Sounds too dark to me. I think you need to trust your instincts and your taste; he may be an excellent designer but it's your aesthetic that will be living with your choices.

what colour stain are you using for the walnut? walnut is naturally a darker coloured wood. I am also using custom walnut cabinets and currently deciding about countertops. I am considering a light coloured quartzite called madre perola, a quartzite called van gough dream, and a granite called alaska white. I agree that darker countertops will darken the room, which is the opposite effect that I would want in my kitchen.

Natural walnut and black could be very dramatic. It all depends on the look you want/like. If you like darker tones and more dramatic looks, go for it! If you prefer a less dramtic/lighter look, lighten up either element.

We're also doing black walnut cabinetry, with a toffee stain. I'm not using a designer. We just picked out our granite; it's a lighter tone called juparena exotica, and it has a ton of movement. I really like the contrast with the darker wood. We're also doing wood floors (brazillian teak, medium tones). I never considered a dark granite mainly because of all the wood we're using, and i wanted to brighten and enliven the space. I hope I'm right!

Walnut gets darker with age.

I think it all depends on what else is going on in the kitchen and house. My parents had walnut cabinets, but the house was open plan with cathedral ceilings so the walnut didn't take up a majority of the wall space. My more traditional kitchen, with 99" ceilings and one window might be too dark with walnut (I have cherry).

Personally, I wouldn't consider black granite. Too high maintenance.

Actually, according to the furniture maker who made our DR table, buffet, shelf and occasional table, all from the same walnut log; walnut lightens as it ages.

Also, maintenance level depends on the stone itself. Our black granite (Labrador Golden Flake) isn't very high maintenance.

Beachbum - Just depends on the look you are going for. One of my favorite combos is walnut with a white marble (like calacatta) but I am a big fan of measured contrast. I have a friend who just did cherry with a dark gray quartz, but cherry has a very red tone and walnut (very beautiful) has a brown to ash or gray tone to me.) I guess the black stone would pick up the dark grain in the wood.

So after all that noodling above, I did a search on google and found this image. It is beautiful.

Here they have the very light floors and a nice color on thew wall to accent. Note - there is no back splash. Not sure how I would feel with a lighter backsplash - that could be come the center of attention versus the wood, which I think is the designers goal. With white counters, that is more of the highlight. I love walnut.

And now here is the walnut, dark counters and light backsplash (I think it is marble slab.) Like it less than the one above - not necessarily because of the BS but because I think the green paint above really pulled it all together. Maybe this one just needs to be lived in (looks a bit sterile, hard to do with wood :)

Hope all this noodling helps. Bottom line is you need to do what you want - look at these two photos - do you like them? Search google for walnut with marble (just an easy way to see a light counter) do you prefer that look?

OK, ever since I posted last night about our granite choice, I've been second guessing the choice. The juparena (or rosewood) exotica we chose has a lot of movement, with dramatic black veining. But after reading your designer's comments, I'm worried! Why didnt he/she want any movement in the granite? Yikes!

I think walnut cab's with a black granite would be very dramatic. If you do it then consider a light backsplash, walls and floors. I've got walnut cabinets with a walnut stain. Our granite installs on Friday and it is Alaska White or Delicatus (they couldn't decide which). I'm going to do a plain white backsplash. My floor tile and walls are both light, like a navajo white and I have a lot of natural light. I love black granite and wavered back and forth until I found my granite slabs that I fell in love with. I think you should look for your slabs and let the one you love be your final decision. You can work around it be it dark or light. Good luck!

With enough added light to the room, including really good undercabinet lighting, it could be a gorgeous dramatic look. Or, you could go with stainless countertops for something equally neutrally dramatic and lighter and more reflective in tone. You really have to be careful using "white" countertops with walnut and treat the white as a "color" in the room. It can't be the only white, or a swirly dramatic white, and the white shouldn't dominate. You want the gorgeous wood to be the dominant theme, and using too stark of a contrast or other "superstar" elements defeats that. This is why your designer is suggesting the black countertops. The black picks up on the black graining in the walnut without competing with it for attention. So, maybe a calm light beige quartz like the Silestone Ivory Coast would be better if you wanted truly light counters. It lacks the drama of the black, but it works toward a more serene feeling without competing with the walnut for the center of attention.

Sparkle - Love the pictures. Thanks so much for taking the time. Our walnut sample the designer gave us is a little darker than the first picture, and it looks a bit richer than that. I am feeling more confident about the black countertop because he is planning on installing under cabinet lighting. We were out the other night and saw a bar in the restaurant that was dark, rich wood (probably not walnut). The lighting was very dim but strategically placed which really gave a very dramatic feel. I am not sure if I should do absolute black, or something with a little more pattern, perhaps a bit of brown. I brought a sample of Verde peacock home. Love the different colors in it, but overall, it's green and I don't want to commit to that. I am hunting for a granite that has black and brown in it, again, with only subtle movement. Any suggestions??

M-Madre, I think the designer does not want to distract the eye with a countertop with a lot of action in it because the cabinets will be so dramatic above and below the countertop. He explained it exactly like Live Wire did above...Thanks, Live Wire! The more I explore, the more I think I'm really ok with the black (in some form) countertops. The cabs will be plain front like the 2nd photo above and the color seems to be more what I am expecting. Love them.

New Question - What maintenance issues would we expect with absolute black (more solid look). I imagine fingerprints would show more. What about a black with a subtle mix of colors, brown, etc.???

I think it would be beautiful, warming, and inviting!

kbeachbum02--your description sounds wonderful. What did you end up with? Do you have pictures? I am considering Omega's walnut in chestnut finish with Cambria's Williston quartz. http://www.cambriausa.com/collection.cfm/all-colors/williston. I really liked the look in the link attached below but couldn't find a cabinet like the one in the picture and the folks at Cambria didn't know its source.

Here is the link to the Omega walnut in chestnut: http://www.omegacab.com/imgWindow.asp?ititle=Chestnut&img=stains/walnut/ODWalnutChestnutFLg.jpg

on this cabinet/drawer: http://www.omegacab.com/imgWindow.asp?ititle=Madrid&img=dynDoors/MadridLg.jpg

The quartz sample in person is not as dramatic as the one in the Cambria photo, but I think the wenge-looking cabinet is what makes the quartz sparkle to me.

Does anyone have opinions on my color choices? I'm going for a warm modern look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Williston quartz--5th of 20 photos