You absolutely don't want grout there for a reason - when the plane shifts and expands, as it will, grout would crack open. That's why you use a colored silicon caulk that matches your grout (all grout companies make it). Don't use grout and cover it with caulk as this defeats the purpose and you'll just have a caulk-coated crack. Hang the bottom row of tile the same distance above the counter as your grout joints, and that joint will just look like another grout line: I'd agree re. the quarter-round trim - I'd fear wood would get wet too often in that area, discolor and ultimately rot away, or else hide wipedown crud underneath it as it loosens over time. :-/

Thanks for all of the replies guys! Sorry for the confusion about the new cabinet pics. The cabinets right now are part of a basement apartment. We no longer need the income from that and need a big open space for kids down there without a big kitchen.....plus I need a new kitchen upstairs! So the cabinets will come upstairs instead. We are a young family with 4 kids and this was a great option for us to have a new kitchen/cabinets without a crazy big budget. As you can see that wall is being removed and since it is load-bearing and full of plumbing/ducts and electrical that has eaten up almost all of our tiny budget. The kitchen downstairs right now has blue countertop and accents and I loathe it. The dark brown/red DH has picked I don't consider to be neutral.....I am afraid with one long wall of it it will look like a big chocolate slab. I thought a more mid-toned or lighter brown/beige would be a better option, but I don't want everything to look washed out. I guess in my head the kitchen will need something to tie the floor and cabinets together.....or should I just treat them like 2 seperate entities? The colours DH likes are: Formica Walnut Quarstone and Wilsonart Brazilian Topaz. The colours I like better are: Arborite Mississippi Bedrock and my favourite Arborite Montana Sunrise. I don't have links to the colours but maybe someone knows them? Cheryl

Thank you again. I am thinking more darker or intense color which would be more cooler. I would definitely get couple of samples to see how they will look with my counter. I think I m actually going to go with the cream/white dove cabinets and charcoal grey island with white/Creme backsplash. In the end if we decide that we have a budget to do something with the floors, which tone of wood flooring or wood like tiles will go with this color choice ??? I personally like dark grey oak floors but right next to kitchen is living and foyer with light bamboo floors!!!!

Thank you. We haven't ordered the flooring yet but will be very soon (as in this coming week). We did a LOT of research on LVP and this brand is great quality and within their budget. 20mil wear layer. Is there another color here that you think would look better? Herbflavor recommended Acadia but the kids thought that was too blonde. Maybe we need to start from scratch with another line. So many of these have such different color variations (many we do not like at all). Here is the link to the different shades/colors: https://www.msisurfaces.com/vinyl-flooring/rigid-core-prescott/ Ryder is what they were looking at.