Hello, I don't have oak cabinets, mine are maple in a medium tone. But here is my kitchen with Wilsonarte HD laminate counters. I have corian on my island. I think about later upgrading the laminate to another surface, however I've had laminate for years and I love how easy it is to care for. It always looks nice and never stains. I love the look of granite, soapstone, etc...but I love how easy my counters are to care for. Replacing my laminate counters is way down on the priority list for me, if ever. Elaine

Wow! So many good ideas and great pics.Sorry it took so long to get back but my daughter just got back from Costa Rica. She was there for a study abraod to learn Spanish but got Swine Flu, Pneumonia and 106 fever. We flew down for a week while she was in the hospital, but they kept her for 2 more weeks. I hope this helps answer the mold question. When the mold enters your body, your immune system is compromised. I hae since had 4 sinus operations. My children and I no longer make IgA, IgM and some IgG subclass antibodies and get sick very easily. We now get infusions of IVIG every 3 weeks. If you have mold in your house, get rid of it NOW! The lifelong effects are not worth any amount of money and the infusions themselves run ~$4,000 per infusion (thank god for insurance). Anyway, the pictures have helped me narrow down my choices, the very dark granites wouldn't work because it would make the kitchen too dark (and I would never see the ants crawling). I like both granites from the first two pictures that Boxer pups posted, although my cabinets are more the color of the pic with the wine and glasses. I will have to check out the Kashmir White and other light whites and greens. What about the backsplash? Any suggestions? Also, any ideas about using onyx on one of the 5 bathrooms I need to get going on. My husband is pushing me to make quick decisions and I wish you could all come here and help!

These are my pics of my countertops placed Friday June 22, 2018. I cried looking at these seams. It looks so cheap. Fabricator explains that's the way it comes. I explained that I shouldn't be able to see the seams so clearly. It looks so unprofessional. They ended up taking them back to their warehouse. In hopes they say if it is quality control will try and fix it just to make it look better. Otherwise I will have to pay an additional fee for them to come out again to install. I just don't know what to do and if still looks the same. This is the first time I've replaced my counters in 24 years. I don't and can't live with it. looking at this for another 24 years. It looks so cheap and it really was not it's a lot of money to me. I hope fingers crossed that they will fix this problem. They never told me that there would be such seams. I thought the edges were done by a machine and it would be all one piece. I have read up on this and now understand there are seams. But now I do know that they should not look like this. If they are good fabricator you shouldn't be able to see them so clearly. I will find out next week what happens.

You should be able to order a couple of samples. Daltile sometimes sells in the Home Center stores too. Get a sample of white and biscuit and almond - you cannot tell true colors on a computer monitor and this is too important to make a guess. Search the internet for a place that sells the tile and will mail you a sample if you can't get a sample from the site you posted. I would probably not do a beveled tile just because oak kitchens have a lot going on in them (I have one) and the additional texture is not necessary. Also, you mentioned not going too modern, Beveled ins't necessarily modern, but it is more so than plain. I like the beveled in kitchens that have a lot of the same color (white cabinets) because then the added texture is helpful to distinguish one white surface from another. When I needed to decide between white and cream, I painted part of my backsplash white, and another cream - I color matched my cream tile sample. That helped me make a decision. For my tone of wood, the white was too much of a contrast. For other wood tones, the white looks great. After the tile is in, but before it is grouted, you will be able to get an idea of what a contrasting grout would look like - it will give the illusion of contrast. Should you decide you like the contrast, don't do a harsh one, but more like eam44 and barncatz's pictures.(I used "Alabaster" from H-Line tile which is a cream color. - pics in my idea book - I posted them earlier in the thread.)