The colors are both nice, tho the darker one seems kind of grey undertoned - wondering how that works with any wood tones (or are any of the log walls visible on the inside?

Honestly, my temptation would be to go black with the cabinets, and then the rich brown for the wall color. I think the green countertops would blend well, and the black would seem sophisticated with the tan tones on the walls, etc.

I do have log walls in the living room, as well as pine on the ceilings and one wall in the kitchen. Our floors are also wood. The darker color actually seems to have a little more green to me than the walls IRL, but I'm no color expert. I preferred this color with the counters as opposed to the colors that more closely "matched" the walls.

I'm a big fan of black cabinets, but am a little afraid of such a bold choice. My house doesn't get a lot of natural light - does that matter? Your suggestion does sound very rich looking - I think I'd like to get some samples and give it a try.

Here's a general shot of the kitchen, if it helps.

Thanks for the suggestion. I truly appreciate all feedback!

A bump to see if anyone else has an opinion and/or suggestions :)

IMHO if you stay with a light or mid tone you are still drawing attention to the counters. A darker color would blend better and bring the eye away from them. I love the idea of black but then I have always been a big fan of black. Paint a sheetrock board and see if you like it.

Thanks lynn, for weighing in. I think I'll give the black a try as soon as I can.

I, myself, still like the lightest one. What you have now I think is very nice but I think I would even like lighter.
Have you gone over on the "kitchen gallery" and checked there? I definately do not like the darker one you have shown, way too 'muddy' looking and it doesn't show-off the lovely counter. I wish you luck!

I also prefer the lighter color but think it's important that you go with what you like best. Off topic: Your photo shows just the slightest hint of what looks to be an antique stove - how lovely and a wonderful conversation piece!

Just had another thought. Instead of a solid black, what about using a black green color? Might blend the counters in well, and be a bit softer in effect than a solid black.

The other idea would be to paint the bottom cabinets in the black, paint the outside of all the shelving units and uppers black, and then paint the inside of the shelving spaces and uppers with a softer shade of the countertop green, to make it all feel connected. Maybe something like BM Black Forest Green for the cabinets, and then a softer green like Aganthus Green.

You don't mention long term plans. Is there any reason you don't look for new countertops? Some of the laminates are lovely and not that expensive especially if you have time to shop around. I think with all that wood, going darker on the cabs is going to make it like a cave in there.

I love how you have done the open cabs and the fabric in the others and that wood stove is to die for.

I would go for black (or very dark black-green) cabinets with a rubbed or distressed edges. Add black iron knobs and handles to the doors. The color would blend well with the rich deep color of the counters. And black appliances (now or in the future -- with the exception of your stove of course!) would work so well!

Then paint the walls in a very farmhouse warm white for a fresh contrast. Add a black-bordered sisal rug to the floor. And a bamboo (with tones of black-and-brown) blind to the window.

Switch the fabric in the cupboard doors to a black-and-white toile or a black-blackground/floral fabric.

Add black iron lamps on the counters -- for more lighting options.

Thanks for the additional responses. Our original plans were to redo the kitchen but, times being what they are, I don't think that's going to happen for a while. In the meantime, I'm planning on painting and will eventually get a new floor. I'd love to just replace the counters and could afford to do that much, but the PO have nailed them to the cabinets and I'm afraid the cabinets will fall apart if we try to pry them off. I've researched painting them, but am worried they won't hold up well to our constant abuse lol.

The rest of my main living space is very "brown" - with the wood walls, hickory floors, the wood in my furniture, brick fireplace, and brown sofas. Will a black/green kitchen mesh with that? I do have a few black and green accents, as well, but they are not as prominent. I guess I was trying to carry the warmth and brown to the kitchen where there isn't as much wood and was hoping I could get it to make sense with the counters. Maybe I should give that up and give it its own look? I'm not sure what's "acceptable" as far as color schemes in an open floor plan.

I'll take a few shots of the rest of the space and it's relation to the kitchen later this morning to give you all a better idea.

I appreciate your input! I'm really not having any luck figuring this out myself.

Okay, just cause I can't take "no" for an answer - what about the roll on faux stone paint I've seen advertised? With a couple of clear coats of sealer on top, it seems it would last longer than typical paint. I googled it, but couldn't find the exact product I'm thinking of. I did find a link to a spray on product.

Also, what about applying granite tile directly to the counter that's there already.

Sorry to keep going on about changing the counter, but I love the country cottagey feeling you have so far and those counters are so 80's disco.

Here is a link that might be useful: faux granite paint

The people that do bathtub refinishing do refinish countertops. I had mine done in a former house (many years ago) and it looked wonderful. I am not going to tell you it looked like granite, but it looked like a clean formica countertop. I had a very pretty kitchen and the countertops had a burn place where I had sat a piece of Corning Ware that was burning my hand because I did not have thick glove on. It was not burned through, just sort of "scorched." I did not want the investment of doing new countertops just to sell the house so we had them done about a few months before we moved. So we did the bathrooms too, when we saw how good the kitchen countertops looked because the bathroom countertops were my creation to match what was going on at the time I had them installed (one of which was apple green). I can tell you it looked fantastic. I saw the lady who bought the house about 2 years ago at a gardening forming where I spoke and she came up to me afterwards (did not even recognize her in the audience) and she told me she was planning on redoing the kitchen and bathrooms since she had been there a while. She told me she was also going to repaint the exterior of the house and asked me for suggestions. So, I had to assume that the countertops had served her well. If memory serves, I had all 3 rooms done for about $400. OF course, that was approximately 15 years ago and with the progression of inflation, it would probably be twice that for that many countertops now but your kitchen looks about the size mine was back then and if you just wanted the kitchen done, it might not be anymore or much more than that. It was certainly about 20% of the price I paid to have the wood cabinets painted.

I do think that the black distressed cabinets (perhaps paint them dark green -- then black -- and sand down to reveal the green -- and then add the classic dark brown shoe polish to the exposed wood to age it) would work GREAT with the brown in the rest of the spaces.

Simply add touches of black to the other areas -- for example -- black iron lamps or black framed prints or photos etc.

Plus the bamboo blind (that I suggested for the window) would have both brown AND black touches -- so it would work too! And a sisal rug would again echo the touches of creamy brown (or beige) AND have a black border too!

You could always look for a fabric (for the doors) that might have touches of both black --- and brown.

And the creamy white walls are a classic that would work with anything! :)

Okay, here are the shots of my main living space. You can see in the last photo the new color I painted in the foyer/hall area. I was trying to work with that family for the kitchen since it's all open to each other.

I just remembered (duh) that my fireplace insert is that dark green/black a couple of you mentioned. So it would make sense if that color was carried into the kitchen. I love the idea of something distressed. I'm not sure if I can get dh to go for white walls - although we have some white doors and windows. I have also considered using wood inserts in the cabinet doors and on the backsplash. Also, there are a couple of posts currently on the kitchen board about cabinets painted to mimic wood or at least the colors of wood. What do you think about that as an option?

budge - I totally agree about the counters. Trying to make them work has been the biggest challenge. I'm just not into them...even though I have green trim outside and a huge green metal roof. If I could be sure painted counters wouldn't be a big pain to maintain, I'd go for it. I saw on Color Correction on HGTV recently where they painted over ceramic tile counters with some sort of epoxy. I haven't had any luck finding out on the internet what product they used...but it's still on the back of my mind.

patricia - great idea about the bathroom refinishing pros. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to check into that.

Can I say thank you again and not sound like a broken record?

What a lovely home!

Okay, seeing the space in total, I think the darker sample on the right for the lower cabs and leave the uppers in the same cream they are now (and, of course, paint the countertops - sorry, I just can't figure out what they were thinking putting those counters in that house). Having said that, the counters don't look quite so bad in relation to the rest of the rooms. I think the black distressed would work, but again I'd only do it for the lowers and leave the uppers light.

I totally agree with budge. Black for the lower cabinets and cream for the top!!! It would look great!!! It might also be pretty to paint the french doors black. And maybe look into some of the peel and stick tiles to go right over top of your existing floor. That's a cheap, easy solution. Something in a stone or brick would be cool!

What a wonderful "home." I think I would call the bath innovations people and see if they can change the countertop with epoxy paint or just keep it pretty much as it is.

With all that real wood in the space, I wouldn't be inclined to create a wood look finish with paint - I think it would always look doubtful in comparison to the real thing.

I think the black or black/green would actually be a nice relief from all the brown and wood tones everywhere. I would paint the three stools the same color as the cabinets to bring that color into the living space a bit.

It appears that you don't have much lighting in the kitchen? I would see about adding a cute lamp on the bar, and some undercabinet lighting.

I would also think about replacing the fabric panels with metal grille panels that you can buy at the home center, often used for making radiator covers, etc. You could paint them the same color as the cabinets, or do a rustic metal spray paint to match all the metal pieces on the beams, etc.

Love the kitty in the bowl, by the way! LOL

Great ideas! My dh is on board with the black cabinets - and I like the idea of the cream uppers to keep it from getting too dark. Painting the stools the same color is genius. My husband has promised new tops for those made from the cedar on our property - and I think that'd look great with the bottom part in black or black/green. I've been looking for vinyl tiles that don't fight with the pattern on the counters (assuming they stay the same). I like the idea of the brick. The fabric is definitely going - metal grates could be really cool. I would never have thought of that!

The kitty - I wondered if anyone would notice him! That's Cuddly Dudley, and for some reason he really likes sleeping in either that bowl or the vessel sink in our bathroom.

It's great to have fresh eyes looking at this space. I think it was starting to drive me batty since I see it all the time and was having such a hard time seeing it any different way. I'm anxious to see these ideas take shape!

I love how your house looks and I don't think the counters are too bad. I do think the current cabinet/wall color doesn't work too well in the space though. It doesn't seem to complement the wood. I like the idea of dark color. A more dark brown color to check out is Ralph Lauren Turret stair as it might work well with your other wood tones as well.

As for floor, you don't need to worry so much about the pattern fighting the countertops as the countertop pattern is pretty neutral. Of course I'm assuming you are not looking at a wild pattern. Just making sure you choose a color that doesn't clash.

I'm not sure if there are any laminate places near you, but it is possible to put new sheets of laminates over existing laminate if it is in good shape. I'm not sure about the rounded edges, but it would be worth looking into.

What about using a sage? Looks like you have sage in the lighter parts of the counter. I actually might have a sample of that counter and if it's the same, sage would work. IDK, black would seem pretty dark.

lyfia - relaminating is something I've considered, but don't know a lot about. I was wondering, too, how they would do the bullnose. Like you said, it's worth checking into at least. I agree about the kitchen color. When we first moved in three years ago, I was all about lightening up the space. Now it just looks really out of place in there. Thanks for the color suggestion. For the floor, I wasn't thinking of anything too wild. I just wasn't sure if the swirly patterns and color variations of the stone look tiles would clash with the swirly patterns of the counter. Thank you for the compliment on our home!

roselvr - sage is a good thought. I'm not sure what IDK means, lol, but I still do have some concerns about black being dark as well. I'm thinking more dark green that verges on black as les and teacats suggested. I also found a cabinet color in one of my kitchen books that is what they call a pewter green - like a dark sage. I think I'm going to try both colors.

IDK = I don't know

Go check out Lowes & Depot to see if they still have a sample of the counter, if so you can take it to the paint section, then pull swatches & go from there. While you're there, check out the peel & stick tiles. The one we used in the old house is still sold at Lowes, (Italia stone I think) it was a better tile and not too expensive. If I can lay the tile, you should be able to do it yourself as well. I would try to pull the floor and counter together 1st, then paint. Painting cabinets is a lot of work, I know I wouldn't want to do it twice.