What about a piece of granite that has a lot of movement, and some burgundy tones in it? Honed finish, not polished. I know nothing about granites, but I looked under "burgundy granite" and found several that seemed interesting. Lambada was one, Maracana was another. Another alternative would be some kind of mosaic in a matte finish. Or, you could do a wood countertop. I am a big fan of zebrawood, so I could see something like that as a great accent on your pantry cabinet. Matte finish, very hard wood. Plus that is considered sustainable wood for harvesting, so eco-friendly. zebrawood counter

I think white would be a nice contrast. I've attached a link to a GW member's (kellienoelle) kitchen that used Delicatus granite & a classic white backsplash. Here is a link that might be useful: Kellienoelle's Dark Cherry & Delicatus Reveal This post was edited by romy718 on Fri, Mar 14, 14 at 21:46

These are my pics of my countertops placed Friday June 22, 2018. I cried looking at these seams. It looks so cheap. Fabricator explains that's the way it comes. I explained that I shouldn't be able to see the seams so clearly. It looks so unprofessional. They ended up taking them back to their warehouse. In hopes they say if it is quality control will try and fix it just to make it look better. Otherwise I will have to pay an additional fee for them to come out again to install. I just don't know what to do and if still looks the same. This is the first time I've replaced my counters in 24 years. I don't and can't live with it. looking at this for another 24 years. It looks so cheap and it really was not it's a lot of money to me. I hope fingers crossed that they will fix this problem. They never told me that there would be such seams. I thought the edges were done by a machine and it would be all one piece. I have read up on this and now understand there are seams. But now I do know that they should not look like this. If they are good fabricator you shouldn't be able to see them so clearly. I will find out next week what happens.

I am not any further on the counter :) But I am still planning on using the ply as an underlay. Unless I don't, lol. The soapstone that I have on hold has a small ding in the surface. I can repair it by using epoxy and ground soapstone "crumbs". Then when dry it sands nicely and you really don't see it. I haven't actually bought the stone I have on hold, but its not going anywhere. They might have other remnants soon. I think I will drive there tomorrow and reassess the "ding" and maybe just go with it instead of waiting for something else to turn up. Just got the under cabinet LED lights installed today. I am still working on the crown at the top. I have one length in and have to cut a piece to finish it up. The space is to tight for me to fasten the crown as instructed. I am using extra strong velcro, that will hold 1lb/sqin. It has been working well for the top crown. I used velcro to attach the filler strips to the 2x4 backing at the ends of the cabinets too. It was great. The instructions for my style of crown have you attach the crown at the bottom of the uppers in a way that is not a good method. They have you directly screw through the bottom of the crown and up into the cabinet box. There is a narrow foam strip that gets applied between the crown and box which looks like it is used to block the gap between, so under cabinet lights don't show through. The foam works, but the screws don't finish flush. The screw heads are so obvious. I am going to back each screw out, one at a time, and counter sink the hole so the screw head will be recessed. Then I can cover the holes with a plug or wood filler. I would post a picture of my under cabinet lights but I haven't been able to post pictures for several days now. I don't know what gives.