@sombreuil I guess I’m an outlaw as I just put in limestone floor in Versailles pattern on the first floor. I used to love oak and hate the orange color but now I have a huge aversion to wood kitchen as my in laws have oak everywhere. Their house is so dark that I carry a flashlight with me because I keep tripping over all the small carpets underfoot. Their cabinets were custom but the oak has gone orange. It was hellish trying to find paint to tone down the kitchen. With oak walls, ceiling beams, floors, cabinets, trims and all furniture (big and small) in dark oak, it’s very claustrophobic and oppressive to be in the house. We remodeled their house recently due to flood and they put everything back the same and added more oak in any area that did not have it before. My advice is choose what you love but use moderation in the amount of wood.

We are just finishing our kitchen remodel. Our kitchen is small and we kept the same footprint, nothing fancy. I just kept saying in my mind--keep it simple. We are hoping to put our house on the market this year, if and when we start to build. We decided to go with Formica's Labrador Granite in the Etchings finish. They accidentally ordered the honed finish and I did not care for it so we sent it back and waited just 2 more weeks. It looked a lot like the finish that Lowe's carries in their in stock countertop of Labrador, which isn't bad, but I just thought this one looked a little richer in color and texture. I wasn't trying to fool eyes by getting Formica. It was in my budget,(750 installed) and I just didn't think that every buyer would want granite or like my taste in granite and didn't want to waste my money---I still have another kitchen to do. Also, we wanted to put that money saved towards other improvements in this house. I really like the countertop a lot--no I love it. This was actually fun and good practice for the new house. Lots of learned lessons for sure. Here are some pictures of my almost finished kitchen and countertop. I don't think the countertop photographs true to finish--plus I have a crappy camera. Still waiting on my refrigerator and a few other things. Hope they help! Here is a link that might be useful: Labrador Granite/Etchings

Lara and CJ, I too searched and wasn’t able to find pictures with brown wood cabinets We went with IKEA’s Grimslov Brown and just paid for our Noble Grey counters today. It will be a few weeks, but I will post pictures as soon as I’m able to. Hopefully it will help someone!

@Devin, our Guardian Oak has held up great. No scratches that I can see and that is with a dog, a cat, and two kids. We have felt on the bottom of all the furniture, but I did just check the bottom of the stairs where the cat and dog regularly chase each other with audible scratching as they rush around the corner. I couldn’t find anything. With the animals, we vacuum almost every day. It does show dust and dirt, but we’d rather see it and vacuum regularly than unknowingly walk through kid crumbs. :) Our only issue has been the install concerns I mentioned. We get some movement at the end joints still, as they had trouble going together in spots. Shaw suggested CA glue as the solution, but I haven’t been brave enough to try that yet.