With this granite I'd think about black or some kind of sage neutral green.

Pretty spectacular piece of stone.

I wouldn't do black, and as has been discussed in multiple threads recently, deciding that one busy element requires everything else be neutral often leads to unsuccessful rooms. That said, do you think you might consider green cabinets? They might be a good counterpoint to the two other woods in the room and ground the green countertop.

As far as woods go--that is a practical rather than theoretical question. You need to look at the actual cabinet lines you are considering and see what woods and finishes are offered.

Thank you. I know that no one can really help me here, I have to see the woods, or colours, next to the granite. The problem is, my granite samples are small and I want to hone the granite which changes the colour somewhat. I am agreed that black won't work, partly because I see the context of the rest of my house - there is no black and every time I try it, it looks so stark.

I will definitely want some wood in the kitchen and will keep to very simple slab cabinets, but may also choose a blue-grey or green-grey for the cabinets on the islands. With this granite and the colours that I see through the windows, I feel that I cannot go "neutral", what I need is a happy balance, so that no particular element overwhelms. Having said that, this granite does make a statement!

I wonder if anyone can answer this question: I would like to find a wood that is naturally a medium brown colour with minimal grain, or a wood with little grain that takes a stain well, so that way I can stain it the perfect(?!) colour.

Thanks, as always, for your opinions.
Carol

Maple has the least grain of the woods I have looked at. Alder and birch have less grain than cherry, but more than maple. I am having a hard time finding a medium brown stain in a semi-custom line. The standard woodtones are often too gold, too orange, or dulled to a greyed brown. Plain and Fancy cabinetry has a nice medium brown stain called "Heirloom," but P&F is out of my price range. You really need to find a cabinet color that will let your granite take the stage. Good Luck!

a gray stain on maple is pretty and would look nice with your cabs.

I've always liked maple but assumed it would be too light in colour. Will maple take a dark stain as well as a colour?

Carol,

I love natural wood and did lots of research before picking my red birch. Look for carpentry and woodworking sites, and talk to people in the industry.

What I learned: Maple is a closed grain wood and does not readily take stain at all. There are certain gel-stains that do not penetrate the wood that work well with maple. (I am not talking about the "antiquing" or distressed-corners kind of gel.) There are certain wood conditioners that can *help* maple take a stain. But we had two carpenters tell us that staining maple is not ideal and strongly dissuaded us from it.

Alder is a great hardwood for taking stain well, and unless you get the rustic alder, it is not overly pronounced grain. It is somewhat softer on the hardness scale and may take a few more nicks. Personally, given your granite and your look, I think that would be a great choice. We have bookcases in alder, stained to match a cherry armoire. They look great.

Do some google images of rift-cut oak and quarter-sawn oak. Somehow those feel like a good fit to me; maybe others will disagree on this one. Also check the finished kitchen blog on this site to see those woods.

Finally, consider a local cabinet maker and then you are not as limited in what you choose.

Thanks colorfast, good advise. I do plan on getting the cabinets made locally and have been to a couple of shops. I will look for alder. Because I am going with flat panel cabinets, it seems that everyone uses veneers for stability. And there are lots of choices out there for veneers, including exotic woods. I saw a veneer today that was quarter-sawn walnut, lovely warm brown colour and narrow grained, like quarter-sawn oak. I will keep looking, to see all the choices.

Has anyone heard of or used a product called eco-wood? It is real wood made into veneers that look like other species of wood, ie mahogany, teak, oak, etc? It looked like a pretty good product, sustainably produced, but it feels strange to buy "fake" wood when I live in British Columbia!

I was thinking maple might work. My island is maple and I really like the color of the brown. Its dark brown, but not red. I can't find my stain/color on the brookhaven website, but the island on the front web page is the same color. Could that work?

The granite is gorgeous!

Here is a link that might be useful: brookhaven dark brown color

Wow, what a beautiful piece of granite. Love the green in there. I'm kinda in the grey or sage grey/green paint crowd. It feels like that spectacular granite marbling (or whatever it's called) could totally pop with lighter painted cabs Man, that's so gorgeous, it reminds me of one of those shuttle pictures of the oceans from space. I'm not even a huge granite fan but that's just crazy beautiful.

Love that granite - what is the name of it? I've never seen it before. I'm also in the pale green or gray camp. I think it would really give an outdoors feel and if you already have the wood floors...

I have maple with a medium stain -- it looks great. I don't think there was a problem with the maple "taking" the stain.

Have you checked out Daicey's kitchen? I posted the link for you below. Hers are cherry with a pecan stain. I thought they would look great with your granite. On the maple taking stain--I would think that if it did not stain well, the major cabinet manufacturers would not use it as often as they do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Daicey's Kitchen

Thanks everyone. The granite is called Green Peace. One of the wholesalers who carries it calls it a quartzite, the other says it is granite. I am trying to decide between two different pieces, this one, and one in another shop that has a fair amount of brown in it. The one with the brown is definitely easier to match with brown toned cabinets. The one shown here, not so much. Both have strong chartreuse veins which don't go well with yellow and red toned stains. I will have a look at some colour chips and think about giving up my idea of natural wood cabinets, or more likely, a combination of the two, colour on the islands, wood on the perimeter.

Does anyone have pictures of quarter sawn walnut?

maple can be stained, but you need to have someone do it that knows what they are doing. Sanding correctly is an absolute must. There are many ways to apply depending on the look you want..stain brushed on, wiped off or wiped on, brushed off, ect. I've read to many posts here that state that maple can't be stained without it looking blotchy...not true.

I should qualify where I heard this information. I had two reputable independent cabinet makers tell me that. One of them had stained maple with the supposedly correct conditioners in the past and still wasn't happy with his results so he wouldn't stain maple anymore. The woodworking websites I read were used primarily by similar size contractors.

What I am wondering is maybe the large cabinet companies are able to stain maple more effectively? The mass quantities/assembly line is more efficient? Products or equipment used? Hope this makes sense.

Just seeing Redhead47 and Daicey's warm wood kitchens has me now confused again since I love both cherry and off-white kitchens. I wish my kitchen was bigger so I could do both.