We have natural hickory cabinets, Formica's FX180 Corbeau Montana countertops, and a coordinating flooring with green & tan undertones. The house is open concept, so the living room, dining room, and kitchen are all open to eachother. Usually I would paint the entire area an earthy green (think along the lines of sage but a little more...earthy & organic looking), and this would look fantastic with the rustic maple flooring we will have in the living/dining area (very light with darker streaks running through it). But I'm wondering if this green would totally clash with the countertops in the kitchen corner? What do you think?

That's pretty!! We have Smoke Quarstone at my desk and in my sewing area, which is a nice variegated, dark slate gray, but it's not as real-stone looking as the Basalt Slate or the Corbeau Montana seems to be.

You can also buy the formica in sheets, you can install it over old formica. I couldn't stand our original formica counters in the house we bought so I bought a few sheets of formica 180 (different pattern than above) and the contact cement for it and diy while I decide my kitchen layout. Biggest thing is making sure the surface you are glueing to is roughed up and not shiny. I went over the original counter with a belt sander since there were still shiny areas. Lowes was cheaper than Home Depot here in NJ. So far I am really impressed. I am not planning to keep it so I am not being extra careful and I am actually liking it. Dh has managed to set some hot things on it, my MIL cut sweet potatoes up on it before I had a chance to give her a cutting board and no damage to the formica. It has surprised me in a good way.

My laminate counters were put in when I re-did the kitchen in 1991. They aren't white, but they look just as good as the day they were installed. Back then, what you see under the quartzite sample in the photo below was a perfect match to Deer Isle granite. I wanted to do a face-lift for the kitchen now and wanted to get the Formica fx180 laminate in 'Calacatta Marble' as it's SO realistic looking. So, I had a large sample of that, which is mostly white, see link below, and I went at that with a big sharp knife. I am amazed that I could see a few tiny scratches for a while, and they 'healed up' overnight. I looked at it again the next morning, and they couldn't be seen or felt. I DID elect to go with Fantasy Brown quartzite, because that Formica with the ogee edge I wanted cost as much as some granites, etc. I bet that the quartzite won't be as worry-free as that laminate has been for 24 years. Here is a link that might be useful: Formica 180fx calacatta marble