We have Venetian Gold on our current maple cabinets that's very nice. We are having a new house built and I saw back in January a slab called Desert Amarillo that I absolutely loved but when I went to check on this particular granite a couple of weeks ago, the new batch of Desert Amarillo had changed in color -- same colors but more gold and black in it than beiges that were in the old batch. So now I'm trying to figure out what I will get since it is more expensive than the Venetian Gold and I don't like it anymore. I've decided if I can't find something I like, I will just go with Venetian Gold in the new house. Also check different granite places on the St. Cecilia because St Cecilia doesn't look the same at the different places we visited. At Arizona Tile, where they have the Desert Amarillo, I love the St. Cecilia (called Juperana St. Cecilia). The colors are more vibrant so that is what I'm going to go with for the baths (except Master) and the outdoor kitchen.

Thanks for the advice. I know granite can vary substantially from yard to yard and I haven't totally ruled out the St. Cecilia, I'm just looking for other thoughts. Of course, I am totally stressing about it . . .

I gather you ordered the showplace cabs? Tell us more about your kitchen -- do you want dark, light, country, contemporary, or ??? Floors? Do you want the counters to blend in with the cabs or pop out? I found it helpful to consider the "mission statement" in the FAQs section.

Very generally, granite with movement (a swirled or ocean wave kind of look) will be more expensive than speckled, but you will also get the natural, can't be manmade, unique characteristics that IMO are worth it. I think the granites with juparena or typhoon in the names might be some swirly examples. I'm not much help on specific not-blue colors (brown/tan/beige/black/grey/green/white/anything else) because once I saw BLUE granite I had to have it. (On my planet there are only two colors, and Blue is better than Not-Blue.)

Do take some time to find the right stone. It's one of the most noticeable features of the kitchen. Don't stress. Good luck.

afr66, I am also getting maple cabinets with a 'toffee' stain that is a medium brown color with golden undertones. I found the gold tones hard to match in the gold granites, so I decided on more contrast and went with uba tuba which I think looks really nice and is one of the more affordable granites.

I was thinking of uba tuba too. I think that looks good with medium stained maple.

We're about to order maple cabinets with a praline stain. We've chosen Coffee Brown granite. Haven't decided on the floor tile yet.

Oh Wow! Im also putting in a new kitchen. I am most likely going with a maple with a chocolate glaze...which is like a light/medium warm color you are describing. I saw a kitchen in a showroom with a Granite called Giallo Fiorito. When you examine the sample it has all different colors of yellow, brown, black, etc. However, when you see it installed it give a nice brownish glow. I think it looks very nice and it isnt that speckled. Wondering if anyone had a chance to look at this granite color, I would love to hear feedback. Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a wood floor color?. I dont want to go too dark but I dont want to be too matchy matchy with the cabinets either. Any suggestions? The decisions can be a bit overwhelming because we don't want to make expensive mistakes! Thanks to everyone for sharing your ideas.

Yes, I did get the showplace cabinets in a Covington Wide style. It is a square raised panel - pretty traditional except the stiles (I think that is the word) are wider than normal and, as a result, the panel is slightly smaller than a typical raised panel. I liked the visual interest paired with a timeless look - our house is from the 1890s so something more contemporary was not in the cards.
As to my taste, I like warmth but I don't like a dark kitchen - I also don't want the cabinets and counters to seem too similar in coloring. I guess I prefer a bit of contrast. I've been leaning to lighter colored granites because of this, although I'm open to other suggestions.

I am doing a black stained sink cab and natural maple on the other cabs. I have Yellow River granite.

Here it is with samples from my cabs. Nothing is done yet on my kitchen (other than the ordering). Cabs delayed another two weeks. I expect to be done during the first part of June.

This may be too 'speckly' for you, but as I haven't seen it on here, I tried to search in the FKB, but either I am search challenged, or no one has it, so it may be one you haven't seen, and it may be something you'd like.

I brought home Santa Cecilia and Giallo Victoria and compared to the Giallo Fiolio they just didn't have the same 'life'. I have Butterfly Blue right now, and unfortunately, they have not been able to match all my pieces, so we're just starting all over.

Our floor is Tigerwood, which has darkened a fair bit- at first it was much lighter than floor, but I like that they are the same tone, and wow- for once I'm ahead of the trends, as supposedly now that's where 'fashion' is heading, more tone on tone, versus contrast! :>)

{{!gwi}}
This pic may be closer to real colour of granite, which flash washed out on my pic
{{!gwi}}

I have maple with a coffee glaze and ubatuba granite. But I also have a multicolored slate floor and backsplash and dark reddish terracotta walls so my kitchen is probably too dark for your taste. If you did a lighter floor, backsplash and wall color then I think a dark granite like ubatuba would work perfectly for you. Here's mine...

The ubatuba looks black in those pictures but here are a couple that show the granite better...

HTH and good luck with your remodel!
Robin

Everyone's kitchens/choices look very nice. I'd say my cabinet color is closer to Raehelen than rmlanza's. If mine were more the tone of rms' I'd be more inclined to go dark counters (btw, I don't think your kitchen looks too dark at all - it is very nice). I actually wanted slate tile floors at first but when we couldn't fit radiant heat into the budget I decided to forgo tile and go with hardwoods instead.

Hi Raehelen, I didnt realize the new trends were tone on tone. I dont think that would work in my case since I am most likely going with a maple cabinet with a chocolate glaze. I don't think flooring would look that great in that color. By the way, don't you just love the Giallo Fiorito granite? It really looks different from the sample when installed. Overall I think it has a brownish (even pinkish) hue. Your choices are lovely!

Hi Rmlanza. Your cabinets are beautiful. Is that natural maple with a coffee glaze or a stained maple with a glaze?
Thanks
Melanie

We also have medium stained maple cabinets -- a very warm, and a bit orangey color -- and we went with Madura Gold after a very long search and are very happy with it. It's got just the right amount of movement and a good amount of gold, gray, black, burgundy and cream color to be interesting.

Hi Fromflorida, So you like the Madura Gold? Any photos you can share? Sounds like an interesting match since I am most likely going to pick cabinets, from Norcraft, Sandlewood with a Chocolate stain on Maple...which sounds like your cabinets (Medium Maple).
Melanie

Hi Melanie, thank you. Yes, mine are natural maple with the coffee glaze.

robin

To be perfectly honest, I think the indecision is because so many (as you see above) look great. Really and truly-they all work so well.

:)

Your cabs look exactly like the sample I have sitting in my kitchen. Can you tell me what wood / finish you have? they are gorgeous!

The ones I'm ordering are from DeWils, and I'm currently trying to decide alder / cherry and which finish to get the exact tone and glow you have.

Anita