The hickory could work if you had a large stainless apron front sink that would help avoid chipping/dents and trivets for heat.

I like the idea of using a matte gray and NOT stainless. Even with with a brushed stainless option, it is still a reflective surface, and I think your best option is to go as muted as possible on the perimeter so the island and backsplash tile are the stars. Not a pro . . . just my opinion.

@ crick55 My recommendation remains to review your options with a quality KD. I'm sure you have seen posts by pro designers on these forums. There are several who post frequently. Consider why none have contributed to your post.

Thanks. I don’t care what your recommendation is.

On a different post (4 inch backsplash) I saw a granite named elegant gray that made me think of this post.

@crick55 I really didn't like the idea of a dark countertop on the perimeter however while looking for inpspiration photos for my own kitchen I came across this. I know your floors are dark so your's wouldnt be quite so airy but the honed black counters actually look good with the dark blue tile.

That’s a really helpful visualization, Cheri! Thanks. I can see it clearly in my head but it’s good to know it looks good in the real
world too. 😏

Have you thought about honed or leathered steel gray granite? It reads pretty solid, so it wouldn’t compete with the tile or island. We have elegant gray granite (also called silver gray) and it can have significant veining which I think would probably be too busy. That said, you never know. You could find a slab with minimal veining that might work.

Thanks. We’ve looked at all the honed gray/black granite slabs locally. They all have too much veining going on. There was a sample of a texture I’m not familiar with — an almost pitted surface — that looked pretty cool. But I suspect that’s going to depend on the individual slab also. We may head up to the nearest city on Wednesday and see what gray granite slabs are available up there. I also have some calls into local metal fabricators to see how steel compares cost-wise. We’ll look at both.

I was thinking of leathered steel gray also! @crick55, you'll be happy to know that it is one of the least expensive stones around and from what I've heard it is maintenance free; not porous and doesn't stain. How often do you find something so functional and inexpensive?

Not quite maintenance free. Better (maybe) than honed in terms of porosity, but it can still stain. And any stone can crack under a sudden temp change. That’s not to say it wouldn’t work, and we are open to a honed or leathered stone if we can find one that has minimal color variation, veining and movement in the pattern. So far that has proven tough.

Thanks for the suggestion!!

I appreciate everyone who has offered ideas and suggestions to help us figure out our countertop solution. You guys have been terrific and you have reassured me that I have done my homework and am not overlooking some marvelous countertop option I’ve never heard of.

It’s pretty clear to me that we will end up with either a textured grey/charcoal granite that echoes the floor or a stainless steel that echoes the appliances. We need something that will stand up to some serious cooking by people who are sometimes careless about finicky surfaces. The stainless is going to be most functional there and the granite (or possibly Dekton) is next. We are off to look at the choices and make a decision this morning and I’ll report back.

I wish there were a solution that checked all the boxes for us but it’s pretty clear that each one has trade offs between multiple advantages and disadvantages. It’s been an interesting exercise to work through our priorities and see what trade offs we are willing to accept and which we aren’t at this point in our lives, compared to the last time we did this 15 or so years ago. We will have probably one more kitchen project in us after this, so what we learn here will go on to help us with that one.

It seems to me that some people measure a kitchen’s viability solely in terms of how it measures up to the kitchens produced by pros in magazines and design sites, which tends to push kitchens all toward looking pretty much the same. It’s like there is a template that gets used over and over. It also means a lot of jumping on trends that produce kitchens that date themselves pretty dramatically.

Our measure for a kitchen is our measure of all the rooms we create in our homes — we want a space filled with the colors and textures we love in a combination that makes us feel good, and that has the functional space and the tools that allow us to enjoy the work of keeping us nourished and entertained. This kitchen is where we will spend a huge chunk of our time, where we will gather family and where we will welcome friends.

I’ll share pictures of the finished product, but it won’t break my heart if no one likes our color combos or if some pros on a website think it violates some design rules. That just isn’t what it’s about for us. We are not looking to win a kitchen design contest but to we are build a happy, welcoming and functional space in our home.

Didn’t mean to write a sermon here, maybe I’m just hoping to head off the inevitable second-guessing that I see in forums like this (and have seen right here.) We are already thrilled with our kitchen. Its colors and textures give us enormous joy. You aren’t going to nag, shame, or scold us into feeling differently about it — you’ll just make yourself look like a doofus. Rain on our parade if you must, but I guarantee you won’t like the color of our umbrellas, either. 😝

In Montana but do some cool steel counters

https://brandnerdesign.com/collections/furniture/beds/plated-steel-countertops.html

Wow! That’s pretty phenomenal. Those are a little different from what I’m talking about (it’s plate steel (a lot thicker than what I’m looking at which would wrap around plywood, and it doesn’t look stainless - tho it might be — but if not it would have a different patina) but I LOVE the look. What a talented fabricator!!

Medium grey something. You know you want soapstone. It sounds like it would be perfect functionally and aesthetically. You say you can't get it? Concrete maybe? Soapstone-looking quartz? Something very simple. I will be curious to know what you end up with that looks like soapstone and acts like soapstone but isn't soapstone. I'm in the camp that thinks a stainless steel countertop with all the other stainless steel is too much of a good thing except in a restaurant kitchen.

Wow! How wonderfully different and beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing. Tell more about the cabinets. I think your kitchen will be worthy of a HOUZZ story. I look forward to more pictures!

I love you and I love this kitchen. It makes me so happy to know you’re bringing this kitchen into the world and will share it with friends and family. It’s art, truly.

Looks fabulous! Is that a Moooi fixture?

Your kitchen will be beautiful. It is so refreshing, to see a homey nice kitchen, that doesnt look like a hospital.

Yep, Rachel. It is. Good eye!!! Flock of Lights. It’s not all the way installed yet. Kind of handing there, waiting for the electrician to return.

Wow, wow and wow!!!! Looks amazing so far!!!! Can't wait to see it finished. Congrats on a gorgeous design!

I love the Flock of Lights concept. Warm summer nights chasing fireflies with cousins at family reunions... Now just sitting on the patio watching them in the yard. 

Their line of lights is interesting. I like the Perch series too. https://www.moooi.com/us/collection/?c_category=Lighting

I have happy firefly memories too. Moooi has some amazing light fixtures. What I liked about this one is that when it’s not turned on your eye sees right through it. I don’t like pendant lights that break up the line of sight in the kitchen but this one melts into its surroundings until you turn it on. We only had it connected for a few minutes to check it out before we had to disconnect to paint over the ceiling but the array of lights is warm and amazingly bright. Can’t imagine what it will look like from outside at night!!!! Or inside when the main lights are off!! 😍

I am in love with Moooi and I really love your style. I like to use unusual pairings like your use of more rustic cabinets, handmade tile and the bling of the Lemurian and delicate contemporary light. I was hoping you were going to tell me it was a dupe and get a reccommendation. These are a bit pricey for me but I am so afraid of purchasing a fixture that doesn't have the quality.

The unusual pairings keep going — the cabinets that don’t have doors yet are going to be glossy white. 🤯😆

I hear you on cost. We’ve kind of lost the plot on the budget. We will need to put off other things we want to do but it seemed a shame not to give this kitchen the light fixture and countertops it wanted. 😏

Stunning kitchen... congratuations! Your design choices are amazing!

Yes, it's so hard when you fall in love. I actually considered the Lemurian also. But I had blue pearl granite in my last house and decided to change it up and go for a lighter look with leathered Thunder White. I loved the bling in the blue pearl like your Lemurian. I also stacked my 2x8 backsplash tile vertically like you!

Love your kitchen and can't wait to see the final photos!

Me too! Can’t wait to see the final

@crick55 Do. Or do not. There is no budget. ☺️

@KL 😆🤗

@crick55 any progress?

Just waiting for paint on the window frames and I will post final pix. We are super excited it’s really something. Here’s a glimpse at dusk with the lights on. ☺️

The window frames are not in yet in these pix. We just got them last week. And those are the old bar stools. New ones are still 5 weeks away. But we are sooooo close

Love it!

OMG that's the most beautiful kitchen ever!

@crick55 what is the flooring? I just realized it looks like something I was looking at. Is it grey or chocolate grey? Maker? Line?

The Moooi light fixture is magical!

KL, it’s a gray gray (no brown at all) ceramic tile that essentially looks like slate (but isn’t.). Has a bit of a white vein running through it that is more pronounced than I thought it would be. I wanted a polished concrete look and didn’t quite get it. If I can track down the maker I’ll let you know but I don’t remember.

Thanks @crick55 I found a brown grey porcelain tile kinda like that. I wondered if they were the same. Doesn't sound like it. No need to track it down. By the way, I like the gloss level. I wonder if gloss on the floor too might have been too much. But then I never could have envisioned what you did, so maybe it would have been...perfecter. 🥴

Wow! Jaw-dropping gorgeous! I imagine that I’d feel like I was under water, at my favorite snorkel spot in the blue Caribbean…

Are you continuing a blue/green theme elsewhere? I’d love to know what paint colors you’re using/ considering.

Me too, @crick55....care to share the rest of the house?

I’ve been trying to dig up some old photos. Can’t take new because the house is a mess. Haven’t moved all the way back into the kitchen and we are still refurbishing the adjoining keeping room. I’ll throw some oldies up here but with all the disclaimers — it’s a work in progress, and nothing looks exactly like this anymore. Also, it’s hard to light this house without pro equipment. 😏

@crick55 thanks! I decided to follow you and save this thread so, even if it takes time, I shouldn't miss it. I know how you feel too. I am happy to show pictures of my latest projects, but the rest of the house has barely been touched since 1998 when we moved in. So I wouldn't want to share pictures of those areas. 😳

This is what I got right now. When we get it cleaned up I’ll post better. There is a keeping room right off the kitchen (no pix) with teal furniture, black eames chair, tv and brick fireplace, then the dining room you see here with the live edge table and orange chairs. It’s split level and the dining room is open to the living room (second two pix), a half flight down. Kind of confusing. It’s really a pretty house, built in 1955. Why don’t I have better pix?? 🙄

Your kitchen is absolutely beautiful. I think, it tops any kitchen I have seen on these forums for many yrs. You can be very proud of what you have accomplished.

This is just stunning. I love all your bold choices and decisions, and I do think the counters were the right choice for sure! I hope you stick around in these forums and offer advice to others.

I love your style!

It is a pleasure seeing somebody making bold design choices!