Contrast is very personal. I like monochromatic, my DH contrast.
I would also advise you to think one step further. Do you have a vision for your backsplash? Many of us here did not and then had a struggle to find one.
If you like SC, you might like a Giallo Ornamental, the light one (the dark has lots of browns)
I personally do not think the colors will be too dark. A classic combo is the black counter with white cabinets. You can't get more of a contrast than that!

I love this look! Almost all my favourite kitchens are black and white. I am currently planning my own as well. I love soapstone, but that isn't for everyone. I like a lighter colour for islands though. It seems to keep the room from getting too heavy.

Like ellendi said, it depends a lot on whether you like high contrast or not. GWs helped me realize that all of my inspiration kitchens were high contrast kitchens. I love Brown Antique granite and paired it with soft white cabinets.

I'm sorry I don't have better pictures, my good camera is not working and I only have my iPhone.

Thank you everyone for your comments!

Ellendi - we haven't really decided on the backsplash yet. We've been just trying to focus on the granite (which we've been going crazy over for the last several weeks) and for me adding one more thing to think about will make my head spin! Although I know it's another decision that needs to be made :-) I envy those who know exactly what they like. The selection of granite is even harder since I prefer more of a mid-tone granite and my husband prefers the high contrast. The Santa Cecelia slab we orginally picked (but had what looked like a large scrape on it) was a really nice color. The Santa Cecelia comes in so many shades and we couldn't find this exact color anywhere. All the other Santa Cecelias were very light and when we brought the sample of those home it looked washed out. Is the Giallo Ornamental darker than the Santa Cecelia?

cbusmomof3 - I love your kitchen! The granite is beautiful. The deep chocolate brown color looks so rich. Husband is sooo against brown. If the verde peacock gold has alot of brown and gold in it, I think I would feel ok. I'm nervous about it looking too green or blue which is why I want to go towards the browns but hubby is not interested in that.

I didn't get a chance to look at the actual slab of the peacock gold because it was in their other warehouse so hopefully today or tomorrow I can see the actual slab and that will put me at ease.

I used ubatuba gold on my kitchen facelift prior to selling my house. Cabinets are Linen White.

cbusmomof3-what are your floors???
I prefer a contrast, otherwise your kitchen may look like a sea of white.

OP-Does the yard have a labradorite? I really love those with the black appearance with a bit of color for interest that shines through.

bahacca-My floors are 4" white oak, stained with 3 parts jacobean and 1 part midnight mahogany.

I do not have cream cabinets but I do have Verde Peacock granite although mine is not peacock gold. I wanted verde peacok right from the beginning so its the only granite I really looked at. Several stone yards in my area had the granite and even though it is said to be a consistent granite, the slabs did look different from one place to the next. I wanted one with a fair amount of gold flecks in it to go with my natural cherry cabinets but I also wanted good size chunks of the blue/ green color. I finally found it at the fourth granite yard. So I just wanted to tell you to look at several places if you can and look at slabs just labeled Verde Peacock too because they might be right for you.
I think the Verde Peacock will look great with cream color cabinets but I am a contrast loving person. It's difficult to photograph granite with just a cell phone camera but just for some comparison I took a close up of my verde peacock. Good luck with your granite hunt.
{{!gwi}}