Help with Countertop for Kitchen Remodel
We are remodeling a kitchen and I would like advice on countertops. At the suggestion of this group (thank you!), we have removed a bank of cabinets between the kitchen and breakfast area/family room and replaced them with pendant lights. The hardwood floor (red oak) is in progress and will be stained a medium-tone (Early American) to match adjacent flooring. We plan to paint existing cabinets white and add a white subway tile backsplash. New appliances are stainless.
Before:
Cabinets removed & flooring in progress:
We have 3 countertop areas, the main one being L-shaped, a second one (on left, not pictured) where a coffee bar will be located, and a third one on either side of the range. Kitchen has south-facing windows and good natural light. Our original plan for the countertop was granite – possibly ubatuba, which we had not realized was becoming dated. Now that we’re reconsidering, the variety of options is daunting. We lean towards the more natural look of granite but would consider quartz. Budget is negotiable but a mid-range granite or quartz would be appropriate for the style and location of our home.
What advice would you give for narrowing down the countertop options and avoiding serious pitfalls? If you could put any granite/quartz in this kitchen, what would it be? Thank you in advance for your help!
Comments (10)
last monthlast modified: last monthdo the brown stained cabinets require painting? the stainless appliances w a white or light corian might be my final changes .... prefer to leave the cabinets alone. if its hard to match the oak stain for the new coffee bar cabs then just paint that left side only. its a distinctly separate area so you can pick any color and keep all the other oak. . light corian looks great on older wood cabs / agree w la la Girl .
there are white granites as well. depends on what you have available.
Taupe White Granite in an historic kitchen · More Infosusanmjenny thanked herbflavorRelated Discussions
Kitchen Remodel - Need Help With Granite Counter Color
Comments (9)We have a patterned floor - I guess it'd be considered patterned, anyway. It's a brown toned tile, a bit similar to the floor in the first picture in this thread. Our cabinets are kind of interesting - rustic hickory, which has a fair amount of contrast with the dark toned knots, the lighter straight grained wood, and all. The tropical brown helps to tie it together...I think I would have been afraid of something solid colored - every crumb would be visible! I'm a good housekeeper, but I'm going to obsess enough as it is, keeping that granite perfectly clean! Maybe I have no sense of design. I don't know. At least nothing in our new kitchen clashes horribly, does it??? :-P...See MoreMismatched Kitchen Counter-tops
Comments (35)Heatheron40, very nice. I asked a question about doing a tile countertop in our guest cabin recently as I feel like the look would complement the cabin aesthetic. Also I’m dying to learn to tile and thought it would be a fun place to start as it’s not an everyday space and I could take my time. Most of the responses were against. Basically stating the grout would make me crazy. The guy at the said what you’re saying I think, he said that modern grouts are more resistant to staining and such, and also to go with a tinted grout of some sort. I love your use of pattern to give it interest and intention!...See MoreOff white kitchen remodel- ideas for quartz counter top and backsplash
Comments (1)Get a sample of your cabinet doors, and then bring it to visit the samples of counters in your favorite show room. Nobody can guess....See MoreHelp! I need help with choices for my kitchen! Darlington counter top!
Comments (7)thinkdesignlive Thank you. The floor in the room adjacent to the kitchen is birch wood. I don't have much choice in terms of the floor than to put tiles. The tile will be going in the kitchen, the entrance, the hallway, the kitchen table area and the mudroom. The floor needs to be redone in that our tiles are cracking. The trim all over the home is white. So far I have picked the Olympia Glam series Tortora a neutral, good-for-traffic area tile. ( see picture above ) The wood of the kitchen cabinets is in good shape, but some doors need to be refreshed. The wood in some doors is getting bare due to water damage or lack of varnish in some areas. Luckily, I found someone willing to do a trial in my powder room cabinet to see what it would look like and whether he could refresh the cabinets. I would love to redo a full kitchen however I was quoted $ 70000 just for the cabinets if we still want wood. I agree with you that I am all over the place. I will follow your suggestion and create a new inspiration board. Thank you for this suggestion....See MoreRelated Professionals
Upper Saint Clair Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Halfway General Contractors · Middletown General Contractors · Overlea General Contractors · Signal Hill General Contractors · Clinton Township Interior Designers & Decorators · West Palm Beach Architects & Building Designers · El Dorado Hills Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hemet Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Evans General Contractors · Monroe General Contractors · Stoughton General Contractors · Emeryville Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Lyons Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Farragut Tile and Stone Contractors
last monthI love the contrast of white counters and backsplash with dark wood. If your cabinets look as good in person as they do in the photo, I’d spend the money you planned to spend on painting elsewhere.
susanmjenny thanked ffpalms- last monthlast modified: last month
If you decide to keep the wood stained, which is trending above white cabinets so far since 2024, I love taj mahal with your wood tones. It is nice with painted cabinets too.
susanmjenny thanked roarah - last month
Thank you so much for your replies – and for the kindness you showed to our oak cabinets! We have loved them too, but for several reasons feel that paint is now our best option. For starters, the cabinets do show considerable wear in the main kitchen area and some refinish is definitely needed. We also think it’s unlikely that we could match the new coffee bar base cabinet and modified upper cabinet above the sink to the existing cabinets. (As herbflavor mentions, we could do the coffee bar cabinet in a different color but not sure we could pull that off for the upper cabinet.) Finally, I’m afraid it will be just too much wood once the floor is stained (see floor color/grain below). We do have a professional painter lined up for the cabinets.
If we stick to the plan for white cabinets, we’d like a countertop that provides contrast rather than a white/white look. The L-shaped counter limits us somewhat to patterns that are not directional. Thanks to those who’ve already made suggestions. One other possibility we’re entertaining is painting lower cabinets a darker shade on the peninsula/sink and coffee bar so that we could use a white or very light countertop with white upper cabinets. The cabinets on the wall near the range would still be white. I’d be interested in your thoughts on the 2-color idea and also any further suggestions for a countertop to give contrast with white cabinets. Thank you again!
roarah