Hi. I'm getting a new granite countertop myself--it will be installed on Tuesday! So I have been doing lots and lots of looking at granite-- both in person (went to lots of warehouses) and in magazines. The trend is definitely toward lighter stone countertops, judging by what I see in the the magazines. (Carrera marble is also getting more popular in those designer kitchens, for some inexplicable reason. Marble is not practical in a kitchen, so many people are trying to imitate that look with certain granites, like white river. ) This trend toward lighter granite was verified by several granite sales people at the warehouses and fabricators I spoke with. Of course, this may be a regional thing. I live in Maryland, near D.C. , where everyone and his brother, it seems, is getting granite! Have you thought about checking out a lighter stone, like a cream or white? (such as Bianco romano, white shivakashi, Colonial Cream, white river, among others.)I am getting Harvest Cream, which is similiar to Colonial cream. It has a white or off-white background with lots of golden accents that pick up the color of my cabinets, and grey/black and taupe accents and a light sprinkling of garnet(burgandy) in there too. My cabinets are honey-spice maple (installed 10 years ago with a formica countertop). We did some minor remodeling that called for a new countertop--so I was so glad I didn't spend the big bucks for the corian that was so popular back then, and that I had an excuse to now get granite! I'm not sure how dark your "autumn" cabinets are, but you should try to have some contrast. If your cabinets are dark or medium dark, I think that a very light granite would provide a great contrast with your cabinets and darker floor, but that is just my personal opinion. Are you going for a traditional or contemporary look? Black tends to look "modern". If you do want a very dark countertop, I would think that a very dark brown would look better than black with your mocha floors(which I assume is a very dark brown.) You probably already have thought of this, but when you go to the granite warehouses to select your slab, bring a cabinet door and piece of your flooring to see how it all looks together. Another thing to consider is what you want on your backsplash. If you want a very "busy" stone or tile, then you should select a granite that would not look too busy, so the darker colors would work well for that, usually. I am going to go with a tumbled white travertine backsplash. If I went with anything busier, it would "fight" with my granite. Hope this helps. Hope this helps.

We have Kashmir White and River White--both are similar to the Cottage Cream depending on the slabs/lots. There can be a world of difference between them. The ones in our master bath look vastly different from the one in the laundry room. As far as staining goes, the granite needs to be sealed well. Spills should be cleaned up as they happen when at all possible. Any that sit and have penetrated the granite can be remedied with a poultice made of original blue Dawn dishwashing detergent and flour. We've been in our house 16 months and we're not the neatest people when cooking, we have kids so they are not the neatest when eating and I would not say we baby our granite or treat it any differently than we did our old laminate (other than the lesson learned from pie crusts-story below). I think just about everything has been spilled on the granite and the only problems we've had have been Crisco penetrating the granite (Note to self: Don't roll out 5 double pie crusts in row directly on the granite), and an incident with a Wal-Mart bag that was set down in a puddle of condensation from a glass and sat for a day or two. The water mixed with the blue dye from the logo penetrated the granite and left a blue circle about the diameter of a glass. We applied the poultice and it came right out. Hope this helps!

Oooh...nice pics everyone. Alexamd, your kitchen probably is the closest to mine as far as lighting goes and that granite doesn't look too dark at all. I like your backsplash too. Is that slate? I received my 12x12 sample of Cambria Bradford on Thu. My daughter (who never likes the same thing as me) actually liked it too. I took it with me to 2 more granite suppliers Fri so I could compare granites to it. All the ones I've liked are pretty dark. I gave my layout to a fabricator to get a quote on sapphire brown just to get an idea on the granite. Unfortunately, there aren't many places here that handle Cambria anymore because the company won't allow anyone in NC to fabricate it but them (in their facility in Charlotte). Presumably there's not enough money in just measuring, templating and installation to make it worth the local guys' time. I ordered a sample door from Scherr's yesterday. I should have done that a long time ago. I'm hoping it will darken up faster if I set it in the sun.

Hey Allison! I have studied your pics a zillion times!! I love your style--we have very much the same taste. In fact, I was looking for a F&B dealer after seeing your pics. Yours looks so awesome with it just being an island and with what you have in your kitchen. My concern is that I was wanting to do the entire cabinetry that way and there is a LOT of cabinetry in the room and I am afraid that would be too much French gray/blue/green. My multicolor slate floors are already in so I have to work with that. I also have a lot of greens in my house so I might lean slightly more greenish in the green/blue/gray for cabinetry if I was to do that. I am in such a quandary about what granite to pick and I am about to just chicken out and do the safe thing of cream cabinets since there are so many. Also, since I might be doing the slate up the wall and will have a different "rougher" look tan stone on the exterior wall, I am afraid to so my island a different color (although I have done this before) because there will be so much going on. Have looked at Kashmir White granite if I was to do the french gray look, or Verde Tunas (not my fave granite but it has the blue/green/gray mottled effect and it's kind of quiet for all I have going on) with the cream cabinets. I'll try to take some pics although they have covered up my floors with paper now and that's what I am trying to work with...,