Do you have a sample of the Silestone Lagoon to look at with your tile. I think you are right that it might look slightly off but it's hard to know with out seeing it in person. I also think it might be difficult to find a solid white countertop that will play well with both the white in the tile and your white countertops. Maybe you should concierge a light to medium tone gray countertop. It will provide a little contrast and keep your room from looking too white (unless that is the look you want). I think it would look better not to have too much movement in the countertop since the porcelain carrara tile has lots of movement. I posted a picture earlier in this thread showing the Carrara look alike tile my daughter used in her bathroom. She opted for light gray cabinets and initially wanted a white countertop. She shopped remnants for her countertop and was not able to find something that didn't "look slightly off". She ended up using a black quartz that had some lighter speckles in it. She thought it looked better than a solid color. Perhaps you could find a grey with some flecks of dark grey, black or white in it. I've posted many pics of my daughter's bathroom on this forum but here's a few shots for you so you can see how contrasting colors work Since you probably don't want to go with black, maybe something like Silestones Ocean Jasper Or Moonstone Would work for you. If your not limited to Silestone Cambria has some options that might work too. Snowdown White Greystone Good look with your search for the right countertop.

nancy_east -- thanks for your nice words! How exciting about your kitchen -- this will be fun to watch develop! The widest walkway we have is 36 1/2" (countertop to countertop), with it going down to 34 1/2" where our apron front sink "jumps" out. From our cooktop to the widest point of the bowed island countertop is 35 3/4". The only times (or rather, areas) our aisles feel tight are when the dishwasher door is open and there's only 12" of clearance (between the open door and the island cabinetry). But so far, no barked shins! We're careful and aware. The other area is our refrigerator (which is 30" wide, all refrigerator so it's a wide door): when it's open the only one who can sidle by (and then it's just barely) is our two year-old. But neither of those conditions are permanent (meaning, the dishwasher is mostly closed and the refrigerator door is mostly closed as well). While 36" for an aisle isn't "ideal," for us it's working out fine. Our only alternative would've been to give up the island and that wasn't an option! We need the storage space. Your aisles will work out fine; if it there's an impediment in the 36" aisle (like a dishwasher), then you all will learn the same careful two-step we and many others have as well! Good luck with your kitchen-in-progress! (and whole house, too!)

I have always loved white kitchens, and my last house in FL had one. Here in Wisconsin, not very common. Our house was a spec home with typical midwestern oak cabinetry, and the kitchen is very open to the rest of the oaky house. For 7 years it has bothered me, and without the cash to redo perfectly good, solid cabinetry, we started on a kitchen face-lift a few months ago...with my creamy white cabinets! I have paint on my hands every day, and it is still a mess, but if you see from my blog, it is coming along nicely. But, still a lot of work to be done! What works for My house is that we mixed in a few oak elements (oak beadboard on the inside of a few open bookcases, an oak desktop- which I need to redo a better color, ugh), and we are hand antiquing the doors with an oaky brown accent glaze in the crevices. But, what really makes it work is that it's what we wanted, and sometimes if you really like some style, chances are that similar style is reflected elsewhere in you decor and it will eventually work together. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Dream Kitchen Blog

Thanks mdl. I will toy around with this idea. I like light and bright, but we do have plenty of that in this kitchen already, plus a huge wall of windows. Our whole house is warm neutrals, and that is what is challenging me here. I agree that the white and the blue both look too cool. And thanks designsavy. I was on a mission to get it all done ASAP as we are using a contractor and are doing many rooms in a remodel, and the dust is getting to me, but we have just rearranged the sequence of things, and will now be doing kitchen, laundry, then master bath, so there should be time once the cabs and countertop are installed. I'd rather make it right and slow down if necessary.