I think it would look good, as long as the rest of the choices are simple and consistent. So, for example, if I wanted to mix countertops in a small kitchen, I would not do two-tone cabinets. And I would use only one backsplash material.

My current kitchen has something like that--white cabs (thermofoil, ick) both sides, but one side has white laminate with wood edging & the stove side has butcherblock. I like the countertop difference, actually...

I love the concept and agree with your that it would warm up the space. However, in the two examples the wood and other counter are more different aesthetic wise than in your design. Not sure how to explain. In the first the wood is the standalone open part of the galley with no verticals in the way (that I can see). In the second the sink area is all one integrated stainless steel piece/area so the only real counter is the wood. I'd love to know where the fridge is in that kitchen and how it looks from the other side.

I think you can pull it off but since you'll be drawing a lot of attention to the range space with the different wood counter that space has to be a rockstar and very cohesive.

I just couldn't get excited about granite. It is beautiful in big sheets, I'm not as clear that it's beautiful when cut up into smaller countertops ....I am doing two: corian on the sink side and porcelain tile on the stove side where my husband will pull that hot hot hot cast iron pan from the stove and put it directly onto the countertop....the two tops will match but also be different...

I have no problem mixing counters but I'm not sure that you'll get enough warmth from the small sections of wood counters you propose. You'd have less wood in your kitchen than the kitchen below has but because the vast majority of its elements are gray/cool, I think the kitchen reads gray/cool overall. I'm not saying it's not lovely but I am saying that the overall tone isn't changed all that much. IMO, of course. =)

Porthleven · More Info

Are you deadset on a gray tile for the floor? What if you were to do a wood plank look-alike tile instead?

Naples Luxury Townhome · More Info

The following kitchens have actual wood floors but the color scheme of warm floors, gray cabs and white counters are lovely, IMO. Note that the walls are also gray in some of the kitchens below, pretty much what you're proposing in your kitchen.

West Hills Traditional · More Info

OH Custom 4 · More Info

Michael C Hall designed by Kishani Perera · More Info

New Traditionalist Cottage, Kitchen Design · More Info

Transitional Kitchen · More Info

Kitchen Design Ideas · More Info

Regarding the wall and floor colors – We're widen open to suggestions. I like the idea of white or off-white paint or tiles on
the wall, but that's a leaning, not a decision. The floors will have to be replaced, and their future is totally undecided. I added
matchy colors to the rendering simply because I didn’t know what to insert.

“I'm
not saying it's not lovely but I am saying that the overall tone isn't changed
all that much. IMO, of course. =)”

I think you are probably correct about this. If I can find one more element, maybe
that’ll tip the scale.

He does like gray better if we make *all* the
counters wood. Trouble is, I’m a little uncertain about giving up on quartz
entirely, and about trusting wood counters + sink + exhausted parents + kids.

My texture-loving husband likes, but is
cautious about, wood floors in the kitchen for similar reasons (although he
wants them everywhere else).

The wood plank tile might work.

Go for a porcelain wood tile then. There are some gorgeous wood simulation in porcelain that you can't tell the difference unless you touch with your hands.

Do you suppose that the right slate (one with browns) would have a similar effect? Or too busy / dark?

We have a white/gray galley kitchen (not quite finished) and considered using two countertop materials. We bought the wood for the portion we planned on using butcher block and loved it so much we used it everywhere. I think wood really warms up the space,

^ Lovely.

You tempt me.

What did you decide on? Is that walnut?

We decided on real hardwood in the kitchen to match the rest of our (small) house. It makes the space feel bigger with no flooring transitions. We have two big dogs, and my husband and I are messy cooks. We have not had any problems with the floors or the counters in terms of durability. I have never understood the concern about wood floors in the kitchen, but I did grow up in a home with wood throughout so maybe I'm biased. We do not put hot pans on our counters but previously we had laminate so we are used to that. Good luck with you space! I am obviously partial to white/gray/wood myself.

The counters are walnut, finished with Osmo. We are so, so happy with them! We bought the inexpensive lumber liquidators butcher block and finished them ourselves, thinking it was a stop-gap measure to solid surface in several years. But we love them, ha! My husband faced the purchased butcher block with a strip of walnut so the counters appear deeper and overhang the cabinets a bit more.

I'd much prefer wood on the floor than counters - especially if you aren't obsessive about cleaning. Wood floors have multiple layers of varnish, so they hold up pretty well. But I also find 100 year old spotty wood floors to be lovely as well. Wood countertops usually need to be oiled regularly, with bits sanded out when they get too stained, etc. Seems too high maintenance for me. I've seen people who don't even cook very much make them look bad in a relatively short period of time (I'm sure they can be fixed, but again this is more work that I don't need vs quartz). They sure are beautiful though! So I'd stick with a light quartz and do wood floors (or wood tile if you don't mind the cold/hard) if it were me. That being said I think combining quartz and wood could look good. I don't like mixing woods much though unless they have a lot of contrast!

I have antique pine on our island and love it, so I'm not against wood. But wood on either side of the range wouldn't pass code in my area since it is a fire hazard. Also, if you put something hot on it you could be left with burn marks. I would warm up the kitchen with wood or wood/tile flooring and a different wall color than your OP. You can also use a warm gray paint for the cabinets.

Fwiw, our house was built in 1926 and has orginal hardwood (oak) flooring throughout, including the kitchen. No problems with the hardwood in the kitchen and it has lasted going on 79 years, which is durable enough for me. When we remodeled the kitchen, we had the hardwood flooring extended into the laundry area that we annexed to the kitchen. My GC managed to match it perfectly.

Don't worry about the durability of wood! I have 50-year-old wood countertops in my current kitchen and also installed wood counters in our new office. If you poly them, wood is EXTREMELY durable. (Plus you can fix all but the absolute worst mistakes by sanding.) Poly doesn't have to be gym floor shiny, it can look very natural.

PS when we moved into our house, the kitchen was brown and brown and brown and beige and did I mention brown? I went crazy and painted the walls a light grey and the cabinets a dark grey. The dark cabs look great with the wood counters. However, the overall grey started to feel extremely depressing over time. If your kitchen doesn't get a ton of natural light… don't overdo the grey, like I did :)

The other lesson I learned is: Don't shake it up unless you want to draw attention to it. So if you don't want to draw special attention to an area of the kitchen, use the same countertop there as everywhere else. Too many visual changes compete for attention.

I'm not overly worried about the durability of wood, a material I really love. Although I've noticed that I've gotten strong advice for and against.

My own experience probably supports both arguments. I have a freestanding kitchen worktable from the (now vanished) Ikea varde line. We got it at Ikea about 5 years ago, and it has the lighter colored, Ikea solid bb top. If I run my hand along along this table, I can find places where the wood absorbed a little water and buckled slightly. You can't pick these spots out visually. So I can see how a lot of water exposure around a sink could lead to problems. These slight buckles are most likely from us dripping water while doing food prep and not noticing we've left some drops behind. I've come along behind my husband and cleaned up residual water on this table an hour or two later.

But it's notable how minor the damage is, at least sans sink, given just how much work we do at this table. It is the only usable counter space in our kitchen, and has taken a lot of punishment.

The only thing I did to it was treat it with tung oil initially and refresh with light sanding + more tung now and again.

I really like kitchens with several different materials. Not sure why but I find it appealing. I also like kitchens with 2-3 different colored cabinets. Judging from the rendering and the example pics I think your galley kitchen would look just fine with 2 different counter top materials.

I found another photo, which I'll post in case it's useful to anyone else coming along:

I think this looks really good, but of course all the elements are carefully balanced.

That's a beautiful space

That is nice, as are capeterson's examples. You are right about the balance. When the wood is in just one place, it looks like you ran out of material. I always think three is a good number of repetitions in general and now I see that the last image has the warmth in the floor and a shelf as well as in the countertop.

We recently got some woven wood type shades similar to those shown in one of capeterson's examples, and it was astounding how much they warmed up the space (off white walls, black windows, concrete floors), even when they are all the way up. The overall impact is out of proportion to the amount of space they occupy for some reason.

So I think you could get away with it if you could find two more elements to balance it out. The floor would be an important one, though.

I used some of the suggestions here to mock up some rough ideas for DH. He likes them, and I have his blessing to bring back the gray kitchen scheme if I want to. Thanks for all the feedback, bbtrix, lisa a, & all. :)

In the first, we switch to a more straightforward gray / white scheme, with
wood or wood tile (DH really wants tile). Here we’re relying mainly on the floor to warm
things up or add some additional texture, and we drop a couple of accessories onto the walls or counters – like a big cutting board. We'd add a vintage sign or two to the wall that sticks out. (The backdoor, which is red, may already serve as a distraction; perhaps a funny sign will do the same.) Find a window dressing that will complement.

The galley will be visible from the dining room and
vice versa, so if we complemented with a light gray paint in the kitchen, we
could consider carrying that same lighter gray into the dining area. That would
lighten up the nice (but somewhat dark) green walls that are there now. We could change out the current table for something wood and metal.

We consider exposing a brick wall in the dining area, when we find the money.

The second idea has more variation – Maybe
butcher block counters on the left next to the range, the wood or wood tile
floors in the middle, and a wood shelf or rails with wood accessories on the
right. We could also put a complementary color on the right wall, and perhaps
repeat this color on the range backsplash (either by coloring the entire thing,
putting a square of it behind the range, or adding a portion of colored tiles).
That complementary color could carry into the dining area. In the future we could consider exposing a brick wall.

As with idea #1, we add a couple signs to the wall that sticks out, add window dressing, add a new dining table.

Perhaps I also consider a light counter with a wee
bit of brown in it if we’re trying to carry off the butcher block.

A visual and some representative product ideas:

Anyway, we'll play around and see what we get...!

Cabinets all same color, hardwood floor in warm med brown, GOOD butcher block on either side of the stove - you will love it. Back splashes should all be same material.

A possible wrinkle: DH is still stuck on tile, but didn't like the woodesque tile that much when we went to see some in person. He did like some of the warm, apricot-toned slates and ceramic tiles that echo the look. If he sticks to wanting stonelike tile, I'm not sure this is "matchy" enough with butcher block - maybe effect would be too busy? So in that case, maybe revert to the plainer scheme in idea 1 and let the floor do the heavy lifting on texture. If we wind up looking at hardwood, idea 2 would still be in play.

Opinions?

Here's the slate we saw.

The slate is pretty! Everyone I've talked to who has tile on the floor (or used to) bemoans how hard it is on the feet and back. I had tile before the cork, and it never bothered me, but I never spent much time in the kitchen, before.

Would you risk combining it with the wood counter on one side? I'm not sure I should go there or not....

I'm not sure I like the idea of using two different countertop materials in a narrow galley... a larger kitchen, an island, sure. But it just feels choppy and busy to me to have two different tops. So.... not sure how I feel about the floor adding yet another texture, whether it matches one side or not.

I agree with Carrie's concerns. It just seems like too much visual clutter to me. Too many color and texture changes will make your space feel smaller as sight lines are too chopped up.

Here's an idea for warmth, color & texture: That bathroom wall... the big one that sticks out into the kitchen... paint it orange. Or red. Or a colorful mural. Do you know a tile artist? Commission him/her to do a colorful mosaic mural. There's no way you can hide that big wall, you may as well make it the focal point.

Historian- two things. An unsolicited concern and unsolicited opinion...

How much width is between the corner of the powder and the corner of the counter? Keeping in mind that standard counters are 25.5, do you have at least 36" back there?

I think it would look better to just have solid doors on those uppers on the left. Tht wall is so visually busy compared to the right side. However, if you love love love glass uppers I do think you should have them

I think a slate floor like that kind of dictates keeping everything else very simple and very consistent.

(I have had tile kitchen floors in rentals. Never again. I'm not even all that old, don't have a bad back, and routinely walk five or more miles a day and standing on tile floors to cook kills my back. Especially for things like making a double batch of lasagne or baking lots of holiday cookies. Plus I always found the grout impossible to keep clean. All the crumbs and dirt end up collecting in the grout lines.)

Imagine something like this on that wall:

Carrie - I love everything about that mural. I have no where to put it but boy do I wish I did :)

OK, it sounds like my suspicion that the slate tile would be too busy with the mixed counter concept is well-founded.

Do you like having some energy on the floor if the rest of the scheme is very simple: white subway only, gray cabinets, light counters? Add a couple of small wood accessories, like a cutting board. Add some decorations to the PR wall. Or do you think a floor with a lot going on is inherently problematic in the size space we have?

Rough concept - admittedly Ikea's graphic of a brownish tile floor isn't too helpful:

We could also go for a tile floor that has a more uniform color than does slate. I suspect this would still go better with a plainer scheme.

If DH comes around to hardwood or wood-like tile, then the mixed counter scheme is more feasible. I'm still not sure which idea plays out better in that scenario. I like both for different reasons.

Carrie, that mosaic is wonderful. I wonder if it would be a little much in our case, but I like it. Something to consider.

I do think the best policy is to decorate the wall rather than ignore it.

We have a weird bump out in the dining room that was necessary to run ductwork for our central air system. We couldn't figure out what to do with it, and eventually put chalkboard paint on it. This seems to have worked out well - as we write on it, it now it looks like it has a function and is supposed to be there.

Benjesbride, the corner of the PR and the corner of the standard-depth counters are not straight across from one another (although they look like it from the graphic). What will actually happen is that the standard counters will run back a ways, then drop to 9 or 10" shallow cabinets before one reaches the PR corner (we'll have to "hack" that box). Then we'd switch to 15" boxes in front of the back window next to the back door (there the space widens slightly again).

I have a couple versions of the layout that place the corner of the standard depth corners to different points. In the layout with the least amount of clearance, the diagonal span between the corners is 33". If I drop the width of the last cabinet from 36" to 30", we pick up 6" (which amounts to a little more on a diagonal). Messing around with the size of the sink cabinet shift the end point too, to lesser degrees.

Further adventures in color combination:

We discussed cabinet colors further; DH is still feeling good about the gray cabinets. Since that is what I wanted for ages until we started overthinking, I'm going to run with that thought and keep running.

Got a sample door, and played with handles and these three floor tile samples of very different colors. This photo was taken in natural light this morning.

The brown on the top is close in color to the wood floor Ikea used in our local bodbyn gray installation. It seems to harmonize very well and feels calm and rich.

The beige / apricot tile in the middle contrasts more and seems to add a lot more energy.

I'm not sure about the tile on the the bottom; for our particular needs I think it's too dark. But someone who lives in big loft with gigantic windows should definitely buy it.

Are these floor tiles? I like the lighter tile, in part because I think lighter is better in a small, narrow kitchen. I very much like the pulls.

Yes, floor tiles. I'll edit the description to clarify this.

I think we'll want to do white or off-white subway tiles for the two long walls.

I lean toward the lighter because it is so warm, while the rest of the gray / white / off white scheme isn't. Even in the middle of the night with just a couple lights on it's quite welcoming. So long as it's not too much the contrast.

I love the brown color on top with the grey - beautiful! How much light do you get though? I worry about the kitchen being too dark with this combination. The beige is much brighter.

Our house is dark. We'll have better lighting at the end of this project, but I still expect shadows and a drabber effect on rainy days.

What I don't know, and am trying to picture, is whether having light, reflective quartz counters and glossy white or offwhite subway tile (and the glossy gray paint) compensates for the brown floor tending to be dark.

I took photos of the tile in the ikea environment (just artificial lighting, therefore a lot of shadows), when I get access to those pictures later I'll upload one.

YES! You can mix counter top materials in the came kitchen.

I don't have anything against mixing counter top materials in any kitchen. Countertop selection should be a mixture if servicability. asthetics in design/color, and quality. Mixing high grade butcher block and plastic laminates is never satisfactory, but your suggestions of Ceasarstone, Silestone Quarts, Corian, Granite or Marble mix very well with Butcher Block.

Servicability comes in second. Butcher Block is a good choice surrounding the cooktop as it will handle a hot pan inadvertinly set down where Corian will damage easily. Corian is a thermal plastic material and will melt and scorch from the intense heat. All of these materials are ideal for use around wet sink and prep areas as they do not absorb water causing discoloration, rotting and the dreaded mold of numerous varieties you don't want to tangle with. Wood tops, (butcher block), can be sealed successfully against moisture intrusion, but must be maintained judiciously. Around the cooktop however thorough cleaning and reoiling the surface with a food grade oil will keep it beautiful for years. Bartop finishes can be a pain to maintain as they can be scratched easier than you think, and repairing chips and gouges in the surface can be disappointing. I hope I haven't put anybody to sleep with this, but like most comments here to your original question this only my opinion.

The backsplash should be kept consistant on both sides of the kitchen. That said, having a tile mural centered over the cooktop works very well. Make sure any grout between the tiles is sealed with future sealing maintainance each year or after any severe cleaning. Consider having a window with a country or ocean scene painted and sealed against grease & dirt over the cooktop for added flavor.

Folks seem to have varying assessments of how vulnerable wood, quartz, etc. are to scorching in the case of accidents. But my suspicion is that you are right that there's some functional advantage to wood near the range and quartz near the sink.

For kicks and giggles, and because someone else looking at bodbyn gray might find this thread, here's the floor Ikea picked for their Baltimore installation, along with the yellow and brown tile samples. The counter selection is probably identical or close to what we'd select if we run with quartz. All lighting is artificial:

I find it interesting that your hubby is concerned about wood floors, but not about wood counters with a sink. I chickened out on doing gray cabs, which I love, so will be living my dream through you and others who are going for it.

We just installed medium/dark hardwood in our new white kitchen. I keep a towel on the frig. handle for quick spills at the frig. area, and one thrown under the sink for that area. If a little water or whatever gets on the floor, everyone knows what the towels are for.