BTW, I'm trying to start the TTK club (Two-tone kitchen) to compete with the OTKers (One True Kitchen - all white cabs w/black counters and white subway), so welcome to the 'right' club! ;-) Majra's kitchen is a great example of using a backsplash with some color/variation in it, while still keeping it light. I don't know about matching exactly or not. I think it depends on your cab color and your space. Mine match almost exactly off the wall, but up, there is a ton of blue in them and some areas match and some totally don't - and it all depends on the light in the room at any given time. Your best bet is to get a few different samples and have them ready for when the counters go in. Then you can pick the right one. And don't let the contractor/tile people/whomever rush you. Find the one you love!

Folks, This may be one of those situations where images on a website cannot do justice to the physical tone of being in the room. I recognize that looking at the pictures on the website make all of my choices look like a motley collection of clowns. And then there is my sweeby mission statement about "cool" kitchens that I still stand by. To explain this in the context of my kitchen, let me share how it feels to be in the kitchen. Our home is in northern California near San Francisco which is quite a bit different from general image of sunny LA or San Diego. It is said that Mark Twain once said that "the coldest winter I have ever spent was a summer in San Francisco". The marine influence here means that it is common to have 70 to 75 degrees in middle of summer. When the east coast was broiling this summer, we had 68-72 degree days. Then there is my house which is adobe.. This means the super thick bricks have to warm up first before the air inside the house begins to warm up.. It is usually a good 10 degrees cooler inside than outside. We in fact put in heated floors just for this reason. Then there is quality of light.. The banquette on the end of the galley is east facing but quite heavily shaded and the light is filtered and cool. The side of the galley with the doors and windows that opens to the courtyard is south facing but has a very deep eaves (around 7 ft) so the light here is very filtered as well. The only bright light source is the two new skylights. It is hard to show the quality of light with photos taken with my iPad. Then my "clown" choices... If I use light colors in the room, they do not actually lighten the room.. They just seem pale and flat. But stronger, brighter colors almost seem to glow and IMHO do not look garish or loud but rather brighten the space. If look at colors used in regions of the world where brick and clay is used for construction, they also use stronger hues and multiple colors..like encaustic moorish tiles and bright colorful Mexican kitchens.. I feel that if the stage is cleared for one prima donna clown (a la the hood) and the rest sort of disappears in a forgettable background chorus.. the. end resut is very lopsided. Having a few strong elements I think balances and makes the end result better.. The trick here is whether they are harmonious or competing. I am striving for harmony but with stronger colors.. I know color is a very very personal choice and I am not defending my choices but rather I felt I should contribute to this dialogue on color in the context of my darker kitchen with very filtered light. Many of the lovely kitchens here are blessed with lovely counter height windows and bright sunlight.. But a kitchen like mine is different and brighter colors may be an appropriate palette.. Anyways.. Just want to share my thinking ..

Yes, as soon as I saw the word shaker I thought "oh oh". That may not give you the look that you want. However, slab doors on top would help and something I have wondered about is whether or not the width of the rails/stiles would define transitional vs contemporary look. You may not have a choice of course but I seem to remember reading that wider rail/stile is more contemporary. However, that may have just been someones opinion. Can you do a waterfall installation of the granite - that for me reads more modern/contemporary as well. : link showing examples And yes, hardware, lighting and barstools can really pull the look into contemporary.

Thanks for the additional advise! Well, we were sure we wanted the pewter color for the island, so I ordered enough of that for this purpose. It looks great on the dark blue/grey and looked good on the then still wooden perimeter cabinets. So I went ahead and ordered the additional ones needed for the perimeter of the kitchen. Now that I’m nearly done painting (some more drying time for the doors), and having seen a white kitchen with black hardware again at the big blue Swedish store, I revisited my decision. I didn’t unpack the ordered hardware yet and ordered a couple of the wrought iron/black ones today. I’m holding off on installing the doors until the black ones come in to have a side by side comparison. I’m still within the return window of the hardware and would only lose the shipping costs. So we’ll see.