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debrak_2008_gw

Super white or black granite, help me choose.

debrak_2008
11 years ago

We sorta fell in love with Super White quartzite and really love black.

Here is a photo showing our kitchen cabinet (center). At the top are Labrador granite samples. On the bottom are Super White samples. To the right is Cambrian black. To the left is our flooring.

{{!gwi}}

We choose the floor to coordinate with the rest of the house. Saw example of similiar flooring with our cabs and thought is looked good. I realize that many don't think so but this is what we have.

Layout is an L with a 70 x 42" island. Appliances are all black with a SS chimney hood (bs tile behind it), SS sink. Plan to be here for a very long time. Nothing is installed yet.

So what counter do we choose?

All Super white? It is over budget. How will that look with our other choices?

All Labrador or cambrian black? Love the look of black and cherry cabs. Labrador is much less than cambrian and has more character. Is black the "safe" choice?

Black on L, white on island? Best of both worlds? Would be budget friendly. Would we tire of the 2 granite look?

The backsplash is a concern as it has to be installed before the range hood so we can't wait that long. Thinking of gray tiles like the darker grays of the super white. Gray wall color? DH wants to paint before anything is installed so need to decide.

Also have thought of an autumn leaf color theme with some bolder colors. Maybe just with accessories. Don't want a boring kitchen. No calm or serene, want some drama while not going to Vegas. Like thunderstorms.

Thoughts please! Help talk me through these choices.

Comments (18)

  • herbflavor
    11 years ago

    Go for granite with amber with darker browns and add in black or white.....to tie the floor to cabs....lots of movement-that should be easy.What you show looks difficult because of the extreme of choice-black or white. I can't picture it.

  • p.ball2
    11 years ago

    Based on what you have shown I would not go for the super white. It is a beautiful stone but I can't see it with those cabinets and the lighter color floors.

    I think that herbflavor has a good point about tying in the floor color with a granite that has amber or browns.

  • beekeeperswife
    11 years ago

    I don't know if the SW goes with the cabinets as well as other choices you have suggested. You know I love my SW. Have you thought about Bianco Antico? That has the overall lighter look, but it has the colors of both your floor and the cabinet. When I was looking for it for this kitchen the slabs I was seeing were too pink. So, that is a factor to keep in mind. But in my last kitchen the BA went really well with the wood tones in the kitchen w/o making it look dark.

  • biochem101
    11 years ago

    We have black in the kitchen, and just put super white in a bathroom. Both are beautiful. However, super white has to be sealed regularly and is a softer granite. The black won't have to be sealed and won't stain.

    Maybe these photos (not my kitchen) will help.

    - OR -

    I would go black myself, brown would add another brown shade. But I like the super white too.

    Good Luck!

  • MeMcG
    11 years ago

    You might want to consider Blackwood quartz by Cambrian. It is mostly black but with bits of brown. It might tie your other surfaces together. That said, my KD just talked me out of it-- too dark with my slate. Good luck!

  • debrak_2008
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    We were considering white diamond aka bianco antico. When I see photo of it installed its nice but just looking at slabs I just not sure.

    I still have the samples laid out for the photo. Whenever I walk by it, wow. I love the constrast of the white and black with the cabinets. I don't notice the floor color. But I am used to it as its in several rooms. I also don't really like warm colors in general. Find I'm more comfortable in rooms where warm colors are just an accent. Having wood cabinets and floor are alot for me to take. Originally wanted gray tile floors but GW changed our minds to wood. Not sure I want to add much more warmth.

    Bee, I have the mag with your old kitchen and have seen your new one too. Both beautiful. Need to think again on BA.

    biochem, I love the 2nd photo! Is that super white? It just needs some black and it would be perfect for me.

    memcg, Any time I priced quartz it was way over the budget compared to granite. If it was more reasonable I would do it even if it was just for the L.

    CJC123 has super white on darker cabinets. I'm adding a link to a thread that has her photos. Not exactly mine but close? What do you think?

    Here is a link that might be useful: super white

  • likewhatyoudo
    11 years ago

    My cabinets are very similar color and we used black pearl granite.

  • debrak_2008
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    RT, your kitchen is one of my inspirations for black counters. Would you please post a close up photo of your backsplash?

    Here are more photos with different granites.
    Same layout but took out the cambrian black and the super white. Added BA aka white diamond, bottom left, and bianco romanco bottom right.

    Close up of super white.

    {{!gwi}}

    Close up of BA/WD.

    The BA has some darker spots throughout the slab. You can see a little of it bottom right. Has some very small orange dots and some slight, (I couldn't see it) pale pink.
    What do you think?

    Close up of BR
    {{!gwi}}

    Now about the Bianco romano. That sample is from a batch that the granite yard just sent back because it was crumbling. They don't know when they will have more. Said suppliers have been shipping much slower on smaller cargo vessels than in the past. We really like it. It has the white/gray, the black we love and goes with the appliances, and some red garnets. Is something like this worth pursuing?

  • babs711
    11 years ago

    I think you have a piece of SW that's showing a chunk of white. When you see SW in kitchens, the overall look is very gray which doesn't seem to meld with your other kitchen choices. I much prefer the bottom stones or a creamier option without gray. If you like the dark choices any of those would be nice also. But I definitely think the SW is too cool for the warm tones that would be surrounding it.

  • lolauren
    11 years ago

    If you're questioning whether you'll get sick of two different granites, my guess is you will. Some people like that look, which seems to be popular, but some people don't (ahem,.... me. no one get mad! :))

    Since the SW is outside your budget, stop considering it! In addition to budget concerns, I don't think the tones work in your space. (I think SW is gorgeous, but just not in this application. Also, if you had two different countertops and two different stains, I think it would be way too much.)

    Because your floor and cabinets have two different stain colors, I think a solid black would look good. biochem gave a good example and rtwilliams has a gorgeous kitchen with solid black counters. Did you throw out Cambrian black as a choice because of price? I will say that I have that counter in a leathered finish and, after 2 years, it is flawless. I don't know how Labrador compares. Is Labrador strictly black/gray or are there other colors? I thought it had variation, but I don't remember...

    I also think the newer choices, BA and others with some brown in them, would look very good. I agree they tie everything together. With that said, what do your inspiration photos or kitchens show? Have you saved particular kitchens you really love? If you saved 34 kitchen photos with black counters, do not be swayed to get BA! If your inspiration kitchens had a mix of counters, then that's another story. :)

  • debrak_2008
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Cambrian Black is also over budget. Didn't like it enough to splurge.

    Labrador black is the lowest of all and it has blacks, grays, and if you look really hard you might see green or something else. But this is when you are straining your eyes.

    Inspiration photos, include black, bianco romanco, bianco antico. A few others such as esmeralda green which is way too far over budget. I think our dream would be a med to dark gray but I have never found anything that would fit that bill without being out of our price range. But we really love black too. Buehl's kitchen was one of my first inspirations here on gardenweb.

    Half my inspiration photos are gone as both my laptops got viruses yesterday. On one everything was deleted.

    Trying to think...what makes my head turn, makes me pause and look again.... dark cabinets with blackish granite or white with something granite like BA or BR.

    My teenagers both vote for some sort of black.

    Just remembered what about antique brown? They have it both polished and antiqued for the same price which I have to check. Think it was slightly over. We thought the antiqued was cool but looked slightly blue. Anyone know about this? As for the polished I can't really say I saw any brown in it.

  • beekeeperswife
    11 years ago

    Maybe this will help get your mind off the SW...mine is etching. And I don't know from what. Hard water?

    I really think the BR or BA (the right slab) will tie it all together. The BA can be found with lots of grays and taupes and browns in it. Some slabs have more of one than the other. There is also White Diamonds, Alaskan White. I think any of the ones with a white background that have the other colors in your kitchen will work for you.

    Ask your fabricator to send you to other places that they pull slabs from. I'm sure you will find something that will make your heart sing.

  • likewhatyoudo
    11 years ago

    The back-splash is 6 X 6 honed travertine laid in a brick pattern. I like it ok but i do not love it.
    My granite is very close to the Labrador granite you have shown. I picked 2 slabs of black pearl that had white swirls in it because in person it looked like the pictures of soapstone that I had seen on GW. It was budget friendly and I am very happy with it. The soapstone the granite yards had was very busy and not at all like I had pictured in my head for the kitchen. I think you would be happy with the black on the island and the L area.

    The picture below is of the travertine backsplash before install. I do not have a picture close up after install yet. It is a very simple backsplash that is just in the background nothing wow about it. I wanted a neutral backsplash so it works.

  • bahacca
    11 years ago

    Excalibur would look RAD in your kitchen with those samples

  • debrak_2008
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Bee, sorry to hear about etching. Hopefully you can stop that from happening. Around here in Western New York there are no separate fabricators just one stop shops. The good thing is you only pay per SF. No place around here makes you buy a whole slab which is a good thing. I have visited all the places in this area over the last few years. Some are just too expensive no matter what the granite is. Others don't have great service. So I've narrowed it done to mostly just 1 who has great customer service, reasonable prices, and a decent selection. There is one other place but the selection is very limited.

    RT, thanks for the pic. Great kitchen.

    Bahacca you are having just way too much fun looking at granite. Its just a little too much brown for me.

    So we are going to sleep on it. Thank you all for the pics and advise.

  • colorfast
    11 years ago

    Debrak, you and I have some really similar tastes in granite. I went through phases of Costa Esmerelda, and one of Moon Night (similar to Superwhite). I remain a fan of Breezy and Slush's kitchens. My husband vetoed the leathered and the soapstone (is that a possibility for you?), but liked dark. I also like the statement you made that you like drama (but thunderstorms not Vegas).

    Finally, I found a granite yard new to our area, and it had this deep dark blue that I never thought I'd be buying because blue is usually too expensive. It was the second cheapest on the price ladder, far less than Costa Esmerelda or Moon Night. Also saw a dark green I probably would have been happy with too.

    I did install the Dynamic Blue in my kitchen, with red birch cabinets. Since then, I redid the upstairs bathroom, and did a darker cherry cabinet more like yours, and used the remaining Dynamic Blue with a darker cherry cabinet, very similar color to yours. My son thinks the bathroom looks even better than the kitchen! I love both rooms, but they are totally different looks.

    Can something be ordered by your local company? Is there a larger city near you that has other yards that will work with your local company? Sorry if this is a curve ball.

    Dark Blue and Dark Green granites

    Here is a link that might be useful: Dynamic Blue Granite

  • colorfast
    11 years ago

    sorry to be redundant in the prior post...that's what happens when I leave my computer to do errands and then come back to finish!

  • debrak_2008
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Colorfast, That blue is very cool. We just finished a very blue bathroom so I really tried not to go blue again.

    I just posted a new thread with my choice of white diamond aka bianco antico.

    Thank you to everyone. Really helped me think it through.