Lapidus Granite
Hello Tom,
Suzanne from FLa here, we are weekend DIY warriors. Finally after 6 years of remodeling a 52 year old CBS Fla 2 story- we are at kitchen/greatroom. We are stuck with a flagstone fireplace in the /beige/golds/rust tones. We have chosen carmelized bamboo floors in kitchen/great room, new stainless steel appliances, L-shaped kitchen now gutted.
White plantation shutters, decorative mouldings on doors and windows (painted white) Window in kitchen replaced with hurricane impact -facing WEST. “European white” walls (light taupe) We may have to change that color a bit.
We believe we have settled on arctic RTA white cabinets – nice balance with bamboo floors- we plan on an island-with same granite. Im not too keen on wood floors and wood cabinets (too rustic)
Last week we took a piece of the bamboo floor to the local granite yard/fabricators we went to each slabe with the bamboo and narrowed it down to to Baltic Brown and Lapidus Granite (matched tone of bamboo beautifully) I also like the “movement” in the stone. We chose the stainless undermount sink to match appliances. A friend keeps telling me to go lighter (creme) or whitish granite.
Although we chose the Lapidus Granite to pick up on the floor and fireplace. The samples they cut for me from slab, pick up beautifully, I am wondering if my match the countertop with floor tone/paired with white cabinetry was incorrect. I dont see Lapidus Granite paired with white cabinets too much. I can still change that as well.
QUESTION: What do I do with backsplash? Would a continuation of the lapidus to bottom of cabinets be overkill? Or should I go towards a tumbled stone or jerusalem stone look or glass tile?
Thanking you in advance fo any input you can afford me.
Suzanne
Hello Suzanne,
Natural wood cabinets with bamboo floors don’t look good so you instincts are correct here. I really do like natural wood cabinets but never with bamboo floors. They just clash because of the natural grain in each.
I have recommended Lapidus Granite many times with bamboo floors so maybe you saw that somewhere else on the Rock Blog. White or even black cabinets really are the best compliment. I am concerned about the white color your mentioned. Hopefully the white you mentioned is a bluish softer white, rather than a yellow or gray-white. Hold a piece of paper up to the cabinets and consider what hue you see in the cabinet finish. Any range in the blue-white would look great. Yellow-white would just be ok and gray-white would be cold, dull and just ugly.
Lapidus is one of my favorites when it is selected well. You may have found many variations of Lapidus as it is extremely wild. Because of the wild veining movement, you definitely want to carry the granite up the walls to the bottom of the upper cabinets. This is really important so that the heavy movement rolls right up the wall for a complete look. Many homeowners ruin the complete picture by only putting Lapidus on the countertop and then mashing it with some mottle travertine tile on the splash wall. Tile splashes are great for more monochromatic or bright colored granites, but not highly variegated granite like Lapidus. A good place to see Kitchen photos are in the Kitchen Galleries at www.GraniteStock.com and www.HomeGranite.com.
Lastly, Baltic Brown is a far stretch to the simple side from Lapidus as you know. I do like this color but only with Stainless fixtures and appliances. Baltic Brown does not go that well with white cabinets because the darker browns are just too overwhelming against white. It is like dark brown shirt, with white pants…I don’t think so!
Regarding glass tile, I love it but not with Lapidus. That would be like putting pin-striping on a S500 Mercedes. Lapidus is the right choice. Let this stone be the art and function in your kitchen.
Best wishes and thank you for support The Rock’s Blog’s World Vision Kids!
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:32 am
hi,
i just stnmbled on your web site and i really need help in making a decision am considering choosing a baltic brown countertop to match my cherry cabinets with hazelnut finish,am also considering stainless steel cabinets,do you think it would look dull.I have a hard wood floor with in a golden pecan color and semi gloss finish. My kitchen overlooks the family room with a fire place that has light brown and dark brown stones.what do you think I should do.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Hello Tom,
What a wonderful site. I am impressed by the depth of knowledge and appreciation for the importance of color – I have been known to paint entire rooms twice in a week if the tone or shade of paint struck me wrong afterwards.
That being said, I am focusing on cabinetry, granite and flooring as the things that I don’t want to redo with our kitchen remodel. We have a 4 square brick colonial with a 13 x 20 kitchen L-shaped with peninsula that will soon be a L-shaped with large 3×8 island. We are also taking down the walls between kitchen and family room to open up one great room. The room itself faces due north and will have 2 sets of doors out onto a covered deck. Plus a kitchen window out over the back yard. Our overall decorating scheme is family friendly eclectic prarie/mission/whatever feels comfortable. Leather sofas (German Shepherd and 2 boys) and dark wood tones. The front of our house benefits from facing due south and having 6′x6′ windows across the front of all rooms lending a bit of flexibility to the decorating scheme.
I mention the above because I want the kitchen to fit the house as much as anything else. Our woodwork is a brown nutwood (older Porter stain). We have chosen Rockglen cherry cabinets in Nutmeg stain, inset drawers in a shaker style. We are tossing back and forth between oak or hickory flooring to tie together the cabinets and the trim. The floors will carry throughout the 1st floor. We’re drawn to a saddle stain but I have my hesitiations on the hickory (too brown?) and the oak seemed too dark so am still searching there. While I love warmth in my rooms, I don’t want the back of the house to feel too dark and cave like but haven’t really found anything lighter for flooring (I am sold on wood over tile though). For granite – I am at a loss there are so many to choose from. We brought home samples and so far I think Giallo Ornamental might work. New River was too yellow and new venetian gold too blah. We also brought home Lapidus but not sure about that. Originally we thought we would lean toward black/dark counters but now I am thinking we really need to go lighter for contast with the floor and cabinets. I love movement and art when I look at the slabs (I could never do blue in my house but if I had a white kitchen – celestial or something dramatic would be the way I would go just on impulse). However, too much of a good thing in a small space can be regretful. Any direction would be much appreciated.
October 20th, 2010 at 1:38 am
We have light travertine floors with light cherry Shaker Cabinets. Our granite is Lapidus, but I’m stuck on what to choose for a backsplash??
What would you recommend?
May 6th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Help
Which will be the best color for lt natural wood color cabinets and same color floors. I also have white appliances. Reasonable priced granite please!
Thanks
Pam