Granite for a Galley with Cherry Floors
Dear Tom:
Your website and all it’s information is just fantastic. I love the way you give honest answers and don’t beat around the bush about what will look good and what will look like something out of a horror flick!
I need some advice. First, let me say my kitchen is very much like the one Galley Kitchen: Avoiding Busy, Boring and Dark but smaller. It’s approximately 11′ by a little over 7 feet wide with no windows and very little natural light.
Our house has Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors throughout except for the kitchen and baths. We have a lot of wood and antiques. We’re big do it yourselfers and have put down the floors and specialty hardwood casings and baseboards throughout the home. Our style is traditional, even Victorian, possibly, with all those antiques.
Our original cabinetry was very light wood grain looking formica over pressed board. You know the yucky stuff that swells when it gets wet. About 10 years ago I took off the cabinet doors, sanded everything and painted the cabinets sea foam green and all the doors white. I tiled the stove side countertops with white 4 x 4 tiles and just bought a pre-fabricated white countertop for the sink side. My husband put up some pretty sea foam green wallpaper and we tiled the floor with white 12 x 12 ceramic tiles that had some light green marbling effects running through it. That was great for a face lift, but now its time to gut the entire kitchen.
The dilemma? I love to cook! I like to cook in a well lighted not closed-in feeling place. I was going to be happy with some lighter cabinets, in maybe a maple or something like that. My husband however is adamant about having cherry cabinets with maybe a nutmeg finish. He thinks this will tie in very nicely with the rest of the house. I’ve just about got him convinced those will be way too dark for the space and will close it in too much. I’ve also threatened to never cook in there again if he surrounded me with all that darkness! He has recently capitulated to going with cherry with no stain. This will lighten things up a bit and might even look awesome with all the natural variations in the tones of the wood. (I realize over time these will probably darken somewhat and take on their own patina).
We will be removing the soffits and the new cabinets will go just about all the way to the ceiling (about 8 ft. ceilings) for added storage space. Basically, I’m keeping the layout of the kitchen the same as it is now. It’s small but efficient and I’m not really interested in tearing out walls. But everything else goes the floor, the soffits, everything. We’ll gut it down to the drywall and in some cases like by the sink, down to the studs.
My appliances including the sink (under-mount) will be stainless steel. My dream was to have a kitchen that incorporated white, stainless steel and cobalt blue colors in it. I was hoping for a granite countertop with a lot of cobalt blue in it and as yet haven’t gone to any granite yards, but did get a quote for the sodalite blue but I’m afraid it’s going to be way too dark in there with that. Plus the vendor said that was a level 5 granite and the cost is double what I had budgeted for it. I was figuring $80/sq.ft x 32 sq. ft. (The sink side countertop is 6′ and the stove side only needs two pieces one on either side of the stove of 36″ x 26″). The sodalite blue was over $5,000 for this little bit. It’s almost as much as the cabinets! The last thing I want is more brown tones in there. I do love a lot of movement in my granite and would like to avoid something with a small, tight pattern.
The lighting will have to be considered as well. I’m sure I want some kind of under cabinet lighting. As for overhead lighting, I haven’t decided yet. Maybe canned lighting, I just don’t know what will give me the best light to work with.
After reading all the questions on your site, I’m beginning to think I really like the idea of the little glass tiles for the backsplash but I have no idea what to pick to keep it feeling light in there.
Finally, here are my questions. What do you think so far? What would you recommend for the countertop? The floor? The backsplash? I’m totally in the dark here, pun intended! Thanks so much for your help.
Warmest Regards,
Sharon
Tampa, Florida
Hello Sharon,
Starting from scratch is always the best. However, the overriding elements that you have to work with are the Brazilian Cherry floors in the nearby rooms and the tight gallery kitchen layout.
You must keep the granite countertops light, but not white. White granite in gallery kitchens, especially with stainless look very cheap. I also would not recommend under cabinets lighting in a small gallery kitchen. Under counter lighting looks great in a big kitchen with medium/dark granite colors but unless you are lacking in overhead light, it is just a waste and it is overpowering in a galley kitchen. Still, this is about a 50/50 personal choice.
All the colors and hues have to work together in a small galley kitchen. The whole room is like a piece of furniture and should feel special when you walk through it. I would be sure to concentrate on all the details. The cabinet door design and knobs and pulls are huge factors. Avoid big lumpy pulls.
The natural wood veining in Cherry is my favorite but you need to stay as natural as possible. I would even consider a heavy clear glaze to brighten the room up.
Without a doubt, blue looks fantastic with this combination. The right cobalt or true blue would be perfect. Avoid Cyan or Teal blues because these colors will not maintain a traditional and timeless décor. It is truly amazing how the wrong color blue can just blow everything. The right color is the one in Ascas Blue. Other great colors would be just right are Net Blue, Blue Baracuda and even Brass Blue if you can find it without too much black.
A blue color that would not go well, for example, is one from Brazil that has more gray although it does have nice cobalt blue inclusions. It is called Blue Guanabara. Although it compliments stainless, it is too silver/gray for cherry cabinets. Other bad blues are Azul du Mar, Blue Louise, and even Soladite Blue is too purple/blue. You need to stay close to the overall primary color of blue.
There is one other granite color that I would recommend which is not blue at all. Amber Fantasy granite would be sensational in this small galley kitchen with cherry cabinets and stainless appliances. Personally I would try to carry the Brazilian Cherry floor into the kitchen and just apply a coat of polyurethane to protect it. Otherwise, a large format single color porcelain tile in a soft tan or cream color would be a nice subtle compliment. Don’t use white tiles because it is just too cold and the grout joints will always look dirty after the first month. For blue granite countertops, I would suggest the same.
Regarding the backsplash, for blue countertops, I recommend staying with a very light tile. I love glass tile with blue granite countertops and you just don’t see it that often. A multi-shading of light blue glass tile in a 4″x4″ format would look very ‘made to order’ and unique. It would be gorgeous with stainless appliances. I have seen nice low cost glass tile at Dal Tile stores. I would run the tile square to the countertop (not on a diagonal). For the Amber Fantasy, I would run a 6″ high granite splash in the same slab and then paint about in a color that matches the floor tile.
Regarding lighting, use soft white can lights. It is amazing how a décor can be ruined with bright white or florescent light.
I hope it all goes well and please be sure to send me a photo! Thank you very much for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!
