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Cherry cabinets, but which granite would be best for the counters

14 years ago

We knocked down our entire house due to mold and have rebuild it. We are rebuilding most of it ourselves as my husband is from a family of contractors. Unfortunately, we are all great worker bees, but not great creative bees. We have put in cherry cabinets, but are at a loss as to which granite to use for the island and countertops. The kitchen is somewhat on the dark side, so I don't want to go too dark, and I'm not a real earthtone person. (My favortie colors are blue and yellow and all my furnishings and accesories are those colors too.) What am I to do? Any ideas? I am really at a loss and I am at crunch time. Please help!

Featured Answer

mcraney

14 years ago

Wendy, I am so sorry your daughter was so sick. I know she was glad you were able to fly down and be with her. I hope she is beginning to feel more like herself.

Your family has been through a lot with the mold problem, related illnesses and having to tear down and rebuild your home. I hope that life becomes more normal for you and your family.

We are going with cherry cabinets in a kitchen with a southern exposure and mature trees blocking a lot of the light. We are planning on bianco lavender granite.

The attached link is not the best representation of bianco lavender; but it was the best I could find. I did not get the gene that our wonderful GW friend Boxerpups has.

If you click on the thumbnail for the bianco lavender you will get a larger sample. It has creamy white background with gray and green specks and gorgeous garnets. Some slabs have lots of streaks of dark gray and/or black.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bianco Lavender Granite

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Comments (18)

tabteacher
14 years ago
Hi---I will be watching for answers too, since I am in the same boat. What shade of cherry? How about some golden tones for granite?
Good luck!
tateland
14 years ago
Hi
I have natural cherry and my granite is called uba tuba. It is a dark black with some carmel, blues and specs of white. I love it It is usually called a craftsman style with the dark granite contrast
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Hi all, I am putting new flooring in my condo for my kitchen/dining area/living room, which are all part of one big room, essentially. I'm currently leaning toward using wood-look tile (the flooring is being replaced because of a flood that started two units above mine, so the thought of flooring that won't be ruined if this happens again is particularly appealing). I'm having trouble figuring out what color flooring would work best with the design of the kitchen, which unfortunately isn't changing much because of the cost. The kitchen has dark cherry wood cabinets and black granite countertops, so I'm looking to try to lighten things up a bit. Any suggestions? I'm also repainting the walls, and would love paint color suggestions as well! Here's a picture of the kitchen. This picture is from before I bought the condo, so the counters are less cluttered and I don't have a rug in there. You can't tell from this picture, but the left side of the kitchen is open to the dining area. As part of this process, I am planning to take down the black granite backsplash and replace it with something lighter, but can't afford to do new counter tops or cabinets (and don't want to paint the cabinets I have). Here's a picture from the rest of the room (taken from the entryway, with the kitchen on my right). This is also from before I owned the place, but gives you an idea of what the room is like. I hate the dark crown molding and baseboards, so will be making those white. Here's a picture of part of the dining area and living room now. It's not a great picture, but will hopefully give you an idea of the current decor.
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ice1
14 years ago
Go for one of the white granites , I have the kasmir white and love it. but have seen other that are also white ,google white granit and see what comes up. I have a friend that has kasmir white with oak and it is beautiful.
weissman
14 years ago
Blue pearl goes well with cherry but it is dark.
boxerpups
14 years ago
Here are some ideas.......

A cherry in the lighter brown shade
Stacey Collins
14 years ago
boxerpups has the most amazing collection of inspiration pics!!!

I had the same dilemma (cherry cabinets and a dark kitchen). My cabinets are natural cherry, but they are already darkening considerably. Although I love the look of dark grey counters with cherry -I would have loved to use soapstone!- it just would have been way too dark. I needed something white-ish.

I eventually settled on marble (cause it was what really spoke to me at the stone warehouses) but there were several light granites I considered. I nearly went with Honed Kashmir White. Someone on this board has a gorgeous granite called Andromeda White, which I could not get locally. Someone else found one called White Princess (I think?) that is also beautiful.

In medium tones, I also considered:
Ocean Green
Costa Esmerelda
Costa Esmerelda Rose

Good luck!! We are also almost entirely DIY, and about to start gutting one end of our house due to mold. WE're not sure where the mold is, yet, but it smells horrendous and is making me very sick. WE're taking the siding off today to start investigating. I'd be interested to hear your experience with it!

Stacey
tabteacher
14 years ago
Has anyone used Volga Blue granite with a cabinet that is darker cherry with a slight red tint? Picture?
Thanks.
boxerpups
14 years ago
Here are a few Volga Blue

Internatinal stone

Mahognay cabinets from GW Muscat's kitchen

more from International stone

Jupiter Granites
wlkr
Original Author
14 years ago
Wow! So many good ideas and great pics.Sorry it took so long to get back but my daughter just got back from Costa Rica. She was there for a study abraod to learn Spanish but got Swine Flu, Pneumonia and 106 fever. We flew down for a week while she was in the hospital, but they kept her for 2 more weeks. I hope this helps answer the mold question. When the mold enters your body, your immune system is compromised. I hae since had 4 sinus operations. My children and I no longer make IgA, IgM and some IgG subclass antibodies and get sick very easily. We now get infusions of IVIG every 3 weeks. If you have mold in your house, get rid of it NOW! The lifelong effects are not worth any amount of money and the infusions themselves run ~$4,000 per infusion (thank god for insurance). Anyway, the pictures have helped me narrow down my choices, the very dark granites wouldn't work because it would make the kitchen too dark (and I would never see the ants crawling).

I like both granites from the first two pictures that Boxer pups posted, although my cabinets are more the color of the pic with the wine and glasses.

I will have to check out the Kashmir White and other light whites and greens.

What about the backsplash? Any suggestions?

Also, any ideas about using onyx on one of the 5 bathrooms I need to get going on. My husband is pushing me to make quick decisions and I wish you could all come here and help!
remodelfla
14 years ago
The Kashmir White is beautiful. If you want to go whiteish (which would be my choice as well); also look at Bianco Romano. It has darker garnet flecks which should look great with cherry. Also, since you like blues and yellows; what about Yellow River? The slabs vary greatly (some are darker earth toned); but if you find the right slab, it has GORGEOUS blue rivers running through it. If you do a search you should be able to find some great examples.
wlkr
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you, I will check it out tomorrow. I also saw Typhoon Bordeaux on another site and will look at that too. Thanks, and I will let you know what I come up with.
bostonpam
14 years ago
I'm getting a shade darker than natural cherry for my cabinets and I'm very drawn to Typhoon Bordeaux. I think they will look great together.
wlkr
Original Author
14 years ago
I am more confused than ever. I really like the bianco romano but hubby thinks it may be too boring. I also like the Labradorite Verde, but the designer said that many times it looks too Christmas-y, and we'll get tired ot it. We went today and saw the Crema Bordeaux, but the colors were almost in stripes, beautiful for an island, but for the slabs that need to be cut up, it will look like different granite pieces on different counters.

Any more suggestions?

Wendy
wlkr
Original Author
14 years ago
That granite is beautiful. I've never seen it before. I live in the Orange County, CA area. Do you happen to know any dealers in the LA area that carry it?

Thanks,
Wendy
mcraney
14 years ago
I did a quick search on the kitchen forum and found that "jan_ jan" lives on the Orange California coast. You might try starting a new post with the subject line something like this: jan_ jan where did you find your granite or Where to find granite in Orange County, CA.

I am attaching a link to jan_jan's thread where she is showing her gorgeous white granite.

Good luck!

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: jan_jan's granite
kathysdh
14 years ago
Wlkr
We just got our granite installed today, and I was also worried about darker granite with stained cherry cabinets. We looked at dozens of gold tones, but non really struck a cord. We decided on subtle gold tones on the floor and a granite that we immediately fell in love with - creme bordeaux. Some salmon, tans and rust with a lot of movement. Love the way it ties the golds from the floor and dark burgandy from the cherry together. Here's a picture for reference.

Were not done yet, but we have found that with appropriate lighting, the kitchen doesn't seem dark at all, and during the day, plenty of light.
Basil50
13 years ago
Kathysdh I love your colors. I'm to GW but am finding it very helpful. We are gutting out kitchen to the studs and have decided on a darker stain for cherry cabinets (Decora Cherry with Arlington finish). I love crema Bordeaux and have just seen some granite called oceanic bordeaux which is very much like the CB. I was concerned that it would be dark but after looking at your pictures.... I think it is perfect... love your kitchen!!

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