There are a million shades in the grey family so I wouldn't worry too much about it being too dark. With the right colors it could be fantastic. The open shelving is what I would worry most about. Beautiful but dusty.

bluerdgddrs- I see what you're saying about dust. It's basically a summer cottage so I want to keep it casual and lighter. Can you recommend any maker of grey cabinets that don't have to be custom made?

Dynasty has a gorgeous gray called Porch Swing. LWO used it in her new showroom.

[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis

Is this kind of what you were thinking? Unfortunately I don't know who the maker is :(. Shiloh has grey tones in both painted and stained cabinetry. I've personally never used them but a lot of people here seem to be pleased and I think they are a decent price point. Custom sometimes isn't as expensive as you think so it may be an option for you if you can't find what you need elsewhere.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shiloh cabinetry

This post was edited by bluerdgddrs on Thu, May 29, 14 at 21:28

Sensa Verde Aquarius gray-green granite with stain protection. The right granite won't cause problems for you. Lots of folks like White River too.

Hard to beat ikea on price. Take a look at lidingo gray. Note that IKEA is switching it's entire kitchen line in late 2014/early 2015. If you are interested in ikea, I highly recommend the ikeafans forum as an additional resource.

On the countertop, some granite stains, some doesn't. There are a bunch of threads here discussing the properties of various stones. And describing how to test a sample to see what you would be getting.

Another option for a light gray stone look is engineered quartz.

Soapstone will be medium (unoiled) to dark in various colors, including grey. Soapstone does darken with age so even if you leave it unoiled, it will eventually darken. My research to date is that It doesn't stain, but it does scratch and chip. Some varieties are harder than others.

And of course laminate comes in all kinds of colors and is very budget friendly.

Do search on Houzz with your parameters and find some iinspiration1

I have a whiter type of granite, it doesn't really stain. One time I left spaghetti sauce on it for a day and it looked like it stained it but it was hard to tell with all the other variations in the granite pattern. Then it just went away. My coffee pot leaks and it gets on it almost everyday and has yet to stain it. Use a good sealer and really, staining is an unnecessary worry concerning granite. I never think about it.