Please help me choose perimeter countertops.....

11 years ago

Here's the context: dark stained red oak floors, cherry stained island with montclair danby honed marble, perimeter cabinets creamy white glazed inset with bead, wooden range hood to match cabinets, white farmhouse sink, stained french casement window with unlacquered brass hardware, and one ceiling to counter cabinet with pewter mesh over glass insert.

initially i was leaning toward soapstone perimeter counters until someone on here smartly suggested i avoid doing the reverse of my island counter top (white-ish with black veining). i cannot find an all black soapstone and want to avoid color variation or grey/white streaking. i was looking at slate as an option, but it's rather cold feeling. my husband is completely against wood counters, unfortunately, so i'm at a loss as to what i should pursue. we want the kitchen to look collected over time, as opposed to having it all created from a big box store. i thought perhaps copper or zinc, but am not sure how practical those would be, or how prone to scratching. i thought stainless steel for a moment, but that seems industrial and contemporary. should i try for an absolute black honed or leathered? anyone else have suggestions for me? i'm running out of time and ideas. thanks so much!

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Comments (8)

ginny20
11 years ago
A honed or leathered dark granite is just what I thought of before I got to the end of your post. A friend of mine had dark greenish off-black leathered granite in her kitchen, and it was gorgeous. It looked a lot like slate, but warmer feeling.

Of course one GWer (I can't remember who) has a copper counter that is absolutely to die for. You can probably still find the picture. Whether it works for you would depend how the orangy copper toned with the other red stains in the room.
TxMarti
11 years ago
threeapples, could you post pictures? Your kitchen sounds lovely and just the colors I think I am going to have. I'd love to see how it all looks together.
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Nikkidan, There is also marble, soapstone, and a couple of others that some here on GW have used such as cement, stainless steel, and even copper. Just the large number of choices makes it kind of overwhelming at times, let alone that each one has its own unique qualities. Maybe start with thinking about what you have now and what you don't want. Think about what your budget is and what your might look good with your cabinets. I think many people do granite, which I found to have a lot of earth tones in them. Granite does hold up to many of the kitchen issues like heat, staining, etc.... I found on GW that there were many willing to use soapstone and marble too. One reason I did not look at laminate or corian was because I thought you could not use an undermount sink with them, but I could be wrong there. Maybe find some inspiration photos on line or on GW finished kitchens or think about what you like in your family/friends kitchens. I used quartz, which is somewhat heat sensitive, so no pots right off the heat. I loved marble, but for resale mostly, decided to choose between granite and quartz. Good luck and have fun with the quest for your countertop. Maybe post a pic of some of your other parts of the kitchen such as cabinets and flooring.
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bumping this back up because we have opted to go with granite- originally, we were going to get what we thought was a quartzite, but we think it is actually marble and the fabricator was selling it as "qualtcite" trying to pass it off. We tested the sample and it etched almost immediately. We looked at quartz options, and both of us like the patterns, but they are all very dull and lifeless and flat to us. Which led us to going with granite because that is most affordable. However, the granite I chose is, of course, one of the most expensive ones out there... Pitaya White. Husband wants me to consider Colonial White Granite as it was recommended as a cheaper option by the fabricator we are now going with. There is a $1200 difference so of course the husband wants me to consider it. We are also going to likely pull the mosaic backsplash and just do a super neutral grayish white backsplash that will have a little dimension (hopefully) We went to the Triton to look at slabs and that is where we chose the Pitaya. We both LOVED it. They didn't have any colonial white at the time so we haven't seen it in person. In all of the pictures I've seen online, there is a TON of variance in all of the different slabs!! Any suggestions? Thoughts? Anyone have colonial white?
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muskokascp
11 years ago
I like a leathered black granite as an option for you although I have to say I think the soapstone would be really nice too.
Green Mountain Soapstone has Original PA and it can run pretty dark.

Leathered Peribonka granite is really nice and has some texture and different shades of black. I don't know if anyone on GW has Peribonka but it was readily available in my area - East coast Canada.
remodelfla
11 years ago
I think it would look grand if you used the Danby all over. Now... typically I prefer the contrast between island and perimeter to be one finish. If the wood is different then the perimeter cabs... then the stone be the same (visaversa). Just my .02
quiltgirl
11 years ago
Please post some pictures so I can get a better idea of how it all fits together. I have a hard time picturing things without some visual aids! I can then give more helpful suggestions.
lavender_lass
11 years ago
What about a green/gray soapstone? Someone (Macybaby?) has beautiful soapstone they installed themselves that has the green veins...it might look nice with your red toned wood.

Here it is...Macybaby's kitchen is about half way down, but there are some very pretty examples. In her finished pictures, you can really see the green :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to soapstone thread
SparklingWater
11 years ago
Brazilian San Gabriel granite is a pretty solid black.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Gabriel
threeapples
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm not a huge fan of the green-tone soapstone for my space, though maybe I've not seen the right slab.

I'll try to include images of our kitchen plan:

thanks so much!

Please help me choose perimeter countertops.....

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ginny20

TxMarti

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Please help me choose perimeter countertops.....

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TxMarti

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