I think they would both look good but I'd go with the New Caledonia. There's another thread with a couple photos of New Caledonia. It's pretty.

I vote the blacker one... reminds me of Blue Eyes.

I had tropical brown at my last home with creamy white cabs and loved it. It was so easy to care for and never showed anything. I would put hot pans right on it and it was never a problem. Depending on the slab you pick there can be some rich browns and blacks in it that can warm your kitchen. So my vote is for Tropical Brown.

Are you getting a much better price on the Tropical Brown? It looks pretty good, but the New Caledonia looks a little better with the cabinets from here. Also depends on backsplash and other selections. Is that your floor in the background? If so, the Tropical Brown might pull it together.

I love them both! Now I have some new favorites. :) It's so hard to pick. Ummmm well I like the brown one with your floors but so does the blue and I just love blue so I pick the blue!

steff_1 Yes, that's my floor in the background. We haven't decided on the tile for the backsplash yet, but it will be some kind of natural stone, perhaps travertine.
jan_jan: Now that you say that it looks blue, that makes me think twice! The piece we saw in the yard had quite a bit of brown in it, which is what attracted me to it.

I keep going back and forth between the two, it's a tough decision! I think that I can put more colors with the New Caledonia, but I'm truly torn!

I'm sorry! I am looking at it better and I might say gray/brown the blue part of it really more gray. The other one does look beautiful with your floors. Those are your hardwood floors in the picture underneath right? Either way you have chosen well. They are both great with the cabinets and that wood I am seeing that I'm guessing is your floor. You can't go wrong either way. Good luck!

I don't see blue. I see gray, brown, and black. I immediately liked that one the best, but really, either one, when not next to each other will look great with cream and with the black. Maybe the brown is too much like the floor, and the grayer one coordinates, but is distinctly different. But I love gray and cream together, so am biased in that direction. I love rich, dark brown, too, which the gray one offers, also, so it seems like the best of both worlds.

i vote for the new caledonia.

I like the colors in the New Caledonia better.

I also see A LOT of Tropical Brown in my neck of the woods, so the New Caledonia is more unique.

Patty,
Was trying to see the new caledonia and googled it and this came up on the findstone forums. Thought you might want to read it and ask your fabricator about it.

http://forums.findstone.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=775

I like the New Caledonia. I see allot of TB in new construction. I think the NC is more unique and goes best with all the elements of your kitchen.

I vote for the New Caledonia, it looks smashing on the white and I think will look better on the black island too.

Good luck!

Please don't take offense, but the TB looks common and builder-grade.

bluekitobsessed: No offense taken. I have a builder-grade budget which is why it's one of my choices. I still like it, but want to make a decision I'll be happy with for a long time. :)

pattyk, please dont be offended but if you are going with these kind of granites, it is far cheaper to use prefab (ubatubas, blue pearls, kashmir whites, maduras, absolute black, etc). The advantage of going with slab is to find something that you cant find in prefab. Given that you are going with a builder-grade budget, i would save even more by using prefabs.

With slabs you can go really exotic (and justify the higher price).

just my view on slab/prefab.

Here's a link to Sutton's beautiful kitchen on the finished kitchens blogspot. She did Tropic Brown and it's one of my favorite kitchens on GW. Go with what YOU love!

http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2005/12/suttons-kitchen.html

Hi pattyk - since I recommended New Caledonia to you in a previous post, I will have to vote for that one :)

Of course, I am very biased since that is what we choose for our kitchen (even though our stoneyard calls it Oyster Pearl) I was looking for a med grey with black/brown and cream which is how I found that one. My granite is scheduled to be installed tomorrow, so I can come back and post an overall picture for you if you don't mind waiting :)

Our cabinets were painted Porter Accolade (that's the paint GC preferred) and it is a shade whiter than BM Mayonaisse that others had here.

Can you tell me about your floors? I am waiting for the granite to go in to make a final pick on mine. I have two different directions to go. Either a Santos Mahogany or a Darkish brown..... I like your choice!

Glad you are considering the Caledonia, I don't see it choosen here very often. Kind of helps me validate my choice :)

katiee511: I would love to see a picture of your granite installed, it would help so much! I don't think I've found one picture of it yet that's not a sample. My floor is a glueless laminate, I hesitate to say that because I don't get the feeling it's a popular choice here, lol. It's by Shaw and is in 8" planks. DH installed it almost 2 years ago and I've been very happy with it so far.

I would go with the new calendonia, I am not a big fan of the brown.

pattyk - I will post my pics here by tomorrow night since they are installing late afternoon. I was never able to find a pic of it in a kitchen either, just samples on stone sites.

Do not hesitate to recommend a laminate! I am relieved to know that's what it is because that is what we are doing also. I just removed our Shaw tile look laminate to change to a wood look. Do you recall the name of it and color? That would really be helpful. See we each do a piece and help put our kitchen visions together!! haha

Hi PattyK,

My vote is for New Caledonia.
It has enough neutrals to pull it all together
but not be the center stage. You can find most
backsplashes to go with the New Caledonia.
Like you, I am trying to choose my granite.
All so stressful. I even dream about it.
Best wishes,
~Boxerpups

One thing about the prefab. It really depends on your kitchen if it's cheaper. I have a LONG section and 3 corners so I would have had 4 cuts with prefab because they only come in sections and because I want the granite all the way up it would have been more money. With slab it was cheaper and less cuts.

It clicked too soon without being done about the prefabs...sorry. I meant to say I want the granite all the way up the backsplash. That would mean 3 more prefab sections so the cost was much higher with prefab. Also I pulled my paperwork and I would have had cuts in every corner of my kitchen and I have 4 corners not three, not to mention the one in the middle that would be 5 cuts. With the slab there will be 2 most likely. Also I know the most common colors come in prefab BUT I'm in orange county, ca and I can direct you to a wherehouse that house hundreds of prefab colors. I can take a picture next time I'm there. It is amazing! I know there are popular colors but this place has probably got some off the wall ones too I'm guessing with the amount they have.

They are both gorgeous - you can't go wrong with either one - I'm leaning towards the brown though...

Well if you're considering calling for a vote, mmine is for the Tropical Brown.

It looks really smart against you white cabinet and I can image that one more with a black island.

patty
Congrats on your remodel

I guess I would ask what other elements are in the room?
what color appliances, hardware, stools, furnishings, natural light, window treatments,rugs, wall color, lighting etc

I can't see the flooring - posting a pic may help

Picking a counter is very individual & we all "see" differently

You noted a natural tumbled backsplash as likely -

I read the TB - as warming up your palette - your cabs are considered cool - so I my initial reaction is I prefer that - I like warm/cool elements but again depends on the rest of the palette & your personal taste

The NC reads cool to me - If that is used the rest of the elements should be cool - fabrics, hardware, wall color etc - or you will have colors that are fighting each other - a honed crema marfil backsplash wouldn't work, but a carrara would - tan/beige paints wouldn't work, but blues/greys would

Another twist you could consider is having each sample honed & see if that helps to make a decision - that will give you 4 options and also sounds like you have some room to negotiate with the stone yard esp on the TB they want to move - offer 20% discounted pricing on that one if that is the one you would like, even if not, that may help to drive the decision

Good luck

katiee511: The code on the box says Style: 0021U Color: 00804
It's a Shaw 5/16 glueless laminate, I can't find any names anywhere, but I think it might have been the rustic expressions line, maybe Jackson Pine. It looks the same when I see pictures of it on-line.

Thanks everyone for your opinions! I'll be making my decision this weekend. :)

jejvtr: Sorry I didn't reply to your questions. The appliances are stainless, paint color hasn't been decided on yet. The floor is definitely a warm brown, and I see the cabinets as being warm, BM Navajo white isn't really white, it's more of a cream or beige. The picture might be showing it a bit cooler than it is in real life. I'm leaning more to the Caledonia, I definitely like it better than the TB with the black island. I'm up in the air as far as what looks best with the Navajo White cabinets.

pattyk - as promised, this is my Oyster Pearl (New Caledonia) installed today. It is a bit greyer than your sample because that was the look I was going for

this is one of my seams, it's still a little wet.

Hope that helps! And thank you for the floor info, I appreciate it! DH and I need to make our decision this week-end.

I have Tropic Brown with my off-white cabinets (and brown wood floors) and I just love it. There is a lot of black in the TB and it will look very nice on your black island and work well with black countertop items (toaster, coffee maker, etc). This choice is more in harmony with your floor, which is often one of the largest colors in a room.

I, too am considering Tropic Brown. My other choice is New Venetian Gold. I like that the Tropic Brown is warm toned and it really seems to have a lot of shine to it. I know this doesn't help you any...
but if it were my choice, I would pick Tropic Brown between those two, but only because I prefer warm tones. Good luck I'm sure it will all turn out beautifully.

My vote - if LIMITED ONLY to the two aforementioned colours:

Tropic Brown or New Caledonia...

My vote would be for:

TROPIC BROWN... But then - that would be MY vote - if
I lived alone and had no wife ... (but that is not the case......)

Since I've been married to the same gal for the last 34 1/2 years...
(and this would be for our current home
which has yet to receive the Granite
I promised her 3 1/2 years ago - yes I AM a PUTZ)

Given all of THAT..... my VOTE would be as follows:

"WHATEVER YOU WANT HONEY...
(Insert name of Granite here)
WOULD BE A TERRIFIC CHOICE!!!
YOU KNOW THAT WHATEVER YOU WANT IS FINE WITH ME!!!!!" :-o

And she can have ANY colour of stone she wants (as I am IN
the business and could change out HER countertops every year
IF SHE wanted me to... so far - she has NOT exercised her "option"
to do so...... (keeping my fingers crossed)

(this has been one secret of STAYING married this long) -
she renews my contract every year!!! HA!!!

I guess I'd better get off my butt and get HER tops done PRONTO!!!

hth

kevin

I love how this thread popped up again, I love hearing everyones opinions.

Ding ding ding!!!! Kevin you had the right answer. "Whatever you want honey..." is the answer that my husband gave too. I ended up going with the Calendonia Dark, the piece we saw at the yard was more brown than the little sample that I posted a picture of actually. I hope I made the right decision, I sure did labor over it, just like I am with my faucet decision now!