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jessie21or2

I'm not in love. Still cant decide on counters for my dark cabs

jessie21
16 years ago

It's been months since my cabs were finished and I have been totally stuck since then. I cannot decide on a countertop. My cabinets are very very dark stained cherry. I love them and was planning on going with a high contrast something for the counters. White/cream based, but hopefully not just a solid color. I can't find anything I really like.

I've looked at granites, quartzes, solid surfaces, laminates. I don't want tile cause I don't like grout lines on a flat surface.

I can't do it. I could cry. Any granite or quartz I have kind of liked will be about 6000....just can't do that without an all out love for the product. The solids will be more in the 3-4000 range, but again, I can't decide.

What am I going to do? I'm desperate and so so stuck.

I want to finish my kitchen and just can't. please help.

Comments (29)

  • miaolinwei
    16 years ago

    A lot of people use dark color granites for dark stained cherry cabinets, some uses light colors. These are the colors that I have seen most people like and done.

    Several of the most popular choices are Black Galaxy, Absolute Black, Blue eyes.

    Light colors are Giallo Veneziano, Santa Cecilia, Samoa.

    The wood color is this one.

    {{!gwi}}

  • donna214
    16 years ago

    Have you considered marble? A white carera or calcutta oro would be divine.

  • pcjs
    16 years ago

    Don't settle - if you don't have a temp. countertop get an off the shelf from HD/Lowes or Ikea. I went months looking (we are DIY and it took forever for us to install them so that was a good thing)... I went to upteen places to find my perfect granite. We did darker stained Cherry too with Gold and Silver. I found the perfect slabs - I needed white in it to pick up on the appliances. But, not all Gold and Silver looks the same. Go back every 2-3 weeks as their lots/stock change and different lots of stone look very different. I originally picked Silesstone but when I brought home a big tile, I hated it with the cabinets and that sent me on the great granite search.

    You'll know when you see it.

  • saskatchewan_girl
    16 years ago

    Can we see a pic of your cabinets : ) Are your floors in and your paint picked out?
    Do you have a sample door to carry around with you? That helped me......up until the time to pick a backsplash : (
    SK girl

  • coleen3201118
    16 years ago

    Our island is dark cherry and we put marble on it. We love it.

  • alku05
    16 years ago

    We did the light granite on ours:

  • jayav
    16 years ago

    I have dark stained cherry cabinets and I just had Typhoon Bordeaux in a satin finish installed. I love love LOVE it.

    Here is a picture of the slab I used.

  • fern76
    16 years ago

    Hi, looks like the same color cabs we have, KM cherry with black glaze, we used blue graphite granite, which I LOVE!

    Hope this helps, good luck!

    Fern76

  • cpang74
    16 years ago

    I have Santa Cecilia Gold and the flecks in it would be perfect with the cherry-beautiful!

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thank you all for trying to help.

    saskatch, i am inserting a pic of some of my refaced cabs and as you can see, i'm living with the old ugly counters for now. I went with a very dark, very brown stain and in this shot, they look their darkest. In different light, you can see the grain quite well, but the color is still more brown than red.

    Paint colors are not picked yet....i thought it important to pick a countertop first! Floors will be either hardwood or wood look laminate in a shade much lighter than the cabs.

    alku, your kitchen became one of my inspirations to choose a contrasting, light countertop for my dark cabs a long while ago. i just love the effect. There were others too, such as cheifneil, i think, and celticmoon, and others who i can't remember. I need more pics...
    jay, do you have shots of your counters installed yet?

    One problem is that although I really do love the granite choices you have all made...they look fantastic, I'm not sold on granite for myself.

    {{!gwi}}

  • chinchette
    16 years ago

    Have you tried looking at any of the green granites?

    Also, how much counter top do you have? What is in the picture should NOT run 6K.

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    The pic is only a part of the kitchen and it's bigger than it looks. It's about 54 sq. feet of counter and the penninsula is 37 inches deep. Not sure if that makes a difference, but we've had a few quotes and they have all been around 5900. with the templating and installation for what they call "mid range granite."

  • spoonwood
    16 years ago

    Have you looked at Cambria quartz?
    We have dark stained cherry cabs on the perimeter with black painted island cabinets. The lights and darks of the Cambria tend to pull everything together as well as keeping the space from looking too dark.

  • brmjandme
    16 years ago

    Your cabinets are beautiful. All the photos with the sample granites are great. My personal preference is for a high contrast, so I'd lean toward the lighter granites or another light color hard surface if you don't think granite is for you.

  • alku05
    16 years ago

    What about a quartz that looks like limestone? Sharb has ceasarstone's honed jerusalem sand on her island and it's beautiful. That may be a nice choice if you're looking for contrast but with a warmer look than a white granite.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sharb's kitchen

  • perplexedinny
    16 years ago

    Hi. I have similar dark cabs - KM Kaffe Cherry. My counters are Ceasarstone Baja in a polished finish. I LOVE my counters. Great contrast, not pink, looks like a sandy beach. It's very neutral. Now, if I could only decide on a backsplash, I'd be good to go.

  • jtsgranite4us
    16 years ago

    We have cherry cabinets with a medium dark stain.

    We chose Vyara Extra granite and are very happy how they looked with the cabinets.

    Here are a couple of pictures:

  • astridh
    16 years ago

    If you plan to keep your white refrigerator and white dishwasher, I think you should choose a light colored countertop. Otherwise, your white appliances will be too much contrast. You want to focus on the lovely wood.

  • houscrzy
    16 years ago

    After looking at hundreds of granites, and the only ones I liked being out of my budget, I went with Richlite. It is warmer than granite, and has some mottling and variation in the tones that give it some interest. It doesn't look at all like other solid surface materials in my opinion. Most of the colors are dark, but I used "baguette" which is fairly light (I too have darkish mahogany cabinets).
    Countertops were definitely one of my hardest (if not the hardest) decisions, so I definitely sympathize! You will figure it out--there are a lot of great options!

  • cocontom
    16 years ago

    I've been there! Have you seen Shetkastone? I fell in love with the stuff, but went with marble tile since it's cheap and we are remodeling with resale in mind. Unfortunately their site is not great- the only place with photos of the samples is in the "request a sample"- we have the Counterfeit Green sample. It's much more green in the marbleized and the strips are much smaller and more subtle in the ribbon. It stood up to everything I tried with it, the only damage was from dragging a fork across it with some force, and that wasn't very noticeable. I don't know if this will show up as a link or not, but their website is
    http://www.shetkastone.com.

    Alkemi is really need looking too, but I haven't seen in in person.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Alkemi

  • debbie_2008
    16 years ago

    Jesse, I don't see how what you have pictured could be 56 sq ft. How long is the window wall? Is that and the pen. at 37 inches long the ONLY countertop areas?

  • debbie_2008
    16 years ago

    sorry, not 37 inches long, but deep, how long is it? Don't count the window wall area twice. I actually goofed and did that myself and came up with more needed countertop surface.

    If you consider granite, skip the middle man. Go directly to the fabricator.

  • sis3
    16 years ago

    This granite was love at first sight and after living with it for a year the love is even stronger!

  • jessie21
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    don't worry, debbie, my measurements are accurate. My cab guy did them and then I checked them to make sure. The pic is only part of my kitchen. I have a couple of fabricators within an hour of my house and they are both too expensive for me.

    But thanks everyone for your suggestions.

    cocontom, what cool materials! I've never seen these in person. the green marbelized is really pretty...don't think I want to pick such COLOR, but I may request some samples.

    perplexedinny, and houscrzy, do you have photos of your choices?

    thanks everyone, I'm still lost.......but this helps.

  • houscrzy
    16 years ago

    I'll try to post a picture later this week if you're interested. I have to remember how to do it...

  • jayav
    15 years ago

    Sorry...I just saw that you asked for an installed picture...so here goes...

  • bplam
    15 years ago

    jessie21
    have u found anything yet? i am also in the same boat. my cabinets are dark dark walnut. and i am having a hard time finding anything i'm in love with.
    i did find a marble piece but i was cautioned away. still thinking about it. would love to see what you decide on.

  • gvstevens
    15 years ago

    Try Technistone.

    A combination of one of natureÂs hardest minerals, quartz, and technological innovation, Technistone has the charm of natural stone but requires less maintenance than granite or marble.

    It looks great in a darker kitchen.

    Here is a link that might be useful: High tech countertop surface

  • mpp798
    15 years ago

    Not to hijack the thread but where did you get the curtain over your sink? Thanks.