Black, your kitchen needs grounding and also there appears to be a hint of black in your countertops which will look so great. I think your kitchen is very charming and stainless steel might take that charming look to a more sleek look.

Hi Amberley -- Thank you or your kind words. It is an old-house renovation/addition. We bumped out the back for the kitchen, family room, mudroom and butler pantry. The upstairs is over the new garage and we added closets, bedroom and baths upstairs there. We really tried to make it consistent with an old house and have a fair share of crooked hallways, which I find charming, due to funky walls and funny chimneys. Once a few more things are done and before the boxes arrive I'll post a more pictures. I love love love the marble and hope you find a way to make it work. I too was put off by the 'grayness' in carrara -- but the calacatta d'oro is just like creamy ice cream colored and the veining doesn't 'bleed' or color the surrounding areas like carrara does. Sewer gas is horrid --during the renovation we found out that our toilet hadn't been vented. It explained a whole lot of issues we'd had with it -- sewer gas being one of them. Good luck with that mess. Have you tried calling fabricators directly? We had to buy slabs and couldn't cut off a chunk so maybe a fabricator would have a scrap from a previous job that you could use for your baking area. I managed to get enough 'left-over' from the kitchen/bath/butler pantry to use for the laundry room so there is hope. ahne b

sarapamela, are the "dove white" "white dove" colors getting mixed in your mind? I know they do mine! What brand are you talking about? I know SW AND BM have one and the other. But, what is "dove white" at BM is not like "white dove", or did I mix that up too? One brand is creamier, one is whiter. I have SW dove white (or is it white dove) on my trim, and it seems a lot whiter to me than BM other. Is that confusing enough? I'm very anxious to hear what color/brand you go with, I'm in the process of choosing as well. But I DID notice that in your first post, you called it BM's white dove, and then in the choice post, you called it dove white. So, is there a difference in choice? Or just words? LOL Crazy paint makers and their names!

All are beautiful. I just wish I had 17 kitchens to use all the stone I love. But, I would go with number 2. I love the gray/taupe colors personally, but it is more than that. Number one does nothing for the white cabinet -- it doesn't have the stark contrast of a soapstone or AB and doesn't have any white to play off of. The cabinets just look flat. On the island, #1 would blend with the color of the cabinet, brown on brown, versus the compliment that #2 would do for both cabinet colors. Number three is really blush - I would stay away from that - it doesn't do anything for either cabinet color. Again, you are picking from three beautiful natural stones, so you can't go wrong. Which one do you love first thing in the morning, which one will you love in 10 years, not always the same... :)