Need help with backspash & AB granite

15 years ago

As of yesterday my entire color scheme for our new kitchen got sunk. A long story but we are going with AB granite with lt. stained cherry cabinets. We have SS appliances and the floor tiles are very close in color to the cabinets. In my head I feel that I need to work the black of the counters into the backsplash, but don't want a poka-dot affect with little black inserts My original scheme was going to be Sonoma rhomboid tiles in ivory, beige, pale yellow, pale green and a deeper green to pick up the Ocean Green granite (that we can no longer use). I don't feel that I can substitute black rhomboids for the green ones. They would stand out too much. Can anyone point me in the right direction or has anyone had lt. cherry cabinets w/ black granite and tied the black into the backsplash?

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Comments (6)

susan3733
15 years ago
A friend of mine has a cherry kitchen with absolute black granite counters and a backsplash made by Jeffrey Court called "Fire and Ice"...I know because I asked her (I like it very much and may do the same combo in our next house). Fire and Ice is a mesh-mounted mix of slate and glass tiles...mostly slate in elongated brick-shaped pieces with smaller bits of square glass tiles inserted randomly. It's kind of like a ledgestone look but with a little bit of glass tile mixed in. It looks great with the black counters because the slate has dashes of charcoal/black tones in it, and also it has the warm amber-ish tones of the cherry. I love the combination. You can probably find it online through the Jeffrey Court website.

In another house that we did, I had cherry cabinets, absolute black honed granite, and a sage/grey green handmade subway tile in the backsplash. We had the tile grouted in a cement grey tone, which helped pick up the dark tone of the granite and went well with the SS appliances, and we got tons of compliments on that kitchen. The combination of grey-green color and cherry woods is a classic Mission-style combination, and goes well with the black granite.

Do you plan to have your countertops honed? If so, it will help make the contrast between backsplash and counters a little less harsh.

Sorry I don't have photos for you! Good luck.

Susan
mbarstow
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Susan ~ the granite will be polished because it is the only request DH made--I had complete say over this entire renovation. I've looked at 100 or so of the "finished kitchens" and all I see so far is what I don't want. I guess it's one way of narrowing things down.
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Jodi_SoCal
15 years ago
Here is my kitchen with stainless steel appliances, stained cherry cabinets, dark wood flooring, Jeffrey Court Fire & Ice backsplash and Impala Black granite (looks blacker in person when a camera flash is not at work).

We love the combo!

Jodi-
mbarstow
Original Author
15 years ago
Wow, what a gorgeous kitchen and the backsplash is very dramatic. I am definitely going to print this picture and add it to my folder of possibilities. My cabinets are cherry, but very light. Thanks so much for the suggestion.
lisa_a
15 years ago
Gorgeous backsplash, jodi!

I'm a visual person so it helps to see this stuff in photos but I'll take a stab at helping. Have you considered substituting a charcoal tile for the dark green and a soft gray for the pale green? You'd end up with a very similar look to what you'd planned while mimicking the new granite. Ivory, beige, yellow and gray can look really wonderful together, provided you pick the right hues.
mbarstow
Original Author
15 years ago
Lisa, very good suggestion. I might be putting too much importance into the backsplash selection, but I think it's the one piece that can tie everything together or be a nonentity. Now, I'm going to take out my crayons and try the charcoal and soft gray as you suggested with the other colors. Thanks
Maureen in MA

Need help with backspash & AB granite

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