I love blue...my favorite color; but I'm not sure how it would look with the Costa Esmerelda. It sounds as if your kitchen has alot of warmth. How "bold" do you want to go in color on your range? I looked online for Bluestar color choices but couldn't find anything.

Sounds like your colors are fairly neutral, so that leaves your options wide open. I would pick a color that YOU love and can live with forever. Something that you can coordinate your accessories/decorations with and still be in love with it.

If your granite is a green/grey color, then the slate blue may work great....

Maybe you can post a pic of your granite?

The first colors I thought of with your other materials, and with your wish to keep things light, were cream or pale gray...So elegant looking. But then the colors you suggest are darker...I agree that the sky is almost the limit with your colors as long as you'll like the mix with the granite. Burgundy could be nice, or any tannish shade that may be in the stone...Blues could work if you like the green/blue mix (and will forever) and depending on what else you plan for your kitchen.

Thanks for the responses so far. BlueStar has 190 colors to choose from, which almost makes it worse. :) I've included the link to all their colors below.

I couldn't figure out how to attach photos into my post, but here are some pictures of the Costa Esmaralda granite: http://kooli.smugmug.com/gallery/8722956_DQ5HC#576640750_APKch

I haven't picked floor tiles or the tile for the backsplash yet, and we're also not locked into cabinets yet. The range is the most important to us, and it's the natural focal point of our kitchen layout and also the place where people always congregate while we entertain, which is why I'd really like to get a nice color on it.

Here is a link that might be useful: BlueStar colors

It's just about impossible to pick a color, isn't it? Also, my BlueStar dealer didn't have RAL color samples, so I was faced with picking a color from a tiny swatch on my monitor. Way risky. In the end I got stainless, which was the right choice for my kitchen anyway.

I can't suggest a color, but I have an idea. Go to a paint store, or a big box store, and get paint cards that feature 3 or more colors, one of which is close to the color of your granite or cabs. Looking at the coordinating colors might help to steer you in the right direction. Kmart used to have color combo cards put together by Martha Stewart-- maybe they still do.

Regardless of color, you are going to love your BlueStar! I was nervous about mine (read the various service-related threads), but mine has been trouble-free and a cooking dream.

Blue is probably my favorite color, so I like a slate blue or grey blue -- sounds like you could work with the tones i your granite and then do some cool water hues in the backsplash to tie it all together and still keep it light.

skoo, I am planning on the Bluestar range, purchasing from Eurostoves. They were good enough to send me the whole color sample fan deck on more or less permanent loan (I will send it back when I have settled my color choice). It is SO SO helpful. I also want a blue range. The blue I picked out online turned out to be all wrong when I saw the color sample (and I think the samples are pretty accurate as they are a high end color system). With the new samples I picked out the blue I really like.

I really recommend that you get the color book in order to avoid disappointment. It is available from Bluestar onine for $15 which is nothing when you get into this kitchen reno business. I have WAY more than that sunk into useless ktichen magazines!

Best of luck,

Tina

Sorry, much as I like blue, I don't see it working with your beautiful granite. Of course, my personal preference would be a dark green, lol.

On my monitor, it looks as if there is some pale grey/beige veining in the granite which might work well for the range. However, without seeing them, I'm not sure what that color would look like against your cabinets.

I would go for a warm gray, which would bring out the green in the granite and harmonize with the stainless appliances.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions! I'm going to have to get my hands on that RAL color swatch booklet - BlueStar's website says it takes 2-4 weeks, and I'm worried that will take too long, so I'll go with my appliance supplier.

If I were you I would get the swatches (the Blue Star web site even says not to choose from the web swatches!) and take it to your granite warehouse so you can really look at it with the slab. Gorgeous slab, by the way... I flirted with Costa Esmerelda for a while but needed something lighter.

I like the tans and greys, too 1013, 7004, or one of the greys at the bottom, but I agree that one of the bolder colors could really work, too.

get the swatch book, a door sample of the cabinet wood finish you like, and go visit your granite!
What a fun choice! :)

(Although, it also might be one of those cases where you have too many choices and it'll be tough...)

An aubergine would be pretty against that green. Is there a photo of your cabinet finish somewhere?

Just bumping this post to the top.... wondering if you have made any decisions?

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. I've been flipping through my color swatch book every day, and I think I've finally made a decision!

Here's the granite (Costa Esmeralda) again:

And here's the best online representation of the color I could find (RAL 5020), called "Ozeanbleu" or basically a nice ocean blue/green that I thought would echo the green of the granite but still give me the blue which I really wanted and give me more flexibility on what tile backsplash accents I have yet to pick:

We decided to go with cherry cabinets and flirted with just letting the natural cherry age darken on its own, but I think we're going to go with the first stain (I think it was honey) since it warmed up the color and made it a little less red.

Thoughts? I think I'm decided enough to order the metal from BlueStar. They fabricate a small piece of metal and get it painted in that exact color so you can have a larger swatch. And the cost of it then goes to the range, so the only drawback is the time it will take to get all this stuff!

Skoo -- I hate to rain on your parade, but to prevent a future problem...

Costa Esmeralda has simply got to be some of the prettiest granite on the planet.
That is, many slabs of Costa Esmeralda are; others can vary from disappointing to downright frightening. So until you pick out YOUR slabs of Costa Esmeralda, you don't know if the slabs your yard will have when the time comes will be grey-green, aqua-green, mint-green, 'where's-the-green?' green, lemongrass-green, or puke-green.

Which makes Costa Esmeralda a uniquely poor granite to plan colors around.

You may be thinking "Well, I'll just buy these slabs now" to guarantee you'll get the colors you want (need). And if you have a place at your house to store the slabs until you're ready to use them, this is a viable strategy. You'll run the risk of the slabs getting damaged in multiple transits, or possibly cracking in a freeze-thaw thing. But if you have the slabs in a place you control -- then go ahead.

But do NOT rely on writing your name on some slabs -- even if you pay for them now -- then leaving them with the stone yard or fabricator. Because slabs are sold out from under you SO OFTEN that it's more the rule than the exception. Do a search here for "They sold my slabs!" and you'll see what I mean.

Here's some Costa Esmeralda:

OOOHH!!! I will agree that slab is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I would hate for you to lose it.

Sweeby does bring up some good points.

Oh wow! Thanks so much for that advice. We do have 2 slabs on hold right now at the slab yard, and we're waiting to purchase just because I'm waiting for 2 fabricators to get back to me on the dimensions - I think we can fit it all within 1 slab with my layman calculations but just want to double check since both slabs are from the same "batch" (not sure what you call it), so if we do need a 2nd slab, we want to make sure it matches.

Hmm. I'm going to put more pressure on these fabricators to get me a decision! Thanks so much for the advice.

Are you within three weeks of installing slabs?
Because if you're not, that's when bad things happen...

No way no how are we within 3 weeks. :( We do have somewhere to store it here in the house, but no way to transport it. How do most people transport their slabs?

Hey, Skoo-- does the bluestar come in matte black (or matte grey) do you know? Sorry to be a tad bit off topic but I thought you might know since you've been staring at the samples!

thanks!

As far as I know, none of the colors are "matte" in the sense that there's no shine. They all look like porcelain enamel to me. But there are LOTS of blacks/greys to choose from! If you want to do the color, definitely order the $15 color wheel from BlueStar as was suggested earlier in the thread. It shipped in a couple days, and having a color chart is really helpful. The colors look really different from what you see on the monitor or even what you see if you take a picture of it.

I ordered the color panel from BlueStar as well, but that takes longer since they have to fabricate it. But I decided that I liked the Ocean Blue enough that even if I lose my slab (which I really hope won't happen), I can work around that color to find a new slab.

Just love the 6020 ChromeOxideGreen color -- not sure it is the best match with your granite but looks like it would work. It's such a nice color that I could almost be seduced to order the range instead of the rangetop . . . .

" How do most people transport their slabs?"

They don't -- In fact, it isn't done often. But it's the only way I know of to assure that your slabs remain within your control.

Your stone yard and fabricator have the equipment needed to move the slabs. To store them, you'd need what's called an 'A-Frame' -- and that's not hard to build if you're a handy DIYer. But do expect to pay the fabricator a bit extra for transporting twice.

If you like the Ocean Blue enough to work around it, and are flexible enough to consider other stones if your lovely C.E. slabs disappear, then go for it, and use the Ocean Blue as your 'gotta match' rather than the Costa Esmeralda.