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dibgar_gw

Show me your dark countertop and tile to go with it

dibgar
12 years ago

We are considering a very dark brown/black granite for our master bath vanity. We have looked at several lighter stones, but we keep coming back to this one.

The cabinet will probably be medium cherry, but we are not sure what color tile to use for the floor and shower. There is no natural light in the room, so we are worried about it becoming too dark. On the other hand, my husband does not want anything too light or plain. He is colorblind and many lighter stones wash out for him, but he can see the texture and richness of this one.

In another post, treasuretheday sent her choices to go with her similar granite, but I will welcome all other suggestions, as well.

http://elemaroregon.com/images/album/New%20Arrivals/slides/Cosmic%20Gold%20Granite%20aka%20Blue%20Fantasy%203cm%20Lot%202012.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Cosmic Gold granite

Comments (8)

  • tikatoo
    12 years ago

    That is fabulous granite! I have very dark granite in my kitchen and my only comment is that it is labor intensive to keep the water spots from becoming annoying. I'm wiping all the time. That said my kitchen doesn't have all that much natural light and I don't find it terribly dark. I'm big into light due to living in the North East! I'll watch for answers as I'm considering a remodel of our 2nd bath which has no windows. Thanks for the post!

  • treasuretheday
    12 years ago

    That granite is gorgeous! (And you're right, it is very similar to mine so no wonder I love it!)

    I had the same issue... I just couldn't find a lighter toned granite that I felt as strongly about and, in the end, I think it's most important to love such an important element in the room. And if this is one that your husband can see and appreciate, I'd go for it for sure.

    Hopefully you'll get some responses and pictures from those with completed rooms since mine is far from completion. If you haven't already, you might want to check Houzz.com which is an awesome source for inspiration photos. This is one of my favorites:

    [traditional bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by phoenix kitchen and bath Affinity Kitchens

    They've chosen to do the tub deck in their tile. We've put our granite on the tub deck also.

    If you want to bring more natural light into the room, is it possible for you to consider a Solatube? We put one in our water closet which won't get any natural light at all.

    Good luck and let us know what you decide!

  • mydreamhome
    12 years ago

    I would choose a very light off white to tan tile to coordinate with the colors in the granite & the cherry cabs. The granite you've chosen is so beautiful I would let it stand on it's own & go with a tile that is less busy & on the large side to minimize busy grout lines (I would shoot for something larger than 12x12). I love the photo treasuretheday posted above. I would use that as my inspiration photo & go from there. To keep things light, I would make sure you have lighting over each sink, a light in the shower & one in the exhaust fan at the minimum. Hope this helps!

  • kelvar
    12 years ago

    Treasuretheday, I have you to thank. Because of that picture - I am rethinking my entire color scheme of our bathroom remodel. It's beautiful! I've been drawn to a couple of dark granites but I was afraid to use them in a bathroom. To date, I was sticking to a cream colored cabinet/light granite mix but wow - those colors - stained wood and dark granite top - are simply divine. I can easily see our bath in this color scheme rather than the lighter toned one I had been working toward thusfar. For the record, my kitchen has these colors in both cabinet stain and granite (antique brown)countertops. Guess old habits die hard!

  • treasuretheday
    12 years ago

    Sleevepresto... Isn't it great how one photo can inspire us?! (I've spent countless hours on Houzz.com so I'm glad to have helped!)

    This one has a more modern look...

    [asian bathroom design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/asian-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2102) by minneapolis architect Next Level Designers and Builders Inc

  • dibgar
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you for the input.

    Our house was built in 1977, not ultra modern but also not traditional. It has dark stained woodwork and beige carpet throughout (even in the bathroom--yuk!). When we remodeled the kitchen a few years ago, we replaced the dark wood with natural cherry which has aged to a warm, medium tone brown. I love our very dark green kitchen counters and the warm glow of straw colored walls and red oak floors in that room, but I am having some trouble loving that look for our master bath.

    My problem is that our current bathroom has the dark wood cabinet with a dark brown Formica countertop. The carpet in the bathroom and dressing area is beige, about the shade of travertine. I really want to get away from that look, but I am afraid that the only granite my husband can appreciate is pushing us back in that direction. We will definitely replace the carpet with tile, but I need to find a shade that doesn't remind me too much of the current beige.

    The pictures above are beautiful, but they have a little too much brown for me. We won't have any cabinets above the countertop, so I am hoping that the right color paint on the walls will keep it from looking too heavy.

    We are heading to a tile store this morning and hope that we have better luck finding something that will work with it all.

  • kelvar
    12 years ago

    Beautiful picture of the bath with the stone wall. We have a rental cabin that has a powder room with an entire stone wall and I love it. Not sure if it's too radical for a traditional home though. Granite color sure is pretty - wonder what color it is?

  • jgopp
    12 years ago

    Here is my master with dark green corian counter, cherry cabinets, and beige tile floor.