Your cabinets look great I would consider positioning the island horizontally to the stove instead of creating a barrier between the frig/ovens and sink. IT's not a deal-breaker, but I'd at least lay it out to see if it works.

In terms of color... how about a real soft taupey/cream color or a light greenish/gray color. Add some beadboard on the ends. It would look real nice with a BB top. Many people have had great luck with very reasonably priced ones from IKEA.

Good luck... sounds like a great project!

OH...BTW.... don't discount SS. I've heard of people getting it for not more then mid priced granite. I don't now how pricing is in your neck of the woods.

Those are pretty cabinets that you have. Can you point us to a particular Crown Point kitchen that you love? There are so many different ones!

It's hard to pick colors for someone else, because there are so many that wouldn't be 'wrong' but might not fit your tastes. I don't know why sage couldn't work. (What shade of sage did you have in mind?) If you really want to consider a wood top for the island a classic light maple butcherblock would work, in my opinion, even with the wood cabinets and floor, because it would contrast and not look like more of the same. Do you envision the island looking dark or light? I love the black kitchen on the Crown Point website (under Early American style) and an island in the black with the maple top could be stunning. But so could a cream or maybe creamy tan if you want it light. I think camel is too close to the wood tones.

I have 8 kids and would have loved to have soapstone if we could have afforded it. I thought it was the perfect 'family material' and would never have thought of it as 'touch me not.' Jet Mist is a granite others have shown here on the forum lately that looks a lot like soapstone. If you kept the island fairly light, you could do the same dark counter on everything.

I don't think you have room to turn the island sideways, as Remodelfla suggested, but she had a great observation about the island in relation to sink and fridge. If you could swap the oven and fridge, the fridge would be facing the aisle and the island would no longer be a barrier between it and the sink.

I also really like your cabinets...and I wouldn't worry about making them recede b/c I think they're pretty enough to flaunt!

As to the island and layout, I agree w/both RHome410 & RemodelFla, swap the oven stack & refrigerator and you eliminate the "barrier island" issue.

As to whether you could rotate the island, I don't know the dimensions of your kitchen so I don't know if it would fit. Regardless of the orientation, though, I don't think you have enough room for seating at the island. You'll need about 48" to 60" b/w the island countertop and the refrigerator/oven wall to have seats on that side and a 60" aisle if you have seating b/w the island & kitchen table.

You also should have a 36" to 42" aisle b/w the island countertop & the sink side countertop as well as b/w the cooktop side countertop & island countertop. Do you have room for that?

Color of the island? I don't know...check the Finished Kitchens Blog for mixed cabinets to see what you like (an inspiration pic from Crown Point would help so we know what you're going for.)

Countertop color? We have similarly colored cabinets and we have a black countertop...but black isn't for everyone. Perhaps a dark green or deep gray would work... Soapstone, btw, is more expensive around me as well, but quartz is the same price as granite.

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Finished Kitchens Blog: http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/

1. Click on the "FKB Categories" link on the navigation panel to the right
2. Scroll down the categories until you come to "Cabinets" & find the "Multiple colors/shades of cabinets:" subcategory.
3. Click on the "Mixed Cabinets" link
4. A list of the kitchens w/cabinets in 2 or more colors will be retrieved. Click on each one to see what the GWer did in their kitchen.

repainting, there was a great thread recently called "let's see your islands" - linked below. Tons of pix that might give you some ideas.

We have sage green cabinets, soapstone counters and a reclaimed oak plank wood island countertop. Here are a couple of pix of the island:

I love the combo of colours, and think sage would look beautiful with what you've described. Do you have any thought right now about what type/colour granite? That will be a big help in deciding which way to go colourwise too.

Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Islands

I actually like the teal stain left behind from backsplash removal more than the orange. Your cabinets have a fair amount of burnt orange in their coloring so it feels like a big orange cave to me. I would prime the walls with plain white before choosing anything.

Your existing cabinets are a nice cherry, and would blend well with maple, maple with a cherry band or a solid cherry top for the island only. Jet mist sounds like a great idea for the perimeter counters and the island if nothing else appeals.

For the island cabinet color: taupe, gray, french mustard, pale minty green, pale olive, or even a slightly grayed out, pale, robins egg blue.

Try putting your kitchen table in place of your temporary island for few days - its about the right length and just a bit wider than your island would be. This will give you an excellent three-d tryout of having stools on the ref side and how close to bring the island towards the sink.

If you hate the spacing, that will answer the question of seating v. shelves. I'm not a big fan of seating in front of a ref without really wide aisles, but you could feel differently.

Thank you so much for these responses! It is like being in a candy store, reading such helpful advice!

We went to a granite store early this morning...very sketchy place. The price was so good (too good) for a reason, we had to step over other people's templates to get to the stone!! Very scary. Anyhow, we will not be using them...but while we were there we saw a honed black granite. Made me fall in love with the soapstone look all over again. I'm just worried that black won't do anything for the cabinetry.

Our cabinets are a stained maple to look like a darker cherry/walnut. Doesn't quite look like either one - somewhat in between. Just not my taste, but not in the budget to totally redo them either. Plus they are well made with nice birch interiors. Made by a local Amish man who is going to make the rest of the perimeter cabinets. So we will keep what we have. Thanks for all of you telling me they look nice. I just hope I can get them to look better.

Elizpiz - your kitchen is beautiful!! I love the sage and the pulls that you have. We are definitely going to be replacing the hardware as well. But that is a whole other decision for another day (or month, or year). How are your soapstone counters? I am worried about them being next to a stovetop and getting oil stains. Is that a problem? I think soapstone would function similar to honed granite. I plan on reading more on the blogs tonight about people's different experiences with soapstone and honed granite, just so we know what we are getting ourselves into, if we decide that.

I'm going to attempt to upload pictures of pictures I love from Crown-Point. Just new to the photobucket thing, so I will try that on my next entry.

Also, I really agree with everyone's thought about the island and seating. I had an epiphany last night about 1 am, as I was tossing and turning thinking about all of this, that our kitchen will look like seating, seating and more seating if we do chairs at the island. I want the functional area to look like a cook's kitchen and the table (to be replaced hopefully sooner than later) to look like our seating area. Plus I will have the a stool at the new desk area (under the moved glass cabinet by the french doors).

I saw an island that I fell in love with in the Peter Lemos book "Kitchens for the Rest of Us." It was very simple and had open shelving on one side and drawers/doors on the other. What do you all think of this?
The open shelving would face the refrig/oven (which we now may switch around because of your helpful thoughts in terms of that, too). The shelving had 2 wide openings and 1 more narrow in the middle. The side just had simple molding to the floor and there were toe kicks on either side. Wish I could find a picture on the internet of it. I will look.

This would mean that we would see the shelving as you enter the kitchen. And the island could be about 36" deep and 72" long (no room to flip the other way). I had originally thought of shelving facing the table, but now after seeing this I'm thinking of having it run along one whole 72" side.

Thoughts?

And you really think I could pull off a butcher block with black honed or soapstone counters?? But what color? ugh too many decisions and I won't be able to repaint that decision, like everything I do!

Thanks again!

Attempting to upload pictures...

I love the island shelves in this one:

Like the mixture of soapstone and wood countertops:

Beautiful island:

So simple and love the subway tile backsplash:

This design for a countertop will go under our glass cabinets that we moved to the french door area. Then I will have a place for my laptop. I like the way the curves support the upper counter and my husband can probably build this:

So the ultimate question: How do I achieve one of these looks? I want to lighten up my space...so wood dark soapstone really help? Would that work with sage on the island? And what about the butcher block wood tone? Do I need black island to balance black countertops and then lighten it up with butcher block top?

Losing my mind.....

I think soapstone or a wood top would work with sage on the island. I don't think you 'need' a black island to balance things. Might be too much dark, actually. As I said above, if you use butcherblock, I'd stay with natural maple to be a lighter contrast to what you have. I love cherry butcherblock, but feel it's too close to the wood in your cabinets and floors. (OK as a feature/accent in the maple, though, as Bmore suggested)

I had a base cabinet with open shelves. If you have a busy house, and, especially, pets, know that open cabinets at that level can collect a lot of dust and hair... It'll be something that will require upkeep to stay nice. If you don't have pets, and your kids aren't home all day, running in and out like mine, it might be OK. :-)

Well, I have a dog and kids...so your thoughts on the dust collecting is very helpful.
The current "island" that is placed in the middle of our kitchen is actually a very old maple butcher block table from my parents. It has been helpful to have it in the room, but I can't tell if it is too light. Of course I have to look through the multiple stains of it being used as a project table for years.

I do also agree with you rhome410 about the black island might be too dark. I really want to brighten up the room. Which is why I'm now sure that I'm repainting the orange. I just have to see around that color when I try to envision the island.

Any other thoughts on butcher block wood colors that are not quite as like as maple, but not dark like walnut? Would teak work??

After looking for weeks, I happened to finally stumble across a picture that is very similar to what I have been thinking about. I am thrilled to find this picture, because I am very bad at envisioning things and do much better with pictures.

So minus the very extravagant bar chairs and much smaller scale island (with none of the fancy details)...what could we do on the island that is not granite?

I'm thinking honed jet mist granite around the perimeter. I really hope this is within the budget!! I will call for prices on Monday.

But to beat a dead horse - might maple be too light on the island? I am worried it might be too light.

What would Crown Point do??

If you go medium on the wood top (teak, cherry, etc.), you are going to blend it with the cabinet color and floor color...Something likely close, but not a match, for a total of 3 wood colors in approximately the same lightness/darkness range. That's why I'm encouraging the lighter maple, and to brighten the room, which you've expressed the desire for. Maybe wood's the wrong choice...Would you consider something like the photo you show above with a light or light-medium stone instead of wood? It might give you the color range you want and also the family-tough durability you want.

repainting, a couple of additional thoughts. I was at someone house's last night and she has island seating in front of the fridge - definitely NOT convenient! I was trying to help her clean up after a dinner party and her daughter had to constantly move in order for me to get into the fridge. So really consider the aisle allowances that have been mentioned here.

I also wanted to address the issue of soapstone and "maintenance". After living with ss for six months, I have to say it is one of my *favorite* things about the kitchen. For me, the "touch me not" aspect comes into play when it comes to oiling or not oiling. We oil the counters once a week (and when we have guests over to show off the veining!) but other than that, it is wipe and go. Because it does not absorb at all, there are no worries with oil marks etc. I'm sure you have done a search by now on this forum - there has been a ton written and opined about ss and the care required. For us it is absolutely zero maintenance without oiling.

One last thing. I waited until we were pretty far along before turning my attention to the hardware selection and it turned out to be one of the hardest decisions!! You may want to think about this sooner rather than later. There are *so* many choices available, it can be overwhelming unless you're clear about what you want!

Eliz