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Having trouble deciding the color of my island

13 years ago

I'll start by saying we're going to have dark, hand-scraped wood throughout the whole first floor, including the kitchen. I am planning on having white, shaker style cabinetry on all 3 walls of the kitchen, but thought a darker wood (possibly mahogany, dark coffee color) island would be a nice contrast. We're going to have lighter granite counters, so I thought it would contrast well with the island.

Our kitchen designer said there needs to be some differentiation between the floor and the island, or it will look stupid.

I have no idea what I'm doing, so I don't know if she's right or not, but I thought I'd really like the look of it. I know if we had a lighter, tile floor it wouldn't be an issue, but there's no way of making an easy transition from wood to tile with the way our floorplan is so open.

Any thoughts? Picutres? Suggestions?

I also thought of doing a light/sage colored island and using a baltic brown granite to tie it all together, but I'm afraid I'll get tired of something like that after a couple of years. I'm trying to stay as neutral and traditional as possible. Thanks so much!

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Comments (2)

rookie_2010
13 years ago
Hi Christy,
White cabinets with a stained island definitely doesn't look stupid! Even with wood floors. I also wanted to do that so I studied many Christopher Peacock kitchens to determine what made it work so well. It seems like there is, at the very least, a 2 shade contrast between the floor and the island. I ended up going with white on my island after all only because I didn't have my floor selection nailed when I ordered my cabs.
All white cabinets look beautiful and the contrast between them and the wood floor is lovely but a stained wood island brings a lot of warmth to a white kitchen.
Try taking a look at www.peacockcabinetry.com and if you haven't looked at www.houzz.com yet, try it. There are at least hundreds of pictures of white kitchens there.

[eclectic kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104)

Green Island

[contemporary kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by san francisco interior designer Amoroso Design
segbrown
13 years ago
Look at lots of possibilities for painting it. I have similar finishes (dark floors, white cabinets) and we went with a taupe/gray island. I really like it. I hope we don't get tired of it, lol -- but it is a neutral color, and it's a little different than the standard stained island with white cabinets (which is a classic look, nothing wrong with it, there's a reason it's popular). I saw a kitchen similar to mine with a deep navy island, and I was a bit envious.
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