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help choosing granite

13 years ago

My husband and I are at a standstill re our open plan kitchen which will be cream colored cabinets and maple floors. He likes magma gold and cosmos, which have black. I like neutrals, like Colonial dream, or the more lively Mascarello. He thinks the first is too boring and the later is too orangy. I don't like black. So we're considering a completely different choice. But don't know what. Perhaps a a green, called Labrodorite blue (it's more of a green). Any suggestions??

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Comments (10)

breezygirl
13 years ago
How dark are your floors? My favorite green granite is Costa Esmerelda. Where I live it's on the more expensive side. My favorite granite is Bianco Antico - creamy, browny, coppery, with a bit of black. Slabs very widely from smaller color chunks to large swirls. Yummy! It should work with your color choices.

Of course, if you love Labrodorite then go with that!!
belladom
Original Author
13 years ago
My floors are pretty light, a natural maple... the Bianco Antico is beautiful, but it often seems to have a purplish cast to it... is that just my imagination? not sure how to add pictures, but will try again...
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How big is the island? Maybe you could use an remnant from a local granite yard. There are many granites that are marked down becasue the pieces can not be used on a large island or run of counter. Remnants tend to be a little cheaper. And if Granite is still to high maybe a type of wood counter. Sometimes wood can be expensive but again this is something you may be able to do yourself. Another idea would be tile. A DIY project of granite or even marble tile. Formica or Wilsonart or even Slate or Limestone might be an idea to work with. Here is your corian color, maybe one of the granite types below might match nicely. (I am a huge fan of Jet Mist so I can help but agree this would be beautiful) Mont Blanc Corian Juperana Persia (A remnant will be cheaper) Solarius Vermont Slate Sandstone Tile Granite Tile Wood Kodiak Granite (this might be beautiful with Mont Blanc) Ubatuba granite (this is one of the less expensive granites) Yellow River Verde Butterfly Formica is another inexpensive option. (Basalt Slate color) Jet Mist (my granite counter, I love it)
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Thank you so much for the suggestions. Baltic Blue is gorgeous. I like Amadeus as well, but worried about it clashing with the floor. The cabinets are not raw wood. They are not high quality cabinets, but we just can't replace them. We are going to be able to get new counters, add a breakfast bar and an undermount sink for $1600. I estimated new cabinets would cost an additional $4k to $15k and we don't want to make that big of investment in the kitchen... We got a great deal on the pulls and plan to put in new light fixtures and then call it done. : )
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I took a little trip to the granite yard today actually! I thought that I wanted a lighter color at least on the island so I brought home chunks of Giallo Ornamental and New Venetian which are nearly identical except that the Giallo has a tighter pattern. I do prefer wavy, swirly granite to the more uniform ones, but maybe it would be nice to have something more uniform around the perimeter for the contrast. I have an impossible time picturing anything though I try so hard:) I was wondering about the possibility of using corian for the perimeter counters and stopped at Home Depot to get some samples. Most of what I picked up was dark chocolate brown ones (one was actually called chocolate brown.) As I mentioned above, I like the Nash pendant from Pottery Barn but it's described as silver plated with a blackened finish. Would that look silly with rubbed bronze hardware for the cabs, or could I get some sort of "old" looking silver hardware for the cabinets? I would like to make some decisions and then sit on them for awhile, but I am definitely antsy to get this project rolling. We did very little to the kitchen of our previous house during the 7 years we lived there because we knew that we would leave before too long so I feel like I've waited for my nice kitchen for a long time even though we've only been here a short time - does that make sense? Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Nash pendants
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regina_phalange
13 years ago
How about Butterfly? It's not too boring and it's not too oragney and it's not black.
willtv
13 years ago
Although it may also be too orange, take a look at 18 Karat Gold.

Here's a link

Here is a link that might be useful: 18 Karat Gold Granite
mskitchen
13 years ago
willtv, you're the second person in 2 days to mention 18 karat, I never saw or heard of it before. It's really beautiful.
breezygirl
13 years ago
Re purple cast to Bianco Antico--I never noticed that in the dozens of slabs I've seen over ten past 14 months, but the slabs in your area could be different. Similar stones to see are Alaska White, White Springs and Lennon.
willtv
13 years ago
belladom, I don't know how close you live to a granite yard, but you may want to spend an hour just wandering aimlessly through the largest yard in your area. There are sooooo many different stones that the only way to know what you really want is to see it up close.

Good luck.
belladom
Original Author
13 years ago
Wow, thanks for the help.... I've been to several granite yards, in San Fernando Valley and Anaheim, I haven't seen 18K. But the Alaska white and White springs seemed more grey. Can I do grey w/ the maple and cream cabinets? Because there's also bianco romano, but that might look too boring....?
westsider40
13 years ago
I, too, love Magma aka Sedna. I picked it out, but when the fabricator examined it in the shop, it had fissures. I rejected it and we couldn't find a replacement slab of Magma/Sedna. In limbo again. I Like a Vermont Danby Marble but it will cost 3k more. Yikes, can't see spending almost $200 a s. f. Resume search for me.

I find it difficult to advise because these stones vary so much from slab to slab. Even the magma, some had 50-70% black per slab, and the one I picked out had maybe 15% black. We do both like black and I get to pick.

Maple and cream, hmmm. Sounds like an ice cr flavor! There are a lot of stones which would be compatible but you need to settle between you whether high or medium drama rules.

I also like Mascarello and the slabs do vary. Keep on looking.
marcydc
13 years ago
The words maple and cream struck me as something that would go with mine. Golden Crema, but it may also be know by a variety of other names including Delicatus Gold.

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