Thank you oilpainter....so your son re-painted the kitchen sage green? Or did he re-paint the dining room? Which card was he picking the green color from? Yes I have heard of that as well, using differnt values off of the same card for open floor plans and using different punches of accent colors in each room to add interest. My sister in law did this in her house. She has a center hall colonial, just like us, and she used different values of a taupey brown color all throughout the house. In the dining room she put a darker value of the taupey color above her chair rail and below the chair rail used a dark navy blue. In her sitting room she has the taupey color above the chair rail, with a deep dark maroonish color under the chair rail. So all the rooms seem unified and timeless but each room as its own distinct look with the accent color below the chair rail and in her drapes and furnishings.

In the spirit of "speak now or forever hold your peace"--and assuming you aren't past the point of no return--I just want to say that I don't like how your backsplash choice plays with the granite. It could just be the pic or my monitor, but the colors don't quite work together. And the small format tile seems overly busy for the granite. I like the cabs with the counter, and I like the cabs with the backsplash, but not the backsplash with the counter. Sorry for the unsolicited opinion. And if you are past the point of no return...I'm sure it will be fine. On the subject of paint, I was thinking a lilac pink could maybe work...until I looked at BM Lilac Pink (are you looking at BM colors? You didn't say). Wow, that is really pink, and really quite a dark pink. And a saturated pink. I used BM's color viewer to pair it with a the Ivory Tower and gold along the lines of what is in your granite. I had Amulet stand in for the gold, and Clydesdale Brown for the cabinets. I didn't think that the Lilac Pink worked--it's a color that would work better in smaller quantities, like a lamp rather than a wall (vivid colors can be overwhelming on large surfaces). I did find some pinks that I thought would work: Rosewood, Pink panther, Rose Silk, Mauve Mist, Victoriana, Damask Rose, Hidden Sanctuary, and Hazy Lilac (more purple).

I've seen enough photos on here of kitchens with white cabinets, black countertops, and similar wall color to know that the black granite will look good. Just not sure it would give the look I'm going for....It's not a beach house, but I have been using beach inspired colors. Would the black still work? Or is going to come off as a farmhouse kitchen? While I know the lighter granite is light and airy, I just haven't been able to find a "white" enough granite that I love. I would like a mostly white piece with some brown and black speckling, I don't want a lot of movement. I thought the colonial white would work, even though it's not as white as I wanted, because it pulled the sand color into the kitchen.

Your cabinets are lovely, must you paint them? If you must, I agree with choosing something else first, such as the granite. If you're doing your backsplash too, perhaps go tile shopping. If you fall in love with something, it will help narrow down your paint choices. Easier to do it that way as paint choices are much larger than granite/ tile choices.