i went dark because it's a small space and if it was all light there would be no contrast (also DH wanted dark). We have a medium tone floor though.

I'm going with dark(ish) counters with (creamy) white cabinets. I find contrast appealing & interesting, though I probably would not do stark black/white in my own kitchen. If you haven't already, take a look at Houzz kitchen photos & observe which kitchens "grab" you visually. Create an idea book of color combos you like, and once you have a half a dozen or so, look through them and see if you notice any trends.

I went with light counters (Carrara marble) on white cabinets. I prefer low contrast visually. And I had read here that many people find it easier to work on light counters, especially as eyes get older. Once I started thinking about that I could see that it is already true for me and apparently likely to be even more true going forward as I am already in my 40s.

We did look for a medium grey as dh prefers more contrast. But we couldn't find a medium grey we both liked at a price point and durability we were willing to accept. (There was a grey marble we both liked but it was a lot more money for the same etching issues as Carrara so dh said he'd rather get the Carrara I liked more and spend less money.)

I agree with the suggestion to look through pictures on houzz and see if there is a pattern to what you like.

I have Pure White Caesarstone for my white cabinet. I always wanted a white on white kitchen so that's my main reason. And I want the kitchen to be brighter, the white countertop helps in that way as well.

This comment is right up my alley having just installed white shaker cabinets with a very light colored, somewhat off-white quartz countertop. My designer suggested it because I have a very bright green backsplash. I loved the look of black counters, but I heard they're a horrible PITA to keep clean and show every speck of dust and dirt and minerals from hard water. I think a gray color would've been nice too. But I can't complain. It does keep the focus on the backsplash. The off-white counters don't show the dirt as badly as a darker, solid would have.

The color I used was Orion Blanco from Silestone.

Soapstone was the first element in the kitchen we chose so knew we had dark counters to work around. I like the contrast against the lighter grey cabinets and think dark counters with white cabinets would be great. You do see crumbs easily - though not the mess my espresso machine makes daily.

Oooh... I love New Quay. It was one I was looking at.

We did Alaska White granite with white cabinets. And white backsplash. Medium wood floor. I've always been drawn to light, bright kitchens. I agree you should spend some time looking at Houzz pics- see which ones you love. You will probably see a pattern ;)

Here's a picture of the sample of New Quay in my kitchen.

I'm sorry for harping on this all the time.

I have white cabinets and a very dark gray (reads black) quartz counter. It's a good look, if you don't work in the kitchen.

crl is correct that it's a difficult background on which to work, everything surrounded by the dark. A little like reading light text on a black background. Yes, you can do it, but it's tiring.

Because my Caesarstone is dark and mottled, I can't see a darn thing on it: crumbs, jam, coffee. Except spilled milk or flour. :) I think it's harder to keep clean because you miss so much and then it dries and is gross.

Again, it looks great, if looks were everything. In my book they aren't. I would still get white cabinets but would prefer mid to light gray (for contrast) all the way up to white. No more black counters for me.

Thanks for letting me know Linelle since so many others around me were trying to push me to go with dark counters but I once had a very dark black desk and I hated working on the dark desk. I now have a medium cherry desk and I just feel more at peace and it is easier to work on. My counters are light now and when I am ready my kitchen will have light counters. I love the look of dark counters and rich dark wood but for me I just prefer to live in and work in lighter colors around me.

We have a small (8x12) kitchen. So when we remodeled, we went with white cabs and Blue In The Night granite counters for contrast. The granite is vey much like Black Pearl with an occasional speck of blue mica distributed throughout. Since this created a black & white "theme", we decided to stick with that and installed Montauk Black slate on the floor and black & white subway tiles for the backsplash. We love the result.

Here's a link to our before and after slideshow which will give you a few different angles.

HTH

White cabinets with a very veined soapstone.

johnsoro25, if you ever have a moment, would you mind posting a pic of your Alaskan White countertops w/white cabinetry? This is the combo we are thinking we will go with in our kitchen, but I am trying to find more pics of a finished kitchen like this before making final decisions (and apologies to OP for a bit of a thread hijack!).

We have honed Golden Leaf granite in parts of the kitchen (on stained line pieces, either side of range) and in the laundry room (cream cabinets). It's great at hiding anything on the counters. I'm not home so can't link picture.

I went light (Silestone Lagoon) with my current white kitchen....because I had the dark in my last house. The dark looked great, but I didn't like cleaning them or working on them. My light quartz is a breeze...love them everyday!

Jen J- pics are in your thread ;)

We are doing white shaker cabinets and I originally wanted Silestone Lagoon or Lyra but dh really did not want quartz. We chose a slab of Viscont White granite that I love. Our floors will be a medium stain, rather than dark. The dark wood floors show SO much dust.

I have white cabs and dark counters. I don't find them difficult visually to work on. I might miss a crumb here or there but my kitchen is heavily used every day and if it doesn't get caught on this wipedown, it will be caught the next. But I like both looks (light and dark counters). I agree with suggestion above to browse through photos and you'll pick up on what you gravitate toward.

Cream cabinets, med-dark wood floor, 'money green' (Costa Esmeralda) granite.

We have both, soapstone and Carrara marble (second time around, too). We picked them because we love them both for their individual plusses and they are just beautiful to look at.

I struggled a bit with my choice because I put soapstone in our lake build 8 yrs. ago and love everything about it. Thought I would never consider using another material.

But as our kitchen remodel plans took shape I reconsidered. A primary goal was to have a light-filled space as this kitchen area encompasses a lot of the open main floor plan. On as big an island as we wanted, such a large mass of matte soapstone would have felt like a barge in the space. If my kitchen were larger, I would have done soapstone on perimeter counters and a lighter stone for the island. But folks here - and I agreed - said it would be better to maintain uniformity with only one countertop material.

We went with a light granite called New Golden Beach. It's not golden at all, more creamy/taupe, similar to the photo of the New Quay posted above. I just love it! It looks fresh & light in summertime but warm and creamy with fall & winter decor accents. My cabinets aren't stark white. The factory paint color is Buttercream.

We used butcher block counters with white cabinets. Love the look.

If cost was a major concern or I could take care of things I would go with butcher block! I went with a medium gray. I like a little contrast but find the black/dark countertops a little to stark of a contrast, and white I was worried about looking dirty all of the time. They grey hides things nicely but doesn't darken the room too much.

I had planned to go with black CT and white dove cabinets but saw Taj Mahal and it was love at first site. It seems to open up my limited space.

Loved the look, but hated constantly polishing. Because this room gets a lot of natural light, every finger print stood out like a sore thumb! Showing the house for sale was crazy, I had to polish it constantly! Even between same-day showings because Buyer1 would leave a handprint for Buyer2...

next house use is either gonna be a lighter color or a matte finish.

We have a very small eat-in kitchen, 13x15 with peninsula dividing it. I painted our cabinets white and we had bianco antico granite installed.

Ugh, any idea why I can't post pics? I cliced on the photo icon below, go to my pictures folder, click on the pic I want, click open and .......nothing. The photo won't show up anymore, it used to..........

We went light, but not with any preconceived idea. We waited to fall in love with a stone and Fantasy Brown quartzite was it. We have a contrasting color in our black walnut counter on the island.

We went with Sea Pearl, which is light. Originally, I thought I wanted dark like soapstone or Jet Mist but when I brought samples home I didn't like it. My kitchen doesn't get much direct light and the dark counters seemed to absorb the light it did get. I love how the dark counters look in other kitchens, but those kitchens are usually much larger than mine.

Interesting thread. I have had quartz for the past 13 years and love it, and was sure that is what I would put in the new kitchen. I was thinking a combo of colours - dark perimeter, light island.... then I fell in love with soapstone, so it will be white shaker, soapstone counters. Found my stone today, so excited!

There are lots of us with dark soapstone and white cabinets, that still love the combination.

Great hint I got from this form was to buy plastic tablecloths from the dollar store in black and white, drape them over my cabinets to mimic white cabinets with a black countertop. When I did that, I could see that the color combination works really well with my dark wood floors. That might help you to decide , and only costs a few dollars.

We went with light counters too. The floor and backsplash added contrast.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2667342/reveal-white-beach-house-kitchen

We are happy with our off white cabinets and virginia mist granite. In our open area we were concerned about the kitchen looking too, well, maybe antiseptic(?) and for us the dark counters help the kitchen blend in to the surrounding rooms.