You'll be fine either way, but the devil's in the details and the detail here is the hue. Your materials thus far are "warm" colors, and the darker granite is a "cool" group of colors, so a little less harmonious a choice. Between the two I'd probably pick the lighter one. If you really want dark, consider an absolute black granite. The solid color is a more neutral choice and will go with anything.

Good luck!

This post was edited by EAM44 on Wed, Oct 29, 14 at 22:39

If the floor tile is directly under the chunk of wood ... the lighter one. The darker granite is a cool blue-grey and clashes with the warm tones of the floor tiles.

Change tiles to a cool grey and use the dark one, or keep the tiles and use the warmer light one.

But if you keep that tile and use the darker granite you will NEVER find any paint that makes them both look good.

I agree that the one on the right is too cool to go with the floor tile.

When I enlarged the images I see a lot of warm tones in that gray countertop that I actually think go quite nicely with the floor. I like that they seem to go together without over matching which I think would be boring. I'm leaning toward the gray counter. With stainless steel appliances I agree that it will have a slightly more modern edge you seem to be going for.

I'd go with a solid color backsplash tile that picked up a light but warm tone from the counter to help them come together even more.

The tones in the darker counter look okay on my monitor, and I like the contrast. The counter sample on the left looks too close a match with the floor, which might make the room look uniform and bland.

I actually prefer the gray granite on the right. The one on the left is too much a match with the floor tile. I think though that I'd prefer a more solid pattern.

The left one --- unless there's some warm caramel, beige in the right one.
Now, if there's an IKEA where you are, look into their quartzes, especially during their sales. Last time I checked, they had a Caesarstone buttermilk quartz (for 39.00/sqft installed) which would give you the warm but still contemporary vibe.

i agree with others....not the one on the left, to much like the floor,, leaning to one on the right - only if there are warm tones in it....
the right one definitely gives off cool tones, if that's what u want than go for it....i also think it be will difficult to find a paint color to pull it all together...

FWIW, i would keep looking, i feel there are better choices out there...not a fan of the floor and granite combo.....

we have espresso cabs, love them!!!

I guess I dissent from the others. I like the one on the left and think the gorgeous wood of the cabinets will separate it from the floor and that will allow the three to tie in beautifully with each other.

Neither. The pattern of the granite on the left too closely resembles the floor. My girlfriend just did that in her guest bath, but with a laminate counter instead of granite. Unlike what others have said, it doesn't look boring to me. It looks dizzying. The granite on the right reads too cool to me.

Both granites are busy. The floor tile is already busy. Can you find a calmer counter stone?

I think the one on the left works well.

neither

Are you dead set on the floor? I am OK but not in love with the one on the right with the current floor choice, but the floor seems like an easier change. I'm with everyone who says the one in the left matches too closely. Then again, I guess mine match fairly closely, and it doesn't bother me. Maybe I just prefer darker counters. ;)

Thanks so much for all these fantastic replies. Wow, what a forum!

IKEA - The closest one is 2 hours away so I doubt they'd come to install counters, but wow, what fantastic quartz prices. I actually love the plain quartz patterns a lot, but locally the price was almost double of our $39 a square foot allowance. Crazy.

GREY - Some seem to feel it clashes too much, and others seem to feel it does help differentiate from the flooring...Some comments that it will meld with the stainless and blend well, look modern, others saying it will create too much clashing in the room. Tough one.

TAN - Some feel the espresso counters will help separate this from the floor, which we do agree is almost TOO spot on in color. For the poster (sportphnatic) who has espresso cabinets, would love to know more about counters.

I appreciate all of this, stuck with the floor though and the cabinet color, so counter is all we can change still - The more solid looks seem to pull us to quartz. I do worry about being too bland with the two browns, or too clashy with the greys. Any other suggestions on color hues we can look for at the granite place?

Thanks again everyone, all your responses mean a lot!

FLOOR - Unfortunately it's installed and we're stuck with it. Our flooring guy sort of made the choices for us here, we're a little disappointed we didn't get more to work with in regards to the tile over all else.

Here's a photo of the kitchen with floor. Enlarge it to get a good look. There are two more large bay windows just to the right out of frame, too.

Kitchen Floor: http://www.imgur.com/r7VaWHs.jpg

And better resolution with the stones.

Lighter one: http://i.imgur.com/OleO8Em.jpg

Darker one: http://www.imgur.com/REfaZS0.jpg

Thanks!

This post was edited by bbddpp on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 8:19

Hopefully the newer larger images help some of you on the fence give me a better analysis...Nothing offends me so please be honest! If we are totally off the mark and can look at some other granite shades that you think might work better, please let me know and we'll do that tomorrow!

I would love to find a less busy quartz (but what color?) though I think everywhere local is going to be out of our price range (around $40 a sqft).

Hi OP....
we went with sedna/magma supreme granite
if u email me i can send u some pics....
poohpup has same granite as me....

In the larger photo, you can see that your floor has some terra cotta areas. The pink granite now appears more gold, so it clashes with the orange in the floor. I don't think a speckley granite is the solution, and since quartz is out of your budget, I would look at solid laminates. I'd try a warm gray since there are flecks of gray in the floor. It will bring a cooler element, but not so cold as the black and gray granite sample. Or I'd look for a greige laminate in the tone of Caesarstone Buttermilk as suggested. I have a similar quartz with natural cherry cabinets and it'd look great with your darker cherry.

I'm curious how the tile guy got to pick out your flooring.

This post was edited by may_flowers on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 16:19

Yeah, so are we...Then again we were fairly green during the building process (almost wish this was our SECOND custom build, not our first) and the flooring guy seems like he goes with a set few things and sticks with them. We probably should have pushed harder with the tile or at least tried to pick counter and cabinet first THEN tile. It certainly seems like this tile has put us in a really weird spot as far as the counter goes.

We absolutely love quartz, just can't seem to find a price that works for us. Obviously Ikea's $40 price would be absolutely dream come true, but the big boxes like Lowes and Home Depot, even on sale, are coming in around 60 or 70 with theirs, which puts us quite a bit over on cost.

We noticed the gold in the photos as well...Though some who have seen it it person like the way the gray piece mixes with the cabinet color and feel it does pick up a little of the floor as well. Hoping maybe the grey might be our winner though I do worry about coordinating backsplash and paint if we go that route. Ugh.

On my monitor, looking at the larger photos, the gray looks like it works just fine with your cabinets and floor. It's a very pretty stone btw!

Thanks for that. As days wear on we're gravitating towards the grey as well. Hoping to get a meeting with counter guy soon so we can talk backsplash as we do worry about continuity but overall it seems like the best of the two.

I have some regrets that we didn't get a more versatile floor color to work with granite, but I still think we will be ok.

I'd call up IKEA and ask who their fabricators are --- they do work with local fabricators, some of whom may cover a large area, kind of like their kitchen installers. At least in my area, the countertop infabricators cover three states.

I'll give that a try. Doesn't hurt to ask! Thanks everyone, really love this forum. Backup plan I think is still the darker pattern given that the prevailing color will still be the upper and lower cabinets (there will be a lot of them), with fingers crossed that it's going to work.

We checked out prices at the local big boxes over the weekend, really liked the Apline White from Silestone but even on sale it's still around $67 a square foot.

Are those your only granite choices?