Casey3, Yes, browns and grays can look wonderful together. And if you prefer browns with tans or beiges that too. It is finding the right balance. Don't be afraid you can do this. I personally like a contrast between dark and light. That means if it were me, I might go with a light gray beige floor rather than the rust. There is a trend toward dark chocolage cabs (similar to your dark oak) and light counters and light floors. Some questions to think about... What color are your counters? Back Splash? What is your favorite color? If you are not sure go to your closet and find your favorite shirts or slacks. There you may discover that Green, Blue, Red or Yellow is your favorite hue. From there you can narrow down which one of your favorites goes with the chocolate cabs and the floor and the counter. What other elements do you have in your kitchen space? Windows, Lighting, Natural light, does the room open to another???? All things to think about. Pictures can explain a 1000 words so if you have some you can upload you will get lots of helpful advice. Even photograph the floor tiles next to the cabs and there will be a host of people happy to vote or chime in. Good luck, ~boxer Okay I could not help myself here is an oak kitchen with gray colors. See not bad. This is an image from Wilsonart but notice the combo of floor and cabs. This is an image showing the granite (NOt oak but a medium dark cab) notice the dark cabinets and floors. It can work!! This one has a rust beige tile color. If you want to go with rust it might look great too. This is English oak but notice the trend of the cool grayish floor tiles. I know you are looking at vinyl but you can get a similar look far cheaper. And what helps this space is the lack of upper cabinets. And the buckets of light coming into the space. A show kitchen not one any normal GW would have. : )

There really is no substitution for testing the colors in your space and different light through the day. For a suppposedly neutral color, greys can be tricky. Fact of the matetr is that a greyy can be any color plus black or some canceling tones. Revere Pewter goes violet on me and Edgecomb grey a bit green in some rooms. I wound up going to Sherwin Williams and trying their colors. Agreeable Grey was the right tone for my living areas, but I am doing them at 150% to get a little deeper color. I am using Anew Grey in my entry and stairwell -- that hasn't been done yet. . More important to your question about going with cool and warm colors -- the Agreeable Grey in my FR had to work with red brick, cherry hutch and dark wood floors as well as blue, green and white in the upoho;stery, rug and kitchen cabinets and counters. Anything that tended green made the red brick fireplace more intense and anything too warm made it pinker/orangier. Agreeable Grey at 100% was too light -- was too close to my grout and looked chalky, so we just added more color and went to 150%. SInce it is a light color to begin with, it is still light, just richer. The result was amazing -- my red brick calmed down. No more orangey, purpley/brown red. And it is so soft and neutral with the blues,, green and white. We did the ceiling at a reduced value. It was the first time I had used SW paints and as much as I liked BM, I was just as pleased with this job (DIY).

Jillius: hiya! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the time you put in to pulling together those inspiration photos and the collages/mood boards (what do you call those?) While I'm not going to use Bianco Drift, London Grey is very similar to it in colour so your collages are really helpful for getting me started on visualizing what I want for the backsplash. I really like Faith's kitchen. It feels fresh, airy, contemporary, calm, and has a lovely natural feel to it too. She's got gorgeous marble on the counters and backsplash too. It's going into my favourite kitchens folder! Totally agree about the island - it would have looked so great had she kept it wood; but I gotta give her credit for being brave enough to bring in a pop of colour there. I do like having a warm-looking kitchen but I feel like going too warm leads me towards a more traditional look, which isn't what I'd like. The way Faith pulled it off suits me. Love the analysis you did comparing my Shitake collage to the Saint Paul Craftsman photo. I'm getting a better understanding of colour now. Still very mind boggling but I follow when you all help to spell it out for me! Ha ha... You might be expecting too much from the counter selection SO TRUE! I think that's why it's been so challenging. I realize now that I don't really want the counter to shine. It's the backsplash that I'd prefer to stand out. Many months ago, I wrote in my Sweeby Test: "The perfect backsplash will complement the cabinets and work harmoniously with the cabinets to create one well put together look, like they belong together. And possibly provide a pop of colour or visual interest in one section of it. The perfect countertop will be really easy and unfussy. Low maintenance. Just like backsplash, it will complement the cabinets and help connect and tie everything together" I think London Grey will be the right choice to help pull everything together. I do like the Craftsman colour scheme, but not for this kitchen or house. It is too dark and traditional for my 90s home. I was REALLY drawn to the light aqua subway tiles on the bottom right of that collage and the ones that have different shades ranging from light grey to bluey-grey. That just might be how I get in my pop of colour! I'm surprised that blues and greens can look warm - is it because they contrast well with my oak and the floors? I really want to stay away from orange and yellow tones for this reno simply because I don't want it to end up looking too similar to what I currently have.

Please buy samples of the paint colors you are interested in,,,you cannot be sure of the colors looking at then on line and the light within your room will also influence how you see colors. Ask at your paint store for a "warm" gray...which I think would be good for a bedroom.