i'm not a fan of the natural white oak color. beautiful granite! i love it. i like the sound of your current choice #1.

Given that you're in the Pacific Northwest I'd go with #1. I don't like the grain in oak. I'm sure whatever you decide it will be beautiful!

I would go with #1. Can you see pictures of your designers previous work? If you like her taste, you will likely like the finished project. Also, trust yourself.

I think your designer is right. Your current choice sounds great to me. The hickory and caramel doors will bring out the richness of the beautiful granite. I don't think it will look too busy, because it will all tie together beautifully.

I don't mean to throw a wrench in the works, but...given your comments, it sounds like you're not really happy with any of it.

Quote:
*** Very concerned it will end up looking like a lodge or just too busy.

Concerned it might be a bit humdrum and boring, and worst of all already outdated, especially since oak and busy granite are already yesterday's news according to some.
***
Unquote.

You did choose a very busy granite. Could that be your sticking point? Or do you really, really LOVE *that* granite? And more importantly, do you love that granite *in your kitchen*? I know I saw some stunning granites when I was looking but I also know that they would not have worked in my kitchen.

Would it be easier for you to envision your kitchen choices with a different (quieter) granite? If your cabinets, flooring, backsplash and nearby slate fit well, but they don't fit with that particular granite, maybe you need to rethink the granite.

It is a lovely granite, I'm not trying to dissuade you from it, just wondering if that's what isn't quite working, given that you twice commented on the *busy* factor and you don't seem to be finding that *wow, GOTTA have THAT cabinet/floor/etc. in my kitchen* with the granite you pictured.

If you're certain on the granite, disregard the above. ;P

I do actually love the granite - it was the first thing we picked almost a year ago and is the one thing I feel peace about, hubby and I weren't agreeing and this was the first one that we both really liked. More importantly, it's already fabricated, sitting at the shop, waiting to be installed.....waiting for me to make the plan.

I am not happy with anything at this point. Nothing came out as planned and every element has posed it's own problems and now I just have to make it work. Thus my designer proposed plan #1. I am overwhealmed and desparately just want it all to go away. I cannot make this decision, but no one can make it for me. I cannot move forward, but I cannot sit paralyzed like I have been - everyone is waiting. I just want this nightmare to end. Had I known it would be like this I wouldn't have even started a renovation until I had every single tiny element was locked into place and purchased.

This is all confirmation so far to stick with the orginal plan. And you all can't even fathom how grateful I am for this input.

I would love more input from anyone willing to chime in because frankly, I really need some sort of direction.

Tomorrow morning I am going to the finishers to have them work up the caramel door. OR I am heading to the floor store for the 10th time, grabbing a white oak sample and taking it to the finishers and telling them, "stain the cabinets to work with the granite and floor". Either way, in about a week, I will know how bad the damage is going to be.

Worst case scenario with #1 is the hickory is outrageous. We'll then hire someone to come in and strip and stain the brand new floor to tone it down a bit. After 25+ shopping trips for floors, I know the right stained hickory does not exist in prefinished form.

I think a lot of gals here can feel your pain, sounds like you are getting kitchen planning burn-out. Maybe you could get out some of your inspiration pictures and re-feel the vision or if that doesnÂt work maybe some of the kind people here have some visuals for you. Best of luck!

I love your granite - that was one of my second choices for my kitchen. And I feel your pain about making choices - it's so overwhelming! You don't sound convinced about the hickory. Have you looked at staining the white oak a little darker? I think the grain in oak flooring is beautiful. Much different than having oak cabinets. Many folks here have oak floors - check out the finished kitchen blog or ask folks to post pics of their oak floors. It might help you make up your mind. I think you should decide on a cabinet color that goes well with your granite first. And then you can stain the oak floor to compliment it. Good luck!

I also feel your pain! I have oak floors currently and have decided to change them to a travertine. My choices were to stain them (which will always have a yellow tint to them from the polyurethane), paint a different color (but it will adjoin two other rooms with a different color of oak floor, slate, tile or travertine. I think travertine is safe and will go with so much (cabinets, granite, paint etc).

We keep changing our ideas and styles every time we look at photos or talk to different people about our kitchen. I just have to walk away sometimes and try to focus on my original ideas. After all, it seems like I always go back to my first decision.

I love your Granite by the way and I think Hickory (choice #1) will be beautiful!

I hesitate to bring this up, but.....have you thought about the backsplash? If you're worried about it being too lodgy, maybe add some color or a more "modern" backsplash. Just a thought....

Good luck....I can feel your pain through your words. I'm so sorry you are going through this.

I went through the same debate between hickory and white oak floors. Went with white oak but told our floor guy I liked the variations in the hickory but didn't want the huge contrast. Like you, the lodgy feel. He was able to bring out the colors with the first finish application and then finish with water-based so there is no orangey look. I loove my floors.

However, my inspiration on hickory floors was crazyhouse6. Hers were stained with a mix of natural and chestnut, I believe. I have seen some really strong variations in hickory floors and didn't believe those were for me. But staining them is always and option. Go with your gut on this. Hickory floors definitely don't only say lodgey. It is a beautiful wood!!

Crazyhouse6, I hope you don't mind me posting your beautiful floors to help!..

I feel your pain. I go from totally confident in a choice to confident it's the wrong choice.

I'm voting for option 1 but with a hickory with a stain. If I were designing it, I'd incorporate some wood and painted cabinets which sounds like exactly what you have. I think it'll look great. Good luck.

Ttosh, her floors were my inspiration too. The prettiest I've seen. Hers are 2 parts natural, one part chestnut. Now why oh why can't they have THAT on the market? It doesn't exist in prefinished form. And in site-finished form, the price jumps from by $6 per sq ft!!

My original inspiration was the hickory and I guess that's why we keep coming back to it over and over.

Malhgold it's OK to bring that up because, my designer has told me from the get-go that the one of the biggest keys to making this whole thing work is going to be my backsplash. Once it's all in, the plan is to bring her back to shop for that element alone. I should just trust. I find it impossible as my hickory doubts are so overwhealming.

I am leaning toward ordering the hickory this morning and then just paying the restock fee if it doesn't work. Here are the 2 I am choosing between. Which one do you think looks the most like Crazyhouse6's?

The actual floor in the "matte finish" photo looks more like the example above- however- can not tell about the finish.

Good luck with your new kitchen. Love the granite! Take a deep breath and go for it!

I really love your granite - I'm a firm believer in choosing things your love. You asked for thoughts - so I'm going to throw this out there for you to ponder. I'm not a fan of natural oak and can sort of understand your concern about the hickory and the granite BOTH being strong design elements. I noticed crazyhorse above the granite is a bit more subdued, letting the floor variation add additional interest. In your case, as your granite is very interesting, have you thought about going with a darkly stained floor? I confess to loving a well grounded floor and it would pick up the darkness in the granite.

Good luck and whatever you do - don't worry about trends -

Debbiejoy, yes that is something to think about. Homerwood actually has a medium dark one I like. The issue with that is that then my cabinets would have to go darker than the floor cause they can't go lighter cause of the knots in them! And my designer made it clear that the drabbest thing I could do is match my cabinets to the floor. But I think the worst thing that I know I could NOT live with is a dark kitchen. It's starved for light as it is and I am one of those gals that would be thrilled to live in a glass house. I love bright, light, airy, and sunny.
In the Seattle area, that's a challenge. My lights are on even in the middle of the day here.

But I haven't ruled out a medium dark floor entirely.

Knowing all these factors I have to go to the finishers today and pick the cabinet - ACK!

I plan to have her make it a medium caramel shade - as light as she can go while still covering the knots in the door and matching the hickory shades. But in doing so, I eliminate all the medium shades for the floor. Do you guys think that is the best plan?

I am looking into site-finished now and am suprised to find it may be an affordable option. I guess I was calling all the expensive places before. That is an appealing new realm opening up possibly!

It is a very good thing that you've stopped until you feel right about your decisions. I can hear your pain, and I'm glad you're getting the advice you sought. This is a pain that will end, while the pain of quick, unsure choices goes on for years. So, take the time you need now, even with the pain, so you can avoid years of pain later.

Your granite is beautiful, and you and DH both love it. That is an anchor place to start. IMHO, the color of that square-shaped door is absolutely perfect with that granite, it looks like it was custom blended to enance its beauty! Also, that color looks elegant and traditional, not at all lodgy. I'd consider having a door sample made in that color, and trying it out at home in your lighting conditions.

If you went with a painted door in that shade, then you would only have two "patterned" elements, the granite and the floor, and that would adddress the business that is bothering you. (BTW, I agree with you that patterned floor, cab, and granite will look busy.)

If you got a painted door sample, you could then re-visit the available pre-finished hickory floors to see if one would work. If not, then consider the darker stained oaks.

Good luck. You've got courage to keep listening to your guts and instincts that something isn't right, but you will find a combination that feels right, and it will be worth it for years to come!

I would go with the matte finish, given your concerns. I think it will compete less with the granite, and seems a better color match to me. (The semi-gloss seems to have more contrast, which seems "busier", and also looks more orangey.)

They just don't make these floor choices easy, do they? It was one of the most difficult decisions of our entire build for me.

I'm flattered that you found my floors as an inspiration. I still love them. Do you know what grade the floors are that you are looking at? Is it possible to see a finished floor with them? If you are looking at a natural, prefinished, and it's a lower grade you do run the risk of them being very busy. Because of the large variations from board to board with hickory, it's really hard to tell how much variation you will get based on one small sample board. Mine are definitely more toned down due to the stain. I love the look of natural hickory and have seen it done nicely in contemporary homes too, so to me it doesn't scream cabin, but you wouldn't want to be surprised by the end product.

I recently saw a site stained select grade hickory that I thought was white oak. It didn't have nearly as much color variation as you often see in hickory. So I think it can end up either way (a lot of variation or stained down to little variation). My sister has a #3 white oak and it is gorgeous! Much of the same color as mine without the color variations. It just depends on what you are wanting in your space.

Your granite is beautiful. I don't think you can go wrong with either of your choices. Good luck with your decisions!!!

What are the details on the cabinets? Just based on your comment about liking light bright airy kitchens, have you ruled out painted? I know people love them or hate them, but they are definitely brighter. A cream cabinet with or without glaze - dark brown floor and that granite would look a lot brighter...

Here was my original door sample which led me to picking the wood. I knew it was a risk cause my cabinet makers had never used birch before, but the sample looked perfect:

Here is what actually came and it's a huge disapointment because of the huge knots that were not in the sample, but I don't want to make my cabinet people eat it because they have been so good to me and they didn't know - they've never used birch. Even though they are old enough to almost be my parents, they have become dear friends to us in the months we have worked together.

This is one of my actual drawer fronts and the flip side has 2 previous samples worked up. One too dark, the red tones in the other do not mesh with hickory at all:

{{!gwi}}

I've considered painted. It wasn't my first choice. I do like it, but as Rhome says, "it just doesn't feel like me". I really like the warmth and life that wood has. I've also considered paying for new doors and panels in maple. I have no idea how much that would be, probably too much.

I think your doors are going to be beautiful - I love the warmth of wood as well. As you seem concerned with the variation in the birch, I would not pick the hickory as I think it will potentially accentuate it - someone above mentioned travertine - is that something you'd consider - I found this picture that might be of interest - birch cabinets, similar granite with travertine:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Now that I see your cabinets, I want to change my vote. I LOVE all the grain in the birch; it is beautiful. But I do agree that the hickory is going to compete with it. I also thing that the birch color is too close to either the hickory or white oak. I think you need more contrast. I would look for a darker wood, that doesn't have a lot of grain. It will make the cabinets and granite the stars of the show.

One totally random suggestion, if you are not sold on wood and don't like tile (which is where I was!)--have you considered Marmoleum? We just installed it, and I love everything about it. In the link below, I think the "walnut" would be stunning with your cabinet/grainte combination.

Here is a link that might be useful: marmoleum

Are you going for something that looks like this? In which case I think it will turn out looking good.

Here is a link that might be useful: birch cabinets

Honeysucklevine, at this point I am not even sure anymore what I am going for other than something that won't look disasterous. I do like the kitchen you posted and yes there are elements in it that jive with my original vision. Thank you for posting it.

Debbiejoy and Chipongo, marmoleum and travertine may be possiblities but I think that's another question for later - it may lead to patchwork flooring (5 separated surfaces using 3 materials)...but I think it's too much to think about right at this moment. Thank you also for the pics.

OK, so I think this is where I am at - how does this sound? I think I need to just pick a color for the cabinets that works beautifully with the granite, get it all installed and then focus on flooring. Does that sound like a good plan? Am I just focusing on too many unknowns at once?

That would get me a functional kitchen back again (without flooring), it would get the finishers off my backs, and the granite people will be happy to install in a timely manner too, and it would be one less "unknown" to work with.

Needs, That sounds like a great plan and may come out for the best. Sometimes things just have to evolve on their own over time and at your own comfort level. This way when the right thing comes along you will feel joy and excitement, no point in spending a whole lot of money if youÂre not getting that warm & fuzzy feeling. ItÂs frustrating I know because others seem to be able to whip up a whole look and like it, but for many of us it just doesnÂt work that way and sometimes thatÂs a good thing. When you are all done your kitchen will have your own personal stamp on it in all itÂs original hand picked beauty. Then you can stand back and oooooh and ahhhhhhhh!

I say go for it - it's what we did with our master bath remodel. I found tile and cabinets that I loved, but was having trouble deciding on granite - I figured I would have an easier time once I saw it all together and could figure out if I wanted more interest or less. I admire people who can pick everything based on tiny samples!

Thank you all, I can breathe at least for now. And I am off to the finishing place.

I too greatly admire the folks who can pick off of samples and have it turn out great.

Great plan! I think it will be easier to decide on the floor once the other things are in place. You can bring home samples, live with them for a bit... I think it's exactly the right thing to do.

This wouldn't post this morning, and I think you may have moved past where it might help, but I'm going to post anyway in case it does.

Needs, I'm too tired this morning to read through all the replies, but it's very obvious something's amiss. It's hard to say without seeing the samples, but it seems to me you were aiming for neutral and understated, and ending up more busy brown muddle.

My memory might be off, but didn't you do your cabinet renderings in more of a cherry color? I'm not sure cherry is a great choice with your granite, but if you take the color tone out of the cabinets, I think you need to put it back somewhere. Again, if I remember the renderings right the granite read as significantly lighter than the cabinets, giving you nice contrast, and not only are you losing that, but the flooring choices are competing with the stone.

No wonder you're not happy!!! You had a strong vision for what you wanted and you're not getting it!

I don't remember your other furniture--I'm pretty sure the floor runs at least into the dining room? Is that right? Did you say just now? I'm sorry to be so dense.

I think you should go neutral on the floors. Good old honey oak should go with everything and not compete with the stone or other furniture, and it has just enough color to warm things up a bit. I don't know if this is a different price category, however, or if you just hate it or anything. But I really would go for a single color floor in your position.

For the stain, for your original vision, for contrast, and for a non-lodge look, I'd go with something rich and just a little dark so you'll get some pop for your stone. Dark honey. Cocoa powder. Maybe a deep Pilsner.

Do go back and study your drawings. Your answer is probably in there.

FWIW, the early drawings progressed from this:

to this:

to this, which is really washed out due to too much lighting:

With inspiration such as:

and:

{{!gwi}}

I was thinking of ones like your middle drawing. I see in that that you have a lot of variation shown on the floor and in the cabinets, but there's still a lot of contrast there. Looking at the other pictures, I'm thinking the white oak might look most like your renderings, more than the hickory.

I was thinking earlier today that going greenish in your cabinets might pull it together, and here you have it in your rendering and inspiration pics. Even a bronze/greeny kind of stain might do it.

What I learned during mine is that anything I hesitated over really wasn't right, and things that were right didn't need a lot of overthinking. I think YOU are right to keep at it and working the problem, rather than settling for something you know isn't right.

I love your granite. Not too busy but monochromatic which makes it neutral afterall. I close my eyes and envision your kitchen with the following:
- Antique White cabinets
- the hood fan, criss cross wine rack to the left of your DW, and island (in a ginger or nutmeg color (medium pale/dark)rich wood that would go with granite.
- add a wooden valence or shelf on top of window
- glass window cabinets if possible in some areas as it makes a kitchen brighter and more airy
- antique finished silver hardware
- glass and brushed stainless steel pendant lights over island. x2
subdude backsplash that would not clash with beautiful granite.
- lots of recessed lighting
- under cabinet lighting
- white oak floors
Fresh flowers on island...
Have fun and believe in yourself. The accesories will make a kitchen stand out. So work on a plain plan and add on.

I 2nd what Plllog said.

Meanwhile since you need some comfort in the choices
you have so far here goes...

Jen19083 from GW looked at this Golden Beaches
slab with her cab color. Not sure what she ended up
choosing.

Design Unique Golden Beaches Granite
Notice the floors and cabinet color

Golden Beaches

Okay you did not want to see white but I wanted
you to see the floor oak and the counter. Nice.

I am not sure the granite in this image
but look at the floors are hickory and the cabs
are medium. The granite is a golden something.. looks nice

This is Kashmir Gold granite but notice the floor and cab colors.

The link below is the rest of Imalm53's Clippings from GW

Here is a link that might be useful: lmalm53 from Garden Web her golden beaches

oooooh Boxerpups, I love the first (the one with the computer monitor) and third (the one with hickory floors) full-shot kitchens you posted.

And the white island one has a very pretty floor too. So those pics do help! I think I may even email both of those photos to the finisher as it's a good indication of something that may work since the color tones are similiar and they are the 2 that draw me. That's also the color my DH has wanted from the beginning. So thank you for posting those pics.

Danielle84, you draw a stunning picture. I like it. I actually have a custom made shelf for over that window - from the former kitchen. I wasn't going to put it back up but your mental picture may introduce that again back into the plan.