We reused our dark stained oak cabinets when we renovated our house last year. We did a new center island with gray cabinets since we couldn't match the older cabinets we had. We picked brown fantasy leathered for our countertops because of the brown and grey coloring. I've gotten many compliments and am very happy with the way it turned out. Here are some pics: edited to add: Our brown fantasy is not as richly variegated as the one you show. Your slab does not have as much brown as ours does. I do think that makes a difference. Maybe look at other brown fantasy slabs?

Not enough contrast. The gray would have to be warm (more beige rather than gray) for BOTH cabinets AND back splash. A soft white is stunning against the HEAVY MOVEMENT of Fantasy Brown. I don't think your wife can appreciate the heavy impact that stone will have. You do NOT need any more "colour" in this space. The counters and the floors have PLENTY. Remember the K.I.S.S. rule: Keep It Simple Sally. Less is more in design.

Elizabeth M. saved to h o m e: kitchens27The "after" for painting my kitchen cabinets. I decided to go with a two tone look. Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter on the top and Dragons Breath on the bottom. Next project is to tile the backsplash....and eventually replace tile floor. <https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38913984259626737/> She is keeping her warm counters and wall paint, I noted... **BTW, I did a google search of this phrase, and up popped all kinds of pictures to consider, and these 2 came from that..."dragons breath paint color with warm color countertops"

You can't look at your paint samples flat on the counters ... you are never going to see the actual colors in that orientation. Paint some larger boards and place them vertically in front of the cabinets. You could actually fit a large piece of painted sheetrock in the spot your DW is going. That would give you are pretty accurate idea of how that color will look. It is going to look a lot darker and greener on the face of the lower cabinets, than it does sitting on the counter under the window.