not too dissimilar in size. A little difference is contrast. A big difference is just busy. This works best when the stones can be read as inverses of each other, so a white marble with gray veins might work with a brown granite with white or gray veins, but not so much with a brown granite with black or red veins.

These are just generalities, however. It really depends on the exact slabs and how you template them and fit them together. Taking away that whole question, could make your life a lot easier. Have you considered quartz for the perimeter? One of the ones that reads solid?

Thanks Breezy for the input. One option I have considered is to make all the cabinetry white, then go with the walnut tops on the islands. How are yours holding up? Do you have the end grain or edge grain?

Plllog, thanks for the stone tips. I will have to look into the soapstone a bit more. I've read a little about it on Gardenweb, but more just out of curiosity than really considering it, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. (Not sure if soapstone is a Mick Jagger or a Jon Bon Jovi.) Great tips on how light plays a role, and on looking for the inverse of a stone. I did see some plain white quartzites at the stone yard--that were perhaps acceptable on the counters, so long as I have my Calacatta on the backsplash--but I need to look more into those as far as potential yellowing with age, etc.--Just not sure I could grow to love Donny Osmond, despite what mom says!

Soapstone is more of a Yo-yo Ma. Really badass, but a different category altogether, subtle, and highly functional. Quartzite is more of a Jon Bon Jovi. A bit different though it looks like the next guy, gets the job done. But when you say "plain" are you sure they're quartzite and not quartz? Quartzite is a stone that's pretty rare, and comes in whites where granites really don't. It's often striated, though sometimes veined. Quartz is a manmade surface made of quartz stone dust in a substrate of 7% resin, which is polished down so that the stone is on the surface. The resin does yellow with exposure to UV, which is another reason I think you're talking about quartz. And it's much more what you might call Donny Osmond.

Yes, quartz was the uniform plain material I saw, not quartzite, sorry I mis-spoke. Not sure I like the idea of a resin-mix, man-made surface.

I did take a look at a stone called Brown Fantasy, which my stoneyard called "granite" (I thought wow, finally a granite I like!), but elsewhere I saw that referred to as quartzite. I took it home and did bad things to it, and it etched--a bit less readily than marble, but still. Seemed to me if it etched anyway, I might as well have the real deal...I have heard that some quartzites have more calcite in them than others, hence the different experiences people seem to have with their own quartzite countertops.

I am wondering about slate. I found online that the second picture I posted with the grey-toned countertops supposedly shows slate. When I think of slate, I think of the floors I have seen, with the "ledge-y" surface (not smooth) and multiple colors together in the green/grey/brown range. But if some slates are more of a monochormatic grey, and come honed to a smooth surface for countertops, then that might be an option--especially if slate is a well-behaved stone. Thoughts?

Do a search for Madre Perla or Mother of Pearl. It's a beautiful and has a softer feel than most granites. It's what I've chosen for my counter tops. I would post a pic but can't seem to make it work.

I agree--if it's going to etch go with the marble. I think the whites are the more durable of the quartzites. Many people do soapstone with white marble and I think you should give it a serious look. Do a search here for soapstone threads and read up on it. You can put hot pots on it, it's totally non-porous, and it feels divine. There are varieties that are hard enough not to scratch or chip easily, and scratches can be sanded out if they're bad enough.

If you decide you can deal with the resin substrate, there's also recycled marble. It's made of marble bits, and has a look of kind of marble chip board. It's really gorgeous, and because of the resin, it's easy care (though there's still the UV/yellowing bit to worry about).

Since there's a kind of olde worlde look to your inspiration picture, patina would also look good in the kitchen if you can bear letting it happen. Have a look at this blog. Do some tests yourself.

Hey, I rarely post here anymore (trying to do so on my iPad can be maddening) but just happened to check in... And as you will see below, my kitchen is pretty similar to your inspiration. We have dark perimeters (a stone called aqua grantique which is a gneiss, not soapstone or granite)- so if this link opens, you won't have to photoshop! It is a brushed, matte finish. For the island,I wanted the look of marble but was frightened by the issues. I looked at everything I could find, but we ended up with statuary. There was just nothing else that fit the look I was going for. We love it!!! 2 years in and we have zero regrets. It is heavily honed and the etches either don't bother me or have been wiped away with a green scrubbie.

Here is a link that might be useful: Niffy's kitchen

I am going to look into soapstone a bit more, and the aqua grantique is beautiful too.

Niffy, thanks for the photos. It is so funny--I believe I have your kitchen picture in my inspiration file over at Houzz! I just love your choices, and have probably stared at the pic on Houzz so long, I have it memorized. The beautiful leaded glass windows helped me make the connection to the photo on Houzz. I really like the archway you have between the family room and the kitchen area too. We are doing similar arches, and I have been struggling with whether they should be painted or stained wood. The painted looks beautiful! Our tastes really are similar, and you did a fantastic job on your kitchen--it is gorgeous!