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Show me your stained cabinets with contrasting countertop!

homey_bird
16 years ago

Hello all,

If any of you did stained (not painted) wood cabinets with a countertop color that contrasts rather than blends, then I would like to see the pictures! Some of these color schemes may include:

-- cherry + some glaze + blue pearl granite

-- maple + some glaze + black granite or soapstone

etc.

What I am NOT seeking in this thread is something like:

-- cherry + some glaze + Santa Cecelia granite

-- cream painted + Kashmir gold

I hope this clarifies what I am looking for.

I would also welcome thoughts/feedback and suggestions on this type of contrast scheme.

All types of comments/wisdom most welcome (even without photos)!!! I am keeping an open mind. I find myself dreaming (literally!) of this type of kitchen for past few days , however, I suspect that unless you have good understanding of the palette, this type of kitchen can go wrong...that is what I am trying to avoid.

Comments (35)

  • patti823
    16 years ago

    Here is mine. I have caramel maple cabinets and Ubatuba granite, whichh is a very dark green with gold flecks/veins running through it.

  • abbycat9990
    16 years ago

    Unstained maple, Formica Basalt Slate countertops:

  • alku05
    16 years ago

    That's my kitchen, alright! Cherry sienna cabinets with Andromeda White counters.

  • Bert31
    16 years ago

    I can't get the pictures to come up but we just installed Maple Cabinets with a Honey Spice stain and a wine glaze. The Granite is Scotish Meadow, which has a lot of movement with Grey's white's and some Rose in it. It compliments the cabinets really well. Tony M.

  • cat_mom
    16 years ago

    Here's a lousy picture of our kitchen (cell phone camera--one of these days I will take pics with the real camera and post them...):

    Our cabs are a very light stained cherry (they've darkened up quite a bit since they were delivered just about a year ago). Our granite is Labrador Golden Flake (soft greyish-black with loads of silver and bronze pearling), and our backsplash tiles are clear glass painted white on the back of the tile (the tile are a mix of glossy and matte glass).

  • homey_bird
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Wow! Those do look beautiful indeed! I am trying to make up my mind on which way to go. A contrasting color scheme makes a big impact, if put in properly.

    Patti, abbycat and Alku, your kitchens are simply beautiful! It makes me very confident that this type of kitchen might work. Can you share with me what made you pick this palette?

    Another commonality I noticed is that the kitchens are kind of soft contemporary....is there a relationship between contemporary kitchens and color schemes?

    I would love to see more.

  • Buehl
    16 years ago

    Our kitchen will be a cherry mandarin w/coffee glaze + Diamond Black granite...in a traditional style. Unfortunately, it's not done yet so I cannot take pictures. I posted only to let you know that you do not have to go contemporary if you like the contrasting color scheme.

  • claybabe
    16 years ago

    Here are a couple of photos from the old new kitchen, taken before complete, but you get the idea:

    And this is the new new kitchen, with a little less contrast wrt counters. Both are natural cherry.

  • alku05
    16 years ago

    Homey_bird, I think contrast somewhere in your pallete adds visual interest. DH and I are both partial to dark woods, so choosing a light counter and backsplash was a way for us to go dark on the floors and cabinets. Also, my DH has a thing for picking "plain white" everything, so it was a nice compromise.

  • leahgillum
    16 years ago

    Stained oak, uba tuba counters

    Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen

  • homey_bird
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    thanks a lot for all those who posted after/during my post! I love seeing all your kitchens. The cabinets are superb; very modern as like them!

    Hope to see more; hope more folks will post the pix!

  • theresab1
    16 years ago

    We have stained cherry cabinets, and azul macuabas granite- I was worried about the contrast, but love it how it came out. Best of luck in your decision.


  • jessie21
    16 years ago

    alku, i just love your kitchen. i'm shooting for a similar dark cab/light counter contrast. i hope mine turns out half as nice as yours......

  • rmlanza
    16 years ago

    Another one with natural maple cabinets with a coffee glaze and ubatuba granite. I SOOO wanted contrast. My original kitchen plans had very dark stained cherry with light granite.


    And here's one of my island. I think my slate floors and backsplash balance it all.

    Good luck with your choices!

  • laura1202
    16 years ago

    This is maple with a mocha stain and a coffee glaze on the perimeter and maple painted black on the island. Verde Butterfly granite.

    {{!gwi}}

  • patty_cakes
    16 years ago

    When thinking of contrasting cabs/countertops, the floor should also be taken into consideration. I had it so set in my head that I HAD TO HAVE ivory glazed cabs w/Black Absolute granite. I didn't stop to think that I would also be having a 10' of DARK stained contrasting cabs on an outside wall, as well as a dark wood floor. It got me thinking how dreary that seemed, and seeing it all together, it was. I ended up going with New Venetian Gold granite~it accents the stained cabinets, and IMO, dresses up the ivory glazed, and the floor blends beautifully with everything.

    Mind you, this was what I saw when using the samples as my 'eyes'. The kitchen won't be finished for a couple of months. I'm anticipating I made all the right choices. ;o)

  • franki1962
    16 years ago

    We have cherry cabinets stained in Pecan w/ a chocolate glaze. We considered red and green toned granites but ended up with this (Blue Brazil)

  • abbycat9990
    16 years ago

    Re choosing pallette: Originally, I wanted cherry, mission style cabs with a granite-look laminate countertops. DH wanted natural maple contemporary-style cabs (I conceded); DH and KD said my shiny laminate would show scratches, and proposed the Basalt Slate (sigh, conceded again). Then I wanted a warm wall color, but DH pointed to all our kitchen design books where the contemporary kitchens were painted white (I conceded that too).

    Well, the white was too cold and the room seemed bare. I appealed to GW readers for color input. Green or red were suggested. Still DH resisted. Finally, we brought in a designer pal who immediately pointed to our brick chimney and suggested working with the color. There followed many trips to paint stores and much research online until we settled on BM's Aura line (kitchen is Masada, adjoining den area is Anjou Pear).

    We now have a much warmer-looking kitchen (I plan to re-cover counter stools in black) that we both love:


    But we still don't know what to do with the chimney wall:

  • homey_bird
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    One thing I am noticing is that, most of the granites look black/black-ish in the pictures. I know that some of them would look very different when light shines on them, or when directly viewed. Due to the limitations of the camera, I cannot fully appreciate the impact of various hues on the cabinetry; yet this is fantastic. When I go to pick my cabs and stone, I will have a list handy and will run through all these combinations.

    All in all, I am enjoying the pictures, the kitchens.

    There is another benefit that I never thought of. My DH dislikes painting over wood, and therefore I know for a fact that our kitchen would be stained cabs (thus my specific question!). Yet, each time I loved a kitchen in pix, it was a painted cream kitchen (I think this has been discussed in another thread already here). I could never imagine any other stain except med cherry. Now, I am seeing all these wonderful wood tones, and finishes, and they all look so stunning.....I am feeling really good about stained cab kitchen!!!

    Thank you all. Like I said before, I want to see more :-) (I can never tire of looking at beautiful colorful kitchens).

    Speaking of which, what exactly tilted you folks for a stained kitchen? Just curious.....

  • susan4664
    16 years ago

    Maple cabinets with cherry stain, Peacock green granite countertops(dark green w/gold and black veining) and Dark Andino tumbled marble backsplash.

  • jessie21
    16 years ago

    I picked stain because I love dark wood and have never had it before. I also thought that far far faaaaaaaaarrr in the future, it would be easier to paint a stained cabinet if I needed a change than it would be to strip paint off to stain it......

  • soonermagic
    16 years ago

    While my perimeter cabinets are painted, the island is stained dark and topped with a light marble:

    In my bathrooms, I have dark stained cabinets with funky granites. Here's a purple and green granite (gorgeous in person, but doesn't photograph very well):

    And here's Red Dragon:

  • jejvtr
    16 years ago

    homey
    what "tilted" me - towards stained - I, like you, always appreciated the look of painted cabs - however when I made a choice on the cabinet maker & visited their showroom that convinced me. Like your husband feel, no painting wood - Their were so many beautiful species it seemed silly to paint wood. Additionally I felt that the stained would be easier to maintain in a busy home.

    Here's a link to the cabinet maker - to give you an idea - I had a hard time deciding which stained wood to go with

    Here is a link that might be useful: kennebec cabinetry

  • diana20
    16 years ago

    All of these kitchens look wonderful!! This gives me good ideas for our house that we are about to build.

    I also have a question for soonermagic...
    Did you buy the cabinetry for the single sink in the bathroom or was that built? I really like that look, but wasn't sure if you could buy it that way or have it built and is that more expensive? Thanks, Diana

  • okak
    16 years ago

    Susan
    Your kitchen is beautiful. You show your cabinets are maple with a cherry stain. Would you please provide the name of your cabinet maker and the stain information.
    Thank you
    Jan

  • lindybarts
    16 years ago

    Have you gone through the Finished Kitchens slideshow? Just checking...

    I don't know if mine is enough of a contrast for you but here it is. Alder cabinets with a Chestnut stain and New Venetian Gold Counters with Tumbled backsplash.

  • lilyshouse
    16 years ago

    My question is also for soonermagic, is that granite on your single bowl sink Brick Red? I am considering putting in really red granite the top of my island and island(cherry mahg stain) and buffet(cream paint) That would be quite a contrast.

  • homey_bird
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Wow! I love the Peacock Green close-up and thanks jejvtr for sending me the cabs link.

    Lilyhouse, soonermagic's red granite is Red Dragon.

    Yes, I have looked at the FKB. The only problem (so far I think) is that there is no way to search for kitchens with a certain description. It would be good to have indexes such as "granite counters" or "stained cabs" or "island kitchens" etc.

  • susan4664
    16 years ago

    Okak,

    Thanks. My cabinets were custom built and the quality turned out to be fantastic. I don't know where you live, but I am in Florida and used Roger Romero (Roger's Cabinets). His phone number is (954) 584-9876. He is truly a master craftsman who takes pride in his work and customer service. It took him 12 weeks to build it all by hand and custom stain it, layering on coat by coat until we found just the right one for us. His price was not more than any other kitchen place who orders cabinets from manufacturers like Thomasville, etc. I wish other Floridians come across this post and give him a call. You won't be sorry. Tell him Susan from Coral Springs sent you!

  • lindybarts
    16 years ago

    homey, there are categories in the FKB. Starpooh has put alot of time into making a really great blog that you can search! Yay Starpooh...again! LOL

    Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Categories list

  • okak
    16 years ago

    Susan
    Thanks for your response. Unfortunately we do not live in Florida. Your selection of stain on your cabinets make your kitchen a showcase. I looked on the Finished Kitchen Blog but I could not find your kitchen. It would be great if you put it on the blog.

    Lindybarts Thanks for your response as well
    Jan

  • jodierd
    16 years ago

    Soonermagic, do you have a source for the bathroom cabinet in the picture, the one with the Red Dragon top? Pretty?
    Thanks!

  • cburch
    16 years ago

    Here's mine. Colonial maple stain on birch cabinets, Verde Butterfly granite, golden sienna tumbled travertine backsplash.

    This was a hard decision for me. I wanted something more monochromatic, but DH was pretty set on contrast and no movement. So, we picked something with a variety in the "pattern". This slab had large white quartz pieces and lots of "red/garnet" pieces that add interest. (See below)


    Christy

  • soonermagic
    16 years ago

    There have been a couple of questions regarding one of my bathroom cabinets. I had it built by a custom cabinet maker, and used one of Pottery Barn's bath cabinets as the inspiration. I don't recall off the top of my head what the price was, but it was significantly less expensive than PB's, but that was before we topped it with Red Dragon, which is much more expensive than the marble that comes on PB's cabinet. Probably a wash in the end, but I got the granite of my choice.

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