Tom,

We are in the middle of remodeling our kitchen. We are adding in knotty alder cabinets with a natural finish (with knobs to match all the stainless steel appliances). There will be an array of upper and lower cabinets with a peninsula (cooktop & telescopic downdraft). We are installing oak hardwood floors (still uncertain of the stain color). Currently the walls are painted a soft yellow. We have medium natural light in a 12×12 size kitchen which is adjacent to the dining room.

So….what type/color of granite should I go with? I was thinking the ubatuba, brazilian ubatuba or impala black.

Also - any suggestions on tile backsplash?

Lastly - what would the ideal stain color be on my hardwood floors? Does it matter?

Thanks,
Joe

Hello Joe,

Nothing looks better with Knotty Alder in a natural finish than the color, sage green. I would definitely recommend change the wall paint to true sage green or if you feel that it is too dark, cut it down a bit with a white base.

Moving down to the floor, darken it up to a dark oak stain or even close to walnut if you can handle that dark of a floor. The goal should be to make the oak veining only remotely noticeable so that it does not complete with
the Knotty Alder.

There are many wrong green granite colors that would completely blow this setting. True greens don’t compliment sage green and dark black/green (like
Ubatuba) is too contemporary and sterile for Alder. I want to recommend Silver Sea Green Granite. You can see a swatch of it on www.GraniteStock.com. This really is the best choice, I am sure. It is also an extremely dense granite and low maintenance.

Other good options would be a light version of Tunas Green or Abyss Green.
An expensive but stunning option would be Seafoam Green. Still, for your kitchen I really do like the Silver Sea Green best because of the tight matrix, the subtle black flecks and the slightly gray tone that will go well with the stainless.

For the backsplash, I recommend a light honed travertine time in a 6×6 format, set square with the countertop. Don’t put it at a diagonal or you will blow the whole kitchen theme.

This kitchen design will accent the cabinets while collectively surrounding
them in a confidently classy manner.

My best wishes and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog kids!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am 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.