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please help w/granite for maple/mocha glaze cabs and cherry floor

15 years ago

Hello,

I'm having trouble deciding on a granite for our newly installed cabinets and not-yet-installed cherry floor. I don't want the kitchen to be too dark, so I want to avoid the blacks, but I don't really care for the super light granites either. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!

Featured Answer

twobengalsandme

15 years ago

Jules,

I wouldn't completely discount the darker granites, either. The relative brightness of the room is set more by the vertical surfaces than the horizontal. Also, with your stainless and black appliances, a dark granite might look good. My kitchen is maple cabinets, fir floors, and the granite is Maron Cohiba, really dark brown with embedded gold flakes and a lot of depth.

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Comments (8)

remodelfla
15 years ago
Depends on if you like movement or a quite stone...
I couldnt' get the pic to imbed but check out this site. You can play with stones and cab colors to get a feel. I thought of the paradiso if you like a granite with alot of movement.

Here is a link that might be useful: granite colors
marybeth1
15 years ago
I saw a really pretty granite today called nevada gold that might work for you
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I think I would try changing out the hardware and painting the background wall color above the cabs something dark like a rich chocolate brown. Or a deeper green. That would allow the lighter cabnets to really pop and take center stage. If that doens,t make enough of a change in the room for you then glazing may just be the right thing to do. I think with those cabs glazing could well be the answer your looking for if they were done with a base color thats opposite on the color wheel it would really help to cut the orange your not liking and glazing would be a easier option than a major allover color change. To get a solid color change that matchs on that many cabs would be more difficult then a glaze. I would def. try painting that upper background color first though. I think it would give that kitchen the pop of color it needs to really stand out.
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mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
15 years ago
How about Yellow River? Excuse the white lines on it for templating.

Here it is with my maple cabs
jules1906
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks all for the recommendations. I do like a granite w/movement. Today I came across a granite that I absolutely LOVED, called Cream (or Crema) Bordeaux. The particular slabs I saw had swirls of cranberry and bluish gray with a slight green color, in addition to the light brown/beige.

Is it okay to go w/a granite that is a similar color to the cabinets yet has other colors involved? Also, I don't have much counter space to cover other than a 60-inch island. There will only be three small pieces to cover against the walls. I'm kind of afraid that when they cut the template they won't get all the same colors in each piece, making it look like a different granite on each piece. Make sense? I love this granite b/c I think it would incorporate the colors in my family room which is open to the kitchen.

Thanks again for your help! I do like the colors that were recommended and also saw a slab of Yellow River, but I think it was too yellow.
jules1906
Original Author
15 years ago
I'm sorry for posting twice on this, I'm just figuring out tonight how this site really works! Here are some photos if it helps. (I don't know how to make them smaller.) Thanks so much again!!

Granites from left to right: Cream Bordeaux, Giallo Ornamental, New Venetian Gold, Caledonia
homey_bird
15 years ago
From the ones that you show, Giollo Ornamental would be my choice. The reason? Because when you add cherry flooring and when couple of years later, it has been darkened, if you chose a darker shade of granite (like Crema Bordeaux) then it would compete with Cherry. A Giollo Ornamental would keep the color effect uniform. From what I can see the other two simply do not match in terms of shades/hues.

Yet, I also want to add that it would be a mistake to make that decision from the swatches. It would be better to take a floor sample and a cabinet door sample to the granite yard and check which slab is more suitable.
jazzyb
15 years ago
OMG! twobengalsandme...i love your kitchen.

Our narrowed down choices are very similar to yours. Our floor is a Santos Mahagony and I love the Maron Cohiba (is it the same as antique brown?). If so, that is what we selected. The only problem is finalizing the stain on our maple cabinets. I was thinking a stain in between natural maple and honey maple. Our kitchen doesn't have too much light, so we don't want to pick really dark cabinets. Also, I find that natural maple lacks the warmth that I am looking for.

Are your cabinets a natural maple?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thx
Jasmine

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