I think you can't go wrong - should you go with wood counters - with having it be light to match the floors or medium to match the cupboards or darker to give some contrast. You'd have to show us pictures to give our opinions of darker or lighter I think but I don't think you can go wrong. I personally like the look of subtly contrasting layers (making up that term - I don't really know much about design but this feels like the right word). In other words for example let's say medium floor, light-ish lower cabinets, darker countertop, contrasting backsplash (that also pairs well) and then lighter upper cabinets again (with pops throughout such as something even as simple as a white sink on a black counter). So in your case if you have light floors which run up against medium cabinets, and then more matching cabinets above, I would probably be inclined to do something on the counter other than wood, or else put a LOT of thought into that backsplash. I happen to ADORE wood countertops, but then that's also cause I have white painted antique cabinets (I have old fir flooring). I would have gone w/ wood had I found a hard and water-friendly enough wood (cause of the sink) that also happened to be not too light (light wood counters weren't found in the old houses around here) and one that wasn't too full of contrasting stripes. It just got too complicated and I ended up loving that zinc look (zinc was found in lots of houses as old as mine, 1913, but in their pantries) so I went w/ stainless. Stainless isn't as nice as zinc but it's cheaper, more durable and makes a similar statement if done with a farm sink, old cupboards and lots of wood around for warmth e.g. in the floors or island top. I also may not have done stainless had I not planned on doing it with honed white marble subway tile which is a dream combination - along with all that wood I mentioned. But marble wouldn't go in the farm house I'm guessing and if it's truly a very old farm house I'm not sure stainless would work - it might not be rustic enough. It's surprisingly NOT modern looking though, if it's surrounded by other old-fashioned looking things including appropriate lighting. It's just soft and watery and clear/reflective in a way and handles scratches really well (they all blend in and seem to buff out with every cleaning/drying) and it lends a lot of light to an otherwise dark room such as mine. I'd love to see pics!

Don't select your countertop without having your flooring selected as well. Doing this piecemeal almost guarantees that you will regret one or more of your choices. I'd do a medium brown toned white oak floor (no gray, orange or red tones) and a honed Virginia mist granite. It's a black granite with subtle white swirls--classic look. A plain rectangular white ceramic tile on the backsplash, perhaps with a crackle glaze. Your wall color comes last and you don't need to select that until everything else is in.

Hey, Not sure if your still looking for input but i had a few ideas. For your base cabinets, if your wanting to keep your existing flooring, i would lean more towards a warm gray than a cool gray. The hearthstone on my screen looks more cool. For counters it depends on your budget. Granite is always a great choice in my opinion if you can afford it however if you are changing your counters you likely won't be able to change them and keep your existing backsplash, its pretty rare that you can save ceramic tile while removing counters. For granites i think you could look at Fantasy brown, looking for a slab with more grays in it (this particular stone i've seen range anywhere from very brown, to green, to blue gray.) You could also go for something more bold and look at soapstone but it depends what you chose for your base color, or your base color depends on what you choose for a counter.

Is your son-in-law a DIY guy? I think just replacing the backsplash with clean white subway tile or colored glass subway tile (harder to do) would get you a lot of bang for your buck. Those counters look like Corian or a simliar surface — that stuff is not cheap and as Joe points out, it can be easily refreshed. And that obviates the need to remove rhe appliance garage. A new sink and faucet would make a lovely gift. But I like those counters, and I would keep them. As a side note, I find those hanging peninsual cabinets visually claustraphobic and dated. Removing them would do more, IMHO, for the kitchen than anything Let us see the after pics, whatever you guys decide.