als6w, How exciting. I think both looks are beautiful. But if I were doing my own kitchen I might go with a lighter counter. I like light creams in the kitchen. Although dark does evoke a feeling of elegance for me. Here are some inspiration pics that I have hung on to despite not going with cherry. Maybe they can help. Cherry is lovely. ~boxerpups

Are you planning on dark stained cherry or natural cherry? Natural cherry is a medium tone so I think you could have it as the cabinets and flooring without making the room to dark. We like contrast and already had chosen a stone for our counters that wasn't dark so we used natural maple floors. Here's how that looks with natural cherry cabinets in our kitchen and family room. In the following pictures, our kitchen has been in for about 6 years so the cherry has darkened to its long term color. The family room cabinets were just a few weeks old so they were still fairly light. Since then, thy have darkened enough to be almost the same as the kitchen cabs. Maple is nice for a floor because it is very hard so it won't be damaged easily. I also really like how it works well with our area rug and couch in the family room picking up the lighter color in the rug and not competing with it: It also works well with our oak breakfast table and chairs. A cherry floor might not play well with oak furniture.

Hi all, I am putting new flooring in my condo for my kitchen/dining area/living room, which are all part of one big room, essentially. I'm currently leaning toward using wood-look tile (the flooring is being replaced because of a flood that started two units above mine, so the thought of flooring that won't be ruined if this happens again is particularly appealing). I'm having trouble figuring out what color flooring would work best with the design of the kitchen, which unfortunately isn't changing much because of the cost. The kitchen has dark cherry wood cabinets and black granite countertops, so I'm looking to try to lighten things up a bit. Any suggestions? I'm also repainting the walls, and would love paint color suggestions as well! Here's a picture of the kitchen. This picture is from before I bought the condo, so the counters are less cluttered and I don't have a rug in there. You can't tell from this picture, but the left side of the kitchen is open to the dining area. As part of this process, I am planning to take down the black granite backsplash and replace it with something lighter, but can't afford to do new counter tops or cabinets (and don't want to paint the cabinets I have). Here's a picture from the rest of the room (taken from the entryway, with the kitchen on my right). This is also from before I owned the place, but gives you an idea of what the room is like. I hate the dark crown molding and baseboards, so will be making those white. Here's a picture of part of the dining area and living room now. It's not a great picture, but will hopefully give you an idea of the current decor.

I don't think antique brass goes with light wood tones. You need at least a rich midtone. I think painting the blades white would just make the metal stand out more (brass is lovely, but motors and brackets usually aren't meant to be have starring roles). I also think it would look like you took an old fan and tried to make it new -- not always the look you are after. I have antique brass with cherry blades in my LR and don't find it heavy at all. I do have 10 ft ceilings.