Hi Tom, I need help choosing a granite color. My house is a traditional 20 yr old 2 story Georgian w/a medium sized kitchen w/9 ft ceilings. We are removing soffits, adding new lighting, adding more molding to the plain cabinets, and painting the cabinets an off-white w/a medium brown glaze. The floors are honey oak, the ovens and dishwasher are black and I’m getting a new SS or black frig. (depending upon granite choice) and an undermount SS sink. I have a small black butcher block island and black chairs in the adjoining eating area. I want to use a light colored subway tile backsplash. There’s only 1 window but light is ok. I really like the cottage style but I’ve had the white cabinets and dark countertops for 6 yrs. and it seems a little cold. I am looking at Baltic Brown, New Venetian Gold, and Santa Cecilia. The Baltic Brown is so similar to the laminate we’ve had for the past 6 years, I was maybe looking for a warmer, softer, different look, although it seems to look good with the cabinets. I am afraid of picking something too light and my kitchen will look washed out and pale. My husband would like a granite with some movement. Will any of these granites work and look good? Can you suggest any others in a moderate price range that would give us a great looking kitchen. Thank you for your help, your site has been very informative.

Thank you, Jeanne

Hello Jeanne,

You outlined décor is simple, traditional and enjoyable. You are right that the granite color is so important to bringing it all together. Although the color is right, Giallo Veneziano or Santa Cecelia would make your kitchen very mundane and not classy traditional. I would lump Baltic Brown in there too because it is so overused, but Baltic Brown would look very nice and fit the traditional decor. It is classy and beautiful with a Stainless sink and I would suggest the black refrigerator. The white cabinets and the honey oak floor allow you to go this dark with no fear of closing in the space. If you really like this granite, this is a good choice.

I can see why you are having trouble with selecting a color. Know that the absolute most important thing is that you bring in the floor color to the countertops. This is not the case with every kitchen but in a traditional Georgian style home, the kitchen should be balanced this way. Others might not be aware that Georgian architecture is always proportion and balanced, but they will feel that something is not right if the countertop was too light or too dark and if the floor tried to stand on its own.

That being said, Baltic Brown can only be right if the glaze in the cabinets match the darker rings in the Baltic Brown. The lighter rings should match the Honey Oak floors. Avoid the Baltic Brown slabs that have too much green in it.

The only other granite that I would suggest that is cost effective and would look great is Carioca Gold. You can see a swatch at www.GraniteStock.com but you really need to get a piece of this in your kitchen in order to appreciate it. It might look too simple, but it is radiant and deep when laying flat. It is gorgeous with stainless and black. My personal choice would be this granite for the overall décor and home style.

Be sure to use a flat edge detail for the granite. Also, the subway tile (which is a perfect design choice) should match the cabinet base color.

My best wishes!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Answers to Granite Questions..., Granite Choice Advice, Granite Color Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.