No photos

Photos could help a lot. I think it might be too big of a departure. Maybe you can pull something warm into the kitchen? Beams? Some wood elements?

Will the white/gray kitchen clash and feel too different as an overall look?

Yes.

IMo looking for acounter that has both some warm and gray veining might work and I too would like to see some pictures and also what is the flooring?

There can be a range in color for the majority of stone types. For example Taj Mahal can be more gray and stripey, or more cream/beige and swirly, or a combination. I've seen calacatta gold that had very little "gold" and just looked like other marbles.

So make sure you visit several slab yards to get a good idea of the color variations of different lots.

We did exactly this in my Dads whole house remodel: the main level is all open. There are wood-toned floors throughout, warm colors in family room/dining with a rocked fireplace, old wooden mantle, stained railings and window sills, white baseboards and doors, all open to a white kitchen.

We used a soft white painted cabinet, Taj Mahal Quartzite counters, stainless appliances and brushed nickel hardware. Even though the kitchen is white, the Taj ties nicely to the warmer tones in family/dining room. SW Accessible Beige (griege that leans warm) throughout (I don’t think you should choose a cool paint color). Linen colored Roman shades, some muted combos of cool and warm colors in area rug also helped tie together. We used a soft off-white backsplash: Crossville Market Collection Ashbury Fleece “Cracke“ which comes in lots of shapes, sizes and trims. We used simple 3x6 brick pattern.

http://market-collection.com/PhotoGalleryProduct.aspx?prod-line-id=1

Try to bring something warm in kitchen such as a wood accent on hood, beams as suggested above, a large antique wooden salad bowl or tray, art with a combo of warm and cool tones, a wooden croc with wooden spoons by stove, old cutting board propped up, or something else warm. And put something with warm/cool combo in family room such as new pillows and throw blanket, lampshades, accessories or art. For us it was the area rug and pillows which are not totally earthtoned. The rug has some muted blue and orange in it. Rug is Crate and Barrel, Garden Alvarez.

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/alvarez-garden-hand-tufted-rug-8x10/s178765I

I‘m no designer. My SIL chose the family/dining furnishings and struck a balance between warm and cooler. For example the large sectional sofa is a deep mushroom color, not really brown but not gray, in -between. And she worked some black in such as the iron coffee table legs and some black and white photographs.

One thing I think is the most important tie-in is that the Taj and the area rug “talk to each other” because of the rusty orange they both have.

We had lots of inspiration pictures from Houzz, but these 3 pictures from the same house helped to guide us the best.

This is the living room of the Inspiration House. You can see there are warm tones especially with the rocked fireplace, wood floors, and furniture, but also there's some white cabientry and trim, and light paint colors to lighten things up. We didn't care for the yellow accents and chose rusty orange and blue for our accents.

This is the other side of the same house. You can see that the sectional sofa is a deep mushroom color rather than just brown. You can see the dining room has a brown table and a black lighting fixture. Then you can see a white kitchen beyond.

This is the kitchen in the same house. This kitchen has whiter counters than what we chose. But it is similar with white cabinets, stainless appliances, dark counter stools, dark metal on the pendants. It's fancier and bigger than ours. No room for an island in ours, we lowered the bar height penninsula and made it a flat penninsula with the Taj Mahal Quartzite.

This is the color palette we used in my Dad's remodel. We were totally in charge of this remodel, so I put together this board for my Dad so he could see/approve what we were planning. Here is what I showed him:

We haven't purchased the Pottery Barn Swivel barrel chair yet and will probably go darker than the leather sample shown here.

It can be done. You just might have to carefully consider your paint and fabric/rug choices to make it all come together.

Here is the reveal I posted after we finished the project. At the time of this posting a lot of the art was not back up yet, so it looks a little bare. My user name has changed because my email changed and then DD was setting up ideabooks for herself and changed my name for some unknown reason and I never changed it back.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5647113/reveal-of-whole-house-remodel#n=11

Good luck!

I love my family room and don't want to change it (you can kind of see from the kitchen). The family room has brown wood beams, stone fireplace, wood bar, and very warm earthy feel.

You love your family room but you want to go in a completely different direction in terms of color and style for your kitchen? A kitchen you can see from the family room. WHY?

Meaning, why wouldn't you want to carry the style you love into the kitchen?

When you do something that is so off from the rest of the house, we have a name for that. Remuddling. Don't remuddle your house.

I agree with cpartist that you shouldn't remuddle it, but that doesn't mean you can't have white cabinets. Just don't choose a white/gray counter, and not a white/gray backsplash and not a cool paint color. If you choose something warmer for the counter, but still light, such as Taj, a subtle neutral backsplash and a greige paint color you can make it blend with the family room. Now, Taj does have gray in it, but is also has a lot of cream and rusty orangy brown veining that makes it blend with other warm elements. There are other light but warm counters. Visit some stone yards to see what you like; just try to force yourself to stay away from marble and marble-looking quartzites.

Posting some photos will help.

Agree AJCN and also it is important to choose a warmer white too.

Yes, a warm white. We used SW Pearly White recently and it is nice. But it all depends on your light conditions.

Thank you so much! All advice (and pictures) so appreciated. And AJCN, your remodel looks beaautiful!

Sincerely,

Thanks for looking! Here are some more pics of the Taj. There are other warm counters that work with white cabinets, but this is what we chose. A warm white cabinet color, warm but light counters, a neutral backsplash, consistent flooring, and a paint color that ties it all together will be the keys to tie a white kitchen to a brown/warm family area. And you might find yourself wanting to reupolster a few things, get a new rug, or get some new throws or pillows to help with the tie in. You haven't posted any pictures, so we don't know what paint color or furnishings you have. The right paint color can really help marry the two spaces. For that we chose SW Accessible Beige.

Taj:

Close-up Taj and backsplash:

Taj and sink, with warm family room in background; I think it goes fine, but would not go with a white/gray counter:

Hopefully there are some good stone yards near you. Our slabs came from Arizona Tile in Denver. I had to fly there to pick them out since this was a long-distance remodel. Go look at Taj. I think you'll lilke it.

Post an update when you can. Good luck on your project!

Another solution is to go bold like I did in my kitchen. I used Fascination quartzite which picked up lots of color. Then you are only limited by the colors in the quartzite.

Pics are before house was finished:

Finished kitchen:

Cpartist,

That is so beautiful!

OP, see, you don’t have to give in to the recent (old by now) trend to go all gray.