In my opinion, different color islands work better when they also have a different color of countertop. They really do look like separate furniture pieces then, rather than an "oops". You wouldn't necessarily have to have wood, but another color or material would be more ideal. And, contrast tends to work better in these situations rhather than having the counters and cabinets be close in color tone. For example, black granite on white cabs on the perimeter and white marble on a black island. Or, cream cabinets on the perimeter with a mahogany butcher block countertop and a cherry island with a cream Silestone counter. If you love the marble more than you love the idea of a different cabinet color for the island, then I'd do the island in the same color as the perimeter, which is a timeless look.

But, it's YOUR kitchen, and only YOU can make the final determination as to what will please YOU.

live wire oak - Thanks so much for the fast reply!

I hear what you're saying. I know a lot of people do soapstone paired with carrara or absolute black granite w/carrera. What do you think about a soft green granite on the island and carrara on the perimeters? Maybe something along the lines of costa esmeralda, amazon green or cactus green all probably honed? Or do you think that is too much craziness going on?

Anyone else have something to add? Please chime in!

Thanks again!

costa esmeralda:

amazon green:

cactus:

What about doing an IKEA butcherblock counter on the island? I love your inspiration photos and the island reads butcherblock to me. I know you want white carrarra everywhere (which I love too) but I do think that the adel brown would look a little (funny) with the same counters. To me, the different cabinet thing is supposed to be like a furniture piece and therefore have a different countertop.

Personally, if you're thinking of an alternate counter material I'd stay away from another busy stone and keep to something calm like a soapstone.

That's just me though, I think there are lots of great ideas in here. Let me know how the ordering goes I hear it can be pretty stressful. BTW are you ordering at an IKEA in person or on-line?

I have a suggestion. What if you were to use either of your soft green granites on the perimeter cabs with the Adel White and put up a marble backsplash? It would ground to the white cabs and help highlight the beautiful granite. As to your island; I'd like to know what kind of flooring you're going to have. For me, that would help determine if the island was going to look fluid or stand out too much using the Adel Brown.

I think your original plan is very good.

The inspiration pic has a different color perimeter countertop but it's a completely different style. The IKEA cabinets are much more modern and sleeker and I feel if you get too much movement on top you lose the cool. Marble seems like a sharper choice -- to me. If you wanted to keep the island dark and make it pop against the perimeter you could go with one of the brown marbles to more or less match it -- just be sure it has some gray veining to tie into the carrara.

However, the medium brown island will look great with the white perimeter and keeping all the counters the same ties things together in another way.

I'm not so much on granite with more modern cabinets styles such as Adel (people use it I know but I'm speaking as a designer). If you didn't go with marble then I'd look at something like paperstone or one of the engineered products that has a single color with little movement. For me, granite is more effective with traditional door styles, which are a bit heavier.

Thanks for all of the responses! As it turns out I'm going to be able to go to Ikea tomorrow so I will at least have this evening to hash this out. Thanks to all of your replies I have more things to consider and bounce off my brain.

caligirl cottage -

I'm going to order in person. IKEA is about 20 minutes from my house so it's not that big a deal to go there. The trick is finding a time during the week (when it's not crowded) that I don't have to bring my children with me. I have an opportunity tomorrow and I'm going to see what I can get done. I'll let you know how it goes.

I agree with your point about the granites above with the carrara being too busy. I always think of carrara as being so serene that I forget that there really is a lot of movement with veining that would definitely compete with some of those granites. However, if I was ever to do granite it would be something green like the ones above. I love the concept of soapstone with a white marble because I think it is so classic and exactly evokes the look I want. Oddly enough, though, I HATE the feel of soapstone. It just scheeves me no end - like fingernails scraping a blackboard. (Which, incidentally, is a good thing because I can't afford soapstone.) However, I LOVE the look and feel of honed marble. Weird, eh?

remodelfla-

My floors will be natural red oak to match the rest of my house. I like the idea of a white backsplash but I think I'm stuck on the white marble for the perimeter. I just love the look of off white cabs with a white marble.

rococgurl-

Thanks for all of your comments. Just to give you more information, my goal with this remodel is to lighten and brighten a dark kitchen. I love turn of the century/vintage, cottage, and farmhouse styling. So, I guess I would say that my taste lies more in the traditional realm - as opposed to a modern one. I realize that IKEA cabs are very modern in general even if they do have some doorstyles that try to lean a little towards the traditional. I always see the Adel doors in more modern kitchens but I'm hoping to make them work in one that's more vintage inspired.

Here are the rest of my inspiration photos that I've borrowed different elements from:

The first 2 are from bunglogrl's kitchen. A link to her finished kitchen pics are below. (notice the crystal knobs)

So...to give you all a complete picture (in case you don't already have one) of what I am envisioning I will run down a quick list:

-Adel white perimeter cabs
-Adel medium brown island
-white marble on island and perimeter (so far anyway - busy taking in all of your comments into consideration around what to do about island)
-crystal knobs and maybe crystal pulls
-polished nickel faucet and fixtures (maybe rohl perrin & rowe or Grohe bridgeford)
-off white subway tile with white accent backsplash (I would copy the backsplash in the first pic if I can find those accent tiles.)
-Natural red oak floors
-ss appliances
-those warm yellow walls (I think it's BM Barley)
-stained brown (similar to adel mb color) farmhouse table with wheatback chairs
-Not sure of lighting yet - kicking around schoolhouse type lights, pendants in 3rd pic of this post, and/or black chandelier type like in the 4th pic w/the yellow walls (love that chandelier) or a combo.

Ok - Like I said above, I'll have to bat around what I'm going to do about the island color\counter choice thing. Anyone else w\comments about that - please feel free to chime in.

BUT --- rococogurl got me thinking about something else:

Will I be able to pull this off with these door styles? I'm trying to approximate the adel doors with the doorstyle type in the last pic. Will the details carry this look or will it just look mismatched and odd. I haven't seen any other Adel kitchen like this or even any that are remotely traditional. They are always in modern settings. Am I forcing the issue here?

Sorry to be long winded but I've been at this for a long long time (can you tell?) and I'm trying desperately to have the look I want within my budget. But please be honest. All of your comments are really helping me figure this out.

Thanks again everyone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bunglogrl's it looks like it's original 1920's kitchen

Geez, I forgot to mention another very important element:

I also covet a Shaw's Original Farm Sink if I can just get my hands on one that's available, decent, and not $1000. So figure the look of that with everything else. Modifying ikea cabs so it fits should be interesting.

I could kick myself because I HAD one last year but it had a very small flaw in it so I returned it and never bought another but planned to. Now, good ones are hard to come by and much more expensive. Last year I paid around $650 and received it in 3 days free shipping. Now I'm lucky to get one in a month and the cheapest I see is $930!! Rats! Don't you HATE that?!?!

bump :o)