You need to be careful of too much cool gray with mid tone warm wood. Neither brings out the best in the other, though some gray is fine especially if it is mixed with warmer tones - a little cream or beige. From my monitor, your flooring looks good as it appears to have some warmer tones. Maple has a tendency to be yellow - part of the nature of the wood and it is pretty. Gray can accent that yellow. Look at the small area where your cabinet is next to your darker accent gray wall and you may see what I mean. A countertop that reads cool gray will accent the yellow in the cabinets. I really can't trust my monitor to be true to the colors so you will need to make that judgement on my own as to if the countertop you are considering is warm enough and bringing out the best in your cabinets.

My own counter has gray in it along with creams and it generally reads warm. I suspect it is not your style - it is a bit busier, but I would look around for a light quartz that has some warm tones. Gray can be part of that.

My countertop:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~57088087

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58830325

Symphony Grey is one of the colors we considered. We ended up going with Clamshell, which is lighter and cooler than Symphony Grey. Can you order a sample from caesarstone so you can see it in your kitchen?

On my iPad that is too gray for the warmer tones in the wood and the room will end up looking dead.

I will try to order several 4x4 inch samples from Ceasarstone and see slabs of quartz. Keeping the maple cabinets is not my ideal. I'd rather have light gray. But I have $10k to spend now, and counters, range, OTR microwave and later, fridge, will be purchased. Most of the $10k will go toward counters. I am doing a waterfall to encase the island too.

Any suggestions of a counter that includes warm gray and warmer tones?

I agree. I don't think that's a great color combo.

jhmarie, what countertop did you use in your kitchen? Thank you.

Sounds like you are trying to give your kitchen a more modern look with treys and waterfall stone. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I just can't see a waterfall island with those cabinets. If your budget ont let you replace your cabinets, you're better working with them and not against them so it's cohesive. You'll be much happier in the end. If you try to do something that isn't compatible with the cabinets, you'll have a hard time being happy with the end result. The cabinets will always stand in the way.

Practical and townlakecakes, do you know a product that WOULD work well in my kitchen? Thank you.

I'm looking! The most modern ones all have black granite. :(

townlakecakes, thanks. I'll google some more images of that Atlantic Salt and try to find a slab locally.

Here is a light/dark Silestone I wanted to see a slab of too. Pietra/Aria. It's much lighter than I wanted but my tiny samples seemed "warmer".

Would you consider painting your maple cabinets? I don't think you are going to be happy with your results as you're looking for a more "today" kitchen with your wall colors and countertop and your cabinet say "yesterday".

eam, thanks. The floors replaced 18 year old sheet vinyl and carpet in 2015 and it is here to stay. I am not pleasing a buyer. It's my house and I'm pleasing me (trying to anyway). House is nearly paid for and I do not plan to move anytime soon. It IS hard to visualize. Yes, images compiled and keyworded by Google are helpful. So are the comparable photos I get from a realtor through market listings in my neighborhood. If I choose a solid color or one that reads solid, I'd have to choose beig-y... and I've lived with light beige for 18 years.

Well, your floors are beige, so that color isn't going away. Search for maple cabinets with marble floors and look for something you like. The images I find are mostly beige, although the one below incorporates a little grey in the backsplash. Are you keeping the furniture in the adjacent room red? If so, black counters would be a better choice here.

I like the light/dark silastone you just posted. I would use it for both the countertop and the backsplash.

eam, thanks. I know the floors read beige in that one photo with sun-filled afternoon western light flooding the room. However 80-percent of the time they read "cool" and more concrete in color than beige. I chose it because there is warm veining that helps to blend all our maple cabinetry (kitchen, baths, linen storage). The family room photo above is a better color rendition if floors. Lighting really changes in this room which makes it harder to select finishes. This is some of kitchen in morning light.

Here is a dark gray I liked. I thought the veining would help to combine warm cabinetry. If husband wouldn't object, I'd have much darker counters. The lighting is unfortunate. It's at IKEA, second photo with my door/floor.

That's one I picked too but didn't seem warm enough. The Atlantic salt above is one of the colors available at ikea, though it looks quite a bit cooler on their website.

Here is a kitchen which I am showing you because of how well the colors work together. Your cabinets are a different style but similar color. The green / gray - I think it is Dry Sage by Benjamin More - and the white bring out the best in the cabinets. The countertop is Tunis Green Granite. Other countertops would also work.

Crown Hill Remodel · More Info

My countertop is LG White Pearl (also sold at Menards as Flaked Pearl). Many of the Menard's stores have a large display of this countertop which is helpful because the 4" x 4" sample is not a good indicator of the total look. Here is more of a close up. It does have a busy pattern:

My pics -work in progress: · More Info

With you thoughts on such high end modern look as a waterfall countertop, you are working against the feel of your cabinets. They have the arched door, which is country / French country and soffits - both aspects lean more cottage and less modern /contemporary. You could paint them, but the feel would still not be high end modern. You can have a very pretty refreshed kitchen with the right colors and new counters and backsplash. But, it still might not be your vision.

Look at lots of kitchens online and see what you like. Be careful not to be unduly influenced by marketing which wants to make you dislike your present surfaces. The gray / white trend is big now, but something new will come along in a few years and all who have transformed their kitchen /homes to gray and white will no longer be "on trend" - that is OK if they love the look and feel of their home - then trends do not matter. However, if the style was done because it was fashionable, then the marketers will be able to again make it felt that changes need to be made.

IKEA was missing Atlantic Salt sample. It was a real zoo there yesterday. I need to order several samples of each counter once I find a few that might work and that DH and I both like.

Practigal, I did think of running the Silestone light/dark or other selection up the back, for a full backsplash. If I do that, I may have to rethink encasing the island in the same quartz. That's a lot of one stone.

Eam, the red furniture stays, as do red accents on counters and red 1950s table. Red makes me happy. No red cabinets or counters though.

jhmarie, you are so right in your statements. If I had endless cash, I would go mid-century modern, but my family would not like it. If my soffit on one wall didn't have a load bearing beam in it, I'd rip it out. I had started to hate my cabinetry because of my modern leanings but now I've decided to try and make a MODEST change with countertops, backsplash and appliances. I do like the idea of calm, luminous tile backsplash with a little sparkle. If I go for a busier counter, it may require a more solid color look there.

Now to find the counter that will join it all together!

Anglophilia, yes the cabinets went in with our new construction house in 1999. I decided that even if I painted them, they are still arched and that feature is what dates them or puts them in a specific design category. Doing new cabinet doors, trim, etc. has been quoted to be about $10k. I've priced doors myself too, online. It's more than my husband wants to spend...now anyway. There was a house down the street that just sold in one day, where the maple arched cabinets were painted. They added bead board which is not my taste, but the photo allowed me to see them white. Well, bummer, I can't find that pic on my phone. I thought about staining darker or painting. I guess I'm still open to that but budget still reigns supreme.

This kitchen belongs to auntthelma who post frequently on the design dilemma. She has a lovely maple cabinet kitchen refresh. Her countertop is Cambria Windermere:

If you really dislike the maple, the money you save not doing a waterfall could be used towards painting or refacing the cabinets, or possibly just buying new doors. However mid tone wood is more MCM than white or gray cabinets - just not your present door style.

The dark grey with the veining looks very good with your cabinet color. Maple wood cabinets are very mid-century and I just had them installed myself. I know you have the arched doors but the cabinet color is lovely and looks wonderful with a dark grey. I think you can get a mid century feel with those cabinets you would be happy with. I love your chrome set!

lisadlu, thank you. Finding that retro table satisfied a long-held desire. I had several other dining sets but this one is just fun. It's not in mint condition but that's okay too. Regarding the dark counter with veining, pietra gray, I think, my daughter's and I both like it, but I also want my husband to be happy with the choice too. Ordering larger samples and seeing slabs would probably be my next step, and instead of giving up on the darker gray, I should just persist!