I think that you cannot go wrong with any granite or quartz color in this combination. What color will your floors be like? Are you planning on installing a backsplash? Take these two things into consideration before making a definite decision. It's best to take samples of backsplash tile and countertop, bring them home, and see how do they look together with your cabinets and floor. You can even take a few different combinations to be able to see what will work best and what you actually like. If you like more movement and uniqueness in countertops, go with granite. If you like more simple and uniform look, look into quartz.

Thx, frenchtarragon. This would totally be me. I've been trying to tell myself white will be ok for almost a week. I'm putting it to bed. Really, can't thank you guys enough. Hope the red isn't too red, as I've read issues even with matching red to red. Ugh. (Claire, these are very old oak floors. They haven't tested this section of the floor (original) but they are definitely oak. The family room neighboring the kitchen is confirmed red by a cross-section. The cabs are bleached walnut. Not a great pair with oak -- had planned them when the kitchen was a maple floor.)

Quick question. As you know, we had our floors re-stained about 6 or 7 weeks ago, they stained and did one finish coat, and then came back once the project was done to buff out any imperfections and put the final coats on. They say to wait 30 days before you put down any area rugs...I know part of this is to protect their business, but if it was just the clear coats is that still applicable? I can't go an entire month with our dogs and no rugs, and we want to move back in!! How imperative is this, the rugs will always be in the same spots with our floorpan layout, so if it affects coloring it won't matter really....thoughts?

We've seen homeowners out of the house for close to 3 weeks or longer when the odour of the oil based products is 'locked' inside the home. For those of us who are sensitive to odours (migraine sufferers, asthmatics, COPD sufferers, etc) we are unable to sleep in the same house as a 10 day old oil poly floor. For us, the stink is like breathing in ammonia. It constricts our lungs, it causes massive headaches (I lose vision in my left eye), vomiting (often goes with migraine) and a sense of feeling unwell for the entire time the floor takes to cure. These are all KNOWN reactions to HIGH VOC content. Since the OP is in California, the VOC content in the finish *should be lower (than Minwax 550...which means VOC 550g/L) it still means the VOC content is still allowed to be HIGH if the containers of the product are small enough (don't get me going on that little nugget). The top water based products (not the off the shelf stuff nor the 1 part products) are tougher than oil based. Yes the cost is higher but then again the cost of living in a hotel for another 3 weeks is also pricey. Loba 2K Supra AT, for example, is infused with ceramic nanobeads. They are equal in performance to Aluminum Oxide factory finishes. The myth that water based products are inferior only goes as far as the Home Depot parking lot. So long as the professional works with PROFESSIONAL GRADE materials (not Varathane, not Rustoleum, not DuraSeal) then the 2 PART water based products are superior to oil baed. But the caveat of "...so long as the professional works with professional grade materials..." is the ONE AREA where we see concerns. Many "pro's" do not have the education (ie. paid for the Bona or Loba training themselves) to work these high-end products.