OK, I'm going to say something unpopular here! I think this "look" of granite is very popular right now and I see it everywhere here. The marble look with white/black/grey, and yes, it's nice, but are we really afraid of color now? Of boldness? Of personality?

Look at the slab to the right! It's warm and it works with your other choices so much better!

My advice would be to give other granite choices a chance. Put your samples in front of a dozen other slabs, and really let them speak to you.

I'd be thinking either very dark-black or near black or the light choice shown by eam. Shifting to solid surface or formica..[yes-can be a good option] might allow introduction of a color such as green which when mixed with some butcherblock placed in the space, if there is such an appropriate spot, would play up the warmth of wood. The warmth of wood is what I like about your floor and cabinets-is this a kitchen that can work with a good amount of butcher block? I would consider it-there are beautiful products out there. Can you describe the "overall" of the design-size,style.... open/closed/personal touches thus far/hardware/sink/....??

@herb Small kitchen, closed on main side, open to the hearthroom. Hardware not selected, sink is blanco precis anthracite single, stainless appliances, was leaning toward a simple tile backsplash (waiting to have everything in before deciding).

@mimi, we did that... seriously, 2 warehouses worth of comparing. We kept going back to the light granites. I'm going to go back this week and look around again. We've put a deposit on those slabs, but they may allow us to change.

I agree with you about light granites, I am always drawn to them over dark. And I also agree about granite over Quartz- my whole kitchen is man-made, I wanted something natural to balance! Have you thought about a light granite with more Browns/taupe? My fav is Alaska White

I would rethink the granite too. I was going to use a similar fine-grained granite in my MB (Astoria) and they cut a chunk off for me. Under artificial lighting, it lost all its nuance of color and became a solid slab of murky, moody concrete pavement.

I think you'll need to go a little warmer--no gray undertones--because of the floor. And it won't be easy. When we went granite shopping for two bathrooms, we found that most of the warm granites have a lot of gold or orangey salmon. We found a remnant of Giallo Ornamanetal Light for the guest bath. It has pretty white quartz crystals with some reddish brown and blue-gray bits and is a natural for dark cabinets. I don't know if it's as easy to find as regular Giallo Ornamental, but that has gold in it.

I aged that with that stunning floor, I would choose a simpler countertop. I also think something a little warmer and less grey would look better. I love eam44's inspiration picture.

The undertones clash a bit. It is also borderline too busy with the other elements. I think something less gray and more cream with less movement would be a choice that would mesh best.

I'm with eam44. Look at light, warmer toned quartz. They're usually not solid, uniform in appearance. It's one thing to look at a counter from afar as a design element. It's another thing to have a busy stone as a backdrop for all your kitchen work. It can become tiring and annoying.

Another warmer granite that I've always liked based on online photos is Colonial Cream. My fabricator doesn't stock it and I don't know how available it might be, But I agree with the others that you don't want much movement with that floor.

Went back to the warehouse today.... after looking at 40 samples, back to the same one. Tried to get a better pic as I've determined the picture looks different than real life. Gonna go to the other major warehouse later this week. Have to get all my paperwork in for clinicals, homework, inspection, and wood hauled off this week. Haven't been to bed since work, been up for over 24 hours at this point... get to sleep in 5 or 6 moreď

Wow, you're busy. Get some sleep!

Photos are hard. The last photo, the granite looks pink and clashes with the floor. The first pic, the granite looks gray and clashes with the floor.

I'm gonna try to photo our actual wood next to the sample in the picture.

You are the only one here who is going to look at this counter day in and day out. Be sure you love it. The fact that you came back to this stone again says a lot. You may as well have been talking about my kitchen in your OP, but whether or not my granite is too busy, too gray, or too whatever, it brings me great joy. Every day.

Here's the thing, the images don't matter. You're not going to get any idea of what this will look like in your space, in your light, installed horizontally until it is installed. These types of granite tend to look muddy. If that's ok with you, go for it. But don't waste your time with more pics, they won't help. If you want this stone, and it's pretty clear to me that you do, buy it and hope for the best. I mean seriously, how bad can it be?

Is there any chance that you can get another floor sample so that you can put the two of them together to get a better idea of the pattern that the floor itself will create? My concern is the size of patterns on the granite and on the floor. They both look like they might be medium size patterns. You say you can't change the floor so then the counter would either have to be a small pattern or a large sweeping one, but it's hard to tell with the small floor sample.

Eric, I think it will be fine. Can they chip off a corner for you to bring home to look at in your light? Honestly, everyone tried to talk me out of my "busy" granite and it looks fabulous. So much so that I found another busy granite for my new build. Remember the counter top will be 36" from your floors and you'll be looking down at both. the cabinets will be vertical to the floor and the countertop

Maybe it would help to see other photos of kitchens that had dark cabinets, medium wood floors and granite countertops. I just did a quick google and found this one:

I think when you look at kitchen photos, you realize what cpartist is saying about how the cabinets are vertical and counter is not next to the floor.

I think it's very important that the counter and floor coordinate. They're parallel planes that take up two thirds of your hard surfaces. When the color and/or patterns don't mesh, it's very jarring. I'm surprised to hear CP say that it's okay since she's an artist. I'm a gardener, which also relies on principles of design, and if one plant clashes with another, it bothers the hell out of me! lol!

True, you still wouldn't want them to clash. But from the two photos posted, it's hard to tell how well they go together. I think this is one of those cases where it just depends on how it looks in person.

Define what's jarring. I personally like lots of pattern and texture and don't find it jarring. Remember once the floor is down, it won't look quite as busy as it does in such a small piece. Same with the granite.

What are you thinking for a backsplash? What about wall color? It may help to tie the colors together. Your granite looks identical to mine, which, is called White Ice. Names vary from yard to yard. I have white cabs, a lighter hardwood oak flooring and a grey subway tile. Pardon the Xmas décor, that was the only image I had with a close-up of my granite and b/s :)

I think a cream backsplash could tie it all together, with your cabinet and flooring choices. I like how it looks is the photo that cpartist mocked up. I just don't like it with the grey backsplash. IMO, I think cream will pull the warmer tones from your granite that would better complement the warm tones in your cabinets. The granite can go either way - you can pull the cool grays and blues which work with white like mine above, or you can pull the creams, which will work better with your wood tones. Above are some ideas of how it could look.

@rebecca I'm quite certain that they ate the same granite, the patterns and colors are exactly the same.

@Eric, I agree. And 2+years later, I still love it, if it's any help to you on your decision. My kids say it looks like creamy cookies and cream ice cream. Again, I think drawing from the warmer creams in the stone will really work for you. I'd look at crème tumbled marble Are you going with stainless appliances?

[Crema Tumbled Marble backsplash [(https://www.houzz.com/products/tumbled-crema-marfil-marble-tile-sample-prvw-vr~24615806)

Granted my eyes don't see that well, but I think the name on the first granite picture says "snowfall". I wonder if it is AKA "white ice" like rebeccamoms?

Anyways, Eric, I like it with your wood cabinets and floor. It doesn't look too busy to me at all, especially as cpartist nicely demonstrated on that photo.

Is the floor hickory? How much striping will there be? Hickory floors generally can't be considered a neutral like the photos of oak floors posted here.

Yes, flooring is natural hickory. It doesn't have as much variation as some hickorys, but it is hickory after all.

@rebecca. Yes we're are using SS appliances. I like that tile as a backsplash tile. We are going with a 3x6 style tile, so that's definitely an option.

I wouldn't go much warmer like that slab to the right in the first picture. That's the same type of granite I had with the same color cabinet. It all came out as this muddy ugly brown and all the prettiness of the granite disappeared.

Also you need to see how it looks in the light in your kitchen. We wanted gray cabinets and ran thru 8 different warm gray. They came out awful in our kitchen because of the light.

Check out things in its position- vertical or horizontal.

@beachem yeah that slab to the right did not look good. Too dark and bleh. We'll see what happens at the other warehouse. Update on the progress. Drywall went up today, floors start Saturday, and cabinets arrive Tuesday.. cannot wait to have a kitchen again!

Your floor will be stunning.
I personally would go with a quartz with less pattern. Maybe like CS Buttermilk or Dreamy marfil

I also think your choices will be fine.. we all hesitate and this point and wonder but not sure it is really that much help when we all have different ideas of what looks good. I do think you do need to keep your backsplash simple and chose your paint color wisely. maybe get pro help with that element.

We had planned to to an extremely light "greige" paint with a simple backplash (I honestly don't care for the small tile look). Had planned on doing an off-white tile, but I'm not opposed to the idea of beige. I plan to paint prior to the cabinets going in, so I only have a few days to get that done. Planned to choose backsplash and pulls once everything is in. Worst case I can always repaint. I am panicking at this point... but I'm just trying to be sure all of this was worth it. I'm really starting to worry that our kitchen isn't going to look very good.. I've spent a lot of time and money, and that sinking feeling that it won't look nice is creeping in. Hopefully it's just wedding day jitters.

oh, I think we all know that feeling. It is so hard to figure all of this out.. . If you feel you really need someone there to help, find a color expert to see your choices in person and pay for the help. sacrifice a few days if need be.

as far as choosing a paint color you need to choose that from the stone. that will be key. they undertones will have to be right. I think once you get that done just take breather and like you said wait to choose backsplash and knobs.

Your welcome Eric for the time I spent mocking up your countertop. (I think I won't bother commenting anymore on Erics threads.)

@cpartist. First, let me say thank you for spending the time mocking up that countertop. I'm not sure it paints the full picture, but I do appreciate the time you spent. Second, let me say that it's nothing personal, and I didn't intend to offend you (which I obviously did). Let me take a second to like everything and thank you for all your posts on all my threads. Obviously that's important to you.

I have looked at that picture several times, btw. I am trying to process everything about my remodel and I'm sorry that the appreciation was not directly shown. Either way, I won't be here long, so no hard feelings. Best of luck to you.

So what Happened??

We kept our selections. Kitchen has been functional for about a month now. We are still choosing a backsplash, and received the first group of pulls today. We're extremely happy with the way everything turned out.

When you're done, I hope you'll come back and share photos. I think that's the best thank you ever as, quite often, we never see how things turn out. We love to see new kitchens! Especially those some of us have had a hand in designing. :)

I am wondering how the kitchen turned out....I purchased a similar light granite called snowfall.....I love it.....even though others advised to choose a darker granite to contrast with ivory cabinets, I we still chose snowfall.......i appreciated the advice of choosing a paint color based on undertones of the stone...i didnt know that....i am agonizing about what color sink to go with the snowfall........in case anyone is still following this, what do you think?-

It seems a bit more stark in the picture than in real life. Maybe one day I'll take some recent pics and try to get the lighting correct. Here, at least, is an idea of how it looks. Hopefully others will like like we do it as we plan on selling next year and building on a 3+ acre lot. Until then, we will enjoy it. That said, the bluestar has not been the best purchase. Today all the flames turned orange so we have a mix issue and the oven still takes 2 hours to get to 350 after multiple service calls. Our service guy isn't the greatest.... only one person in the area.

Just noticed we don't even have pulls in that picture... guess I'll have to take some recent ones

Sorry about the Bluestar but the kitchen is looking great so far.

I'm sure you will have no problem selling. Best wishes on the new build.

We have a busy countertop and wanted that to be the focal point so went with an off white glazed subway tile for the backsplash. We added a double row of thinner tiles to break it up but they were the same tile to keep the backsplash very neutral.

Here are some recent pictures. Still need to get a permanent microwave, a backsplash, and new light fixtures but those will wait a bit longer.