I feel so shaky about stepping out and giving any advice since I'm so new here, but I think it all boils down to personal preference. What you're describing sounds beautiful to me! OTOH, our kitchen will have white shaker perimeter cabs, soapstone tops, and a stained wood island, also with soapstone. (We will have one run of countertop in carrara marble). That sounds beautiful to me, too - at least for the moment! ;o)

Honestly, I don't think the white island will be a problem with the floor - after all, your perimeter cabs will be sitting on the same floor, right? *My* only hesitation with what you're describing would be the beadboard, simply because I'm on beadboard overload. But again, it's a matter of personal preference. If the kitchen in your head is the one you've been dreaming of, I say quit the second-guessing and move forward with gusto! :o)

(Now if only I could take my own advice...)

I defnitely am no expert either.....but my opinion is to keep the white island with the carrera and do shaker instead of beadboard. If you do the dark island,light top and light perimiter,dark top it might get too busy with the checkerboard floor. Too many opposites.

But let's hear what others say.....I have second guessed every decision I've made!

It sounds beautiful. Do you have any inspiration pictures we could see to help with the decision?

Thanks, worldmom and positano. I'm with both of you on the beadboard - that concern was actually what prompted this post. Originally, all the perimeter cabs were going to be white beadboard with soapstone tops, and the island was black raised panel with a marble top. Then the designs came in from the KD and I started getting dizzy from seeing those stripes in the beadboard everywhere. Plus, I had already decided I didn't like the "opposite" thing with the black island, white marble top, so I changed to white shaker cabs on the perimeter and a white island but with beadboard cabs to make it stand out a little. This was fine, until we changed the solid color wood floor to a checkerboard pattern on the diagonal - now I fear the pattern in the door style will compete with the pattern in the floor. Positano, I'm totally with you on the "opposites" thing - I far prefer tone on tone, but I'm not willing to give up either my beloved soapstone or my beloved marble! So I will probably go with white shaker cabs on the island as well but as I said most photos I've seen of the checkerboard floor include a stained wood island. There is a great photo of a Peacock kitchen with this design on a website called willowdecor.blogspot; I don't know how to provide the link, though.

i think the stained wood island sounds better than white, especially with a marble top.

Are these the pictures?

If that is your picture, I like it with the stained island. Your right it really ties the floor in, which is gorgeous.

Hi victoriajane,

I believe it was me that initially suggested the beadboard and the stained island. I'm still loving the idea of the stained island -

The white on white is really difficult to mesh and many times it comes out looking a bit off.

Depends on the marble but white cabs with a marble top can look a little washed out. In terms of colour blocking the island in the picture reverses the colour blocking on the perimeter (light cabs become dark and dark top become light) for a bit of contrast. I'm sure keeping the island the same with the light top would be fine but you are eliminating a lot of the contrast that gives the kitchen in the posted image its' character\feel.

I really think that your original plan will look beautiful. I actually think the stained island in the picture sort of blends in with the floor more than I like.

I also think that if you have beadboard on the island and if that is the only place you have it, it won't be too busy.

We have beadboard in just one two places in our kitchen -- on the wall under the peninsula and in the back of an open shelf. We have a very strong floor, saltillo on a diagonal, and the beadboard really doesn't look that busy at all. I don't have a good picture of how the beadboard looks againt the floor, but here's the beadboard:

And here is the floor:

If you click on the picture, you can see other pictures of my kitchen. We have a lot of different elements, and I was really afraid that it would be too much (and you might think they are) but we are really happy with how it came out.

I also agree with Jeannie and Positano's original reaction...I like your original plan. I think there's something fresh and beautiful about an all-white kitchen. I don't think beadboard would be too busy...are you going with thick beadboard or thin beadboard though? I think plain white shaker for the island would be a safe bet...not sure about the beadboard. I wouldn't hesitate about it normally, but with a checkerboard floor....

When I saw the Christopher Peacock kitchen that Positano posted, I didn't like the look of the stained island with the checkerboard floor. I don't like how the island ties in to the dark checkers on the floor - it feels like the island and floors tie in too much together while the white kitchens with soapstone are in another direction.

I know this photo isn't exactly what yours will look like, but you can see a slice of a black-and-white checkerboard floor (I know yours will be stained wood), and yours will have soapstone around the perimeter and it doesn't look too busy at all.

{{!gwi}}

Maybe someone could photoshop a white island in the picture I posted.

Agree that the stained wood island ties into the checkerboard floor and makes it seem too separate from the perimeter. I think your all white with marble sounds stunning. (Apparently it is a successful formula for Christopher Peacock ;) I probably would stick w/the shaker cab style for the island as well with the checkerboard floor. Do you have any backsplash areas that could have beadboard, like a hutch?

Goes without saying you should do what works for you and what one person likes another won't but to me the picture redroze posted is very sterile. I prefer the approach of someone like Sara Richardson from Design Inc. who loves to work with whites, creams and soft grays but layers them and uses colour for punch.To me this is the kind of kitchen that has that operating theatre kind of feel. Lovely but not the warm feeling I would want in a kitchen - but that kitchen would be at my house so it isn't remotely relevant to what you want in your house. Excellent example of how much switching out the island makes such a dramatic difference - though you will be using soapstone on the perimeter which should produce a less sterile feel.

Vive la differance

Victoria, I don't know how to use photoshop but I found these 2 christopher peacock kitchen pics and if you can superimpose them in your mind with the soapstone perimeters and the marble island, maybe it will help. I think whatever you decide, your kitchen is going to be incredible. I think it is going to end up being your personal preference in the end, as you really have no bad options.

I don't think making the floor two toned requires you to stain the island anymore than having a monochrome wood floor would. I LOVE stained checkerboard wood floors and think it will look fabulous. I can't wait to see your kitchen when it's done.

I'd actually say that neither choice would be optimal (for me) and that you should reexamine your "mission statement" with each design element to clarify your vision.

Yes, the checkerboard stained floor is "busy", but checkerboard is timeless. It also introduces the only warm tone into the kitchen palette that you're planning, and is a major design statement by itself, forcing other elements into the background. In the inspiration pic, it's a warm element that works well because it echoes the warm woodsy feel of the window and the island. Now, a cool and serene kitchen is as wonderful and timeless as is a warm and cozy kitchen, but mixing the two is difficult, indeed almost impossible, to do. In the all white cool and serene type kitchens, the floors usually recede into the background. THey're neutrals, and usually dark, to let the white "float". This is one reason that doing a white kitchenis difficult. You really have to balance the starkness of that white with other warm elements, or you really run with the white and use it for everything.

Right now, your proposed design is caught in the middle of the "warm white" and "cool white" type of kitchen. If it were my kitchen, and I wanted a warmer type look, I'd keep the floor and do a painted island in something like sage green or red or a warm espresso. If I were going for the "cool white" kitchen, I'd ditch the floor, or take it into the ebony and grey stained tones rather than the warm wood tones, and go with a cool black island or french grey/blue to echo the veins in the marble.

But, it's not my kitchen. It's yours. I just think that you may need to decide that while you love some elements for their uniqueness, they may not work the best with what your ultimate statement will be. Or, change your statement to better reflect your choices and then be guided by that for your aesthetic. Right now, it feels as though you are putting together a collage of individual elements that you love rather than creating a whole picture by selectively choosing those elements with the whole picture in mind.

I totally sympathize with what you're going through. I dawdled and agonized for weeks over the color of my island, whether to keep it white like my perimeter cabinets, or stain it dark. I'm also doing marble, but on both areas. I love the look of white on white. I don't find it sterile at all, rather I find it clean, fresh and timeless. In the end, I decided to follow my favorite Christopher Peacock inspiration kitchen and stain the island dark. But I still think I would have been happy with either choice. I can't wait to see which way you decide to go!

A few more stunning white on white islands:

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

After reading live wire oak's posting, I'm inclined to agree with her. I think you might want to delay signing a day or two and clarify your vision for your kitchen. The checkerboard floor is throwing a different element into your original vision and I think that is why you are having doubts about your choice of cabinet color.

If the pics Positano posted are your inspiration and the look that you love, than you should go w/the checkerboard floors with the stained island and ignore those of us who didn't care for it. If the white kitchen is your vision, more along the Christopher Peacock look, than I would not do the checkerboard floor, but go with a plainer hardwood flooring look as in the other pics posted or maybe the checkerboard tile like Erika posted. Take some time figure out what you like, because it is going to be your kitchen and months from now when you are posting more on the Cooking forum than the Kitchens forum ;), you've got to be comfortable and feel at home in your kitchen.

Thank you so much for all your comments. They are incredibly helpful. Live wire oak, your thoughts on warm and cool tones and especially re-examining my mission statement were very thought-provoking. As some of you may remember, I set out to create a kitchen that was "vintage with a hint of industrialism." I really like the idea that two seemingly incongruous styles can co-exist peacefully in a single kitchen. Thus, I have the white painted inset cabs and the soapstone and marble tops for the vintage ,and the industrial lighting, stainless steel pro-type appliances and commercial style faucets for the industrial. So far, I think it works. I think the checkerboard floor would add to the vintage feel, as well as a warm tone that I think the room needs. But does it clash with the rest of the room, which clearly has cool tones with all the white , marble, and stainless steel (though I'm hoping the soapstone will read as warm), or does it provide an unexpected but welcome contrast? I thought about an ebony stained wood floor originally (even with issues about showing dirt!) but decided that wouldn't read warm enough, although maybe as LWO suggests, it would compliment the cabinets and counters better than the two toned brown stained floor. I should note, however, that we will have other wood-stained elements in the room: the table, which you see below:

the chairs, and the free-standing hutch or hoosier (these will all be on the eating side of the peninsula which never shows up in my design pictures because there is no built in cabinetry going in this part of the room. It is , however, most definitely all one room, and completely separate from any other room in the house.) Positano, thank you for finding that Peacock picture. That is the one I was thinking of that made me wonder if I need the island stained wood. But then I worry that it gets me back into that reverse-matchy thing (dark on light, light on dark) that I wasn't crazy about. I hope I am making sense with all of this. Any and all additional thoughts would be most appreciated!

OK, my 2 cents here. I personally like the white island with the warm checkerboard floor, because I think the checkerboard deserves to stand out and take a bow without blending into the island. The only thing that might decide me in another direction would be if you went with the idea prompted by LWO and others about a different painted finish on the island. (I'm thinking classic black distressed a bit, or even (and it's a nod to the industrial chic element) a deep charcoal grey. And finally, one thing i worry about in my own kitchen design is the effect of stools pulled up to the white island -- am I asking for footprints and smudges from errant feet? If that were a real issue for you (do you plan to include seating on the island? (and might be affected by the depth of the counter overhang)then a stained island might make more sense from an upkeep standpoint.

I also like the beadboard, but as you note, it needs moderation. And having had the white beadboard on cabinets in one kitchen, I wouldn't do it again, just because those buggers are hard to keep clean, since every spill seems to collect in all those crevices.

The happy news is that any thing you choose is going to be delightful, as there's plenty of good to be said about a white, or a stained, or a black, or a red island, no matter what you choose.

Wonder if someone can photoshop that pic w/the checkerboard floor with both a white island and distressed black island. It might be that seeing it will give you the answer. Here's a pic of a kitchen with white cabs and black painted island:

Evilbunnie, thanks for your encouragement. My counter seating, btw, is not at the island but rather on the eating side of the peninsula. The peninsula is definitely white. I hadn't thought about feet/smudges (one more thing to worry about, LOL.) The overhang is 15" - I hope that's enough.

Pluckymama, that is a very pretty kitchen, and originally I had that exact combination. But I took out the black island and replaced it with a white island because I decided I liked the tone on tone better than the reverse-matchy thing ( light/dark and dark/light) on the perimeters and island. I'm wondering if I would have the same problem with a stained wood island that I have with a black distressed island. So maybe that's my answer - that I should stick with the white on white. Another option I haven't really explored is changing all counters - perimeter and island - to marble. I hate to give up the soapstone though. Likewise I would hate to give up the marble if I did all soapstone. I just can't choose between the two!

My vote is for the white (but then again, I did white cabs w/white marble on my perimeters and white cabs with brown granite on my island--also wood floors on the darker side, but not nearly my "dream" dark brown finish). So, disclaimer aside, I think your vision is stunning and the consistent white cabinets will look amazing sitting on that rich, beautiful floor!!

I know exactly how victoriajane feels -- how are we supposed to make major decisions without seeing it all out in front of us? If I could walk into several kitchens with the various options completely laid out, it'd be easy to say, "oh, THIS one, of course!"

And then how do we avoid regrets later? The more thought and care you put into it, the more invested you are, and the more likely you are to be disappointed. My new kitchen is getting installed as we speak, and I'm finding it very nerve-wracking, while exciting. I took one look at the cabinets and said, "Oh wait, that doesn't look right, I should have gotten shaker style!" I'm backtracking on very basic decisions ("should we have put the kitchen next to the yard as the architect first suggested?"), previously hard-fast design criteria ("Did I really say I HAD to have 6 burners?") and now I'm gridlocked and dumbstruck on much easier decisions ("which shade of green for this bathroom?"). Nothing in my house (which we're not living in, it's too massive a remodel) I'm used to yet. It has to meet an impossible standard: I have to !LOVE! !EVERYTHING! the moment I see it.

So I think victoriajane's goal of having no regrets is an admirable and lofty one, and not one I have a prayer of ever meeting. There are people who sail through kitchen remodels with confidence and happy anticipation, and to them I say, "HOW?!?!!?!"

Sometimes my best decisions are made when I'm not making them: when out of the blue the answer pops into my head. You know, those "shower moments."

Good luck decision-making, and even moreso, having confidence in the decision, victoriajane! It's really really difficult!

- the mistress of self-doubt.

richpoor, I'm with you. Seeing it makes it so much easier. That's why I think the more pics that you can look at the better. But it's not until that kitchen goes in that your vision becomes reality and your realize all the shoulda, coulda, wouldas.

Victoriajane, what you're going through is so normal and it is good to question yourself before you finalize things. You have thought out your remodel quite well. You know what you like. The more pics you see will only lead you to confirm in your mind what are your true likes and preferences. If the reverse matchy thing dosen't work for you, don't do it. You will end up unhappy down the road. If you love both marble and soapstone, go with it.

We have all white cabs and island. I thought long and hard about doing the perimeter in soapstone and the island in marble, but decided I would obsess too much about the etching and went with soapstone on the perimeter and island and walnut on my hutch. There are days I still second guess that decision. But I did go with a calacutta gold marble backsplash to give me my marble fix. I'd show you pics, but if you read my soapstone posting, you will know I'm in a bit of a delay mode right now.

Your kitchen is going to be beautiful. Your ideas are good and I know in the end you will figure out exactly which idea is your favorite. Good luck.

Thanks richpoor and pluckymama, you are writing my thoughts exactly. The trouble is, the magazine pictures are really just an inspiration - I don't want to actually duplicate another kitchen item for item. If it turns out to look exactly like a kitchen I've already seen in a magazine, I'll be disappointed, because it won't be unique, no matter how beautiful it is. In a way I guess I am, as live wire oak suggested, putting together a collage of items I love. In the best case scenario, it will produce a design that is possibly unexpected, but cohesive and pleasing to the eye nonetheless. The key is trusting my own eye, and that's a tough one, because I am about as far from a design expert as it is possible to be and still be attempting to design a kitchen! I'm constantly amazed by the people on this forum who have such an eye for design and can immediately pinpoint what is causing dissonance in a room. That is why I keep coming back for advice - I'll get a sense that something might be off but I can't put my finger on it - but I'm sure that someone here will. On the decision of the white versus stained island, however, the opinions appear to be split fairly evenly, which leads me to believe that I can't go horribly wrong either way.

have you considered hiring an interior designer for a couple of hours to help you out?

Malhgold, I thought about it, but then I thought that would just be yet anothe decision I had to angst over - which kitchen designer, and did I go with the right one ??? Also, I felt if I used a designer it would be "cheating" in a way (I know that sounds crazy.) I'm sure a good designer simply shapes your own ideas and tastes into a cohesive plan. Maybe I'm just too independent-minded. I haven't even shared any of my ideas with dh! (he doesn't care, which makes it easy.) At least when I bounce ideas off this board, I get lots of different responses, and I can then weigh all the options and go from there. I'm afraid with a designer, I'd get painted into a corner (pun intended!)