Hi Tom.

We are building a new home. The kitchen dimensions are about 13X13′. One of the walls in the kitchen has a full array of cherry cabinets with cherry stain and a black glaze. It also has a black cooktop on that side, as well as a stainless fridge. The other side of the kitchen has hanging cherry/glass cabinets and is open to the living room. The rest of the appliances are stainless. The flooring is a laminate, and is the Mannington Heritage Cherry Buckskin. Right now, we are planning on a stainless sink, with stainless faucet. (Should we consider a black sink, as mentioned in a previous blog?) We are also considering oil-rubbed bronze cabinet hardware.
There are no windows in the kitchen, but it will get some light from a nearby breakfast nook on one end. We will also have some light on the other end from the dining room.

We are thinking of using the tan brown in the kitchen. Will this work, or do you think it will be too dark?

Also, we will have the same cabinetry in the bathrooms. We are looking at Dal Tile’s, “Castle de Verre” collection…a range of gold, beige, and grey with bronzey glass accents. Would the tan brown work with these colors? Do you have any suggestions on a granite to use in the kids’ bathroom, that may make it a little more “neutral”…but not boring.

Additionally, would you be able to recommend something for our small powder room that might make it pop?

I hope that these questions aren’t too basic. Your blog has been very interesting to read. I would appreciate any help/advice that you could give me in terms of color ranges that I should be looking at.

Thanks so much!

Joanne

Hello Joanne,

This certainly is a tough one because the Tan Brown looks great with Cherry cabinets with a black glaze. This is also very reasonably priced granite that looks like a million bucks when combined in this color pallet and stainless steel sinks.

However, given the lack of natural light directly into the kitchen, I want to suggest that you take a look at Tropical Brown Granite. The problem with Tan Brown is that the black minerals are just too large and dark for a kitchen that doesn’t get enough sunlight. Frankly, there are so many poor variations of Tan Brown in the market place these days that I have a hard time recommending it at all. The best Tan Brown is very consistent without large blotching clusters of black minerals. The good quality is getting rarer.

Tropical Brown has less of the red but with the black glaze on the cherry cabinets, it will look perfect. This is very dense and low maintenance granite from Saudi Arabia in which you definitely notice easier routine cleaning. Although Tropical Brown is a homogeneous granite color, it does come in two distinct ranges. You want the one that is browner and not green. You will know what I mean when you see it. This granite leans to the more sophisticated compliment of kitchen decor. For the splash you can use the same granite or easily combine a cream tile with accents of the granite.

If your child’s bathroom is large enough, I would recommend Tropical Brown as well because it is a dark neutral that is very low maintenance. It will be hard for kids to stain this granite! If you don’t like this for the bathroom, ask your fabricator what other colors he/she might have in remnants. All fabricators have piles of great granite colors in their yard that are too small for kitchens but perfect for vanity tops. This is a great way to get an upgraded color at no extra costs.

Best wishes and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s kids!

Hello Tom!
We love Worldvision! Thank you for all the great info on this site!
Our kitchen is down to the studs. It is U-Shaped and opens onto the living room area. The cabinets will all be white. The floors are hardwoods, with a slight pink tint in their natural state. We are trying for a “modern cottage” feel. I can send you pictures of the kitchen before it was gutted if that would help. I do not really like gold, so we’ve looked at slate and black and green granites. We could sure use some suggestions. The kitchen has 7 to 9 feet of uninterrupted counter space for serving, so the countertops are a big feature in the kitchen.
Thank you for your help. – Carmen

Hello Carmen,

I love the modern cottage decor and I wish it was intended more often. True white cabinets are great but you need to avoid black countertops or else you present a more contemporary/modern kitchen. The one exception is a color like Peribonka Granite, which is more green/back. This color would work very well but I think you will have a hard time finding it. It is from Canada, so ask around for it.

The green granite direction is more appropriate but there are so many greens that are totally wrong. There is nothing worse than a wavy green and white granite (like Lapland Green Granite) on white cabinets. Many dark greens are nice but are just too contrasting when they have the ‘true green’ color in them (such as San Francisco Green Granite).

Consider granite with some movement to keep the kitchen ‘cottage-playful’, yet cozy and still elegant. Good colors for this are Verde Borgogna Granite, which is on the darker side or Vermont Green on the lighter side. The Borgogna will look the best with your appliances but I think you will like the Vermont Green better as it has a slate feel but with earthy inclusions.

You could actually go with Vermont Green Slate in a honed finish as well, but you would need to be prepared for the higher maintenance issues of routing sealing and using cutting boards. Slate seems to scratch just by looking at it! I don’t like slate for kitchen countertops because they simply wear down too quickly.

For the edge detail, you can round the top edge and still maintain the cottage charm but a full bullnose will blow the overall style. A square edge would be best, though. Keep that in mind. Match knob and pulls with the stove finish.

Best wishes to you and thank you so much for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Visions kids.

Hi Tom,

You should be seeing my question soon. Choosing the granite is proving to be more difficult than I thought! I am so glad to have found you!

If I might add one more thing – my son is telling me that I should go with engineered stone such as Silestone. He had that in his first home and now has granite. He is very strong on the engineered stone. He is very often correct about things, and given that he has experience with each and I don’t, I am a bit puzzled about what to do. Any thoughts? – Peggy

Hello Peggy,

Thank you for your patience. I never received the original posting so if I miss some elements of your question, please let me know.

First let me give you some comments about engineered stone versus natural granite. Specifically, you mentioned Silestone which is a trade name for an engineered stone made by Cosentino in Spain. It is widely marketed though Home Depot. Silestone is man-made and created by combining quartz with colored polyester epoxy resin. It is extremely stain resistant and scratch resistant as well. Since these are two very desirable aspects in a kitchen, engineered stone boast these benefits and claims that it is superior to natural granite.

On the other hand, granite is truly natural and created when the Earth was formed. It is sort of like comparing apples and oranges. Since sellers of both products know that the other is like a shark in their swimming pool, marketing and technical advances are being created to close the gap. Suppliers of engineered stone continue to develop more ‘natural-like’ colors but they don’t seem to be able to measure up to mother nature. Likewise on the granite promotions side, some new development of sealers are truly at a promising level now and provide an almost maintenance free surface. The bottom line is that you should take a look at Silestone and see if you like it. In my opinion, it only belongs in an ultra urban or contemporary decor.

Back to granite now and the color pallet you mentioned. By far my favorite with taupe cabinetry is Mascarello. If you have enough light in the kitchen, I would also recommend a dark tumbled travertine full height back splash in a tiny module, maybe even mosaic. If your light is limited, then you need to at least run slab splash 4” up with the same granite, above that you can paint or go with a lighter tile color in a big module.

The Colonial Dream is another great choice and the long thick veining movement is excellent in a galley kitchen. However, this is a little too light for your cabinetry and the selection of slabs would have to be perfect. There are just so many shades in this granite and a peachy tone would be horrible. By the way, there is no way you will like Silestone if these two granite colors appeal to you.

A stainless or bronze sink with matching fixtures is the right move. Try to match the knobs and pulls in the same finish. This is not always the requirement but Mascarello is so bold that you need to tie in everything around it so it doesn’t get messy.

My best wishes to you, Peggy! Thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Tom

We will be installing Armstrong’s Waverly cabinets in Toffee and wood floors in our kitchen. I was leaning toward a dark granite with green (perhaps peacock, butterfly or pocono) because I thought a brown granite would be boring and “samey” with the cabinets and floor. Do you agree and what do you think of my choices? Also read on gardenweb.com, these dark green granites can have problems with fissures?

Thank you in advance!

Karen

Hello Karen

The Green Peacock granite is a nice medium/dark green that would go very well with the Armstrong toffee. Assume your kitchen area is not too small, this granite also has beautiful features that would compliment the upscale look of the Waverly design cabinets and crown. I like that combination a lot.

Light browns would really wash out the room but a color like Tan Brown Granite or Cafe Imperial would look very handsome and would give the kitchen a more subdued elegance as compared to the more ‘BAM’ that Peacock Green would present.

You did not mention your fixtures, appliances and sink color. These cabinets look great with white, cream or stainless. However, don’t go with green granite if you use white or cream. That combination mixed in here will cheapen the décor completely. The Tan Brown Granite with its rich deep
red highlights is perfect with white or cream appliances. If you are going
with stainless, then the Peacock Green is perfect – no doubt about it.

It is true the some deep greens have fissures. Just inspect the slab and feel if any are open to the touch or longer than a couple inches. This is a feature to embrace and not a defect to worry about. Ask if the slabs were resin filled. Do not select them if they were not resin filled at the overseas factory.

Thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Desperate- please help.

No frills kitchen update in a no frills home. Maple Spice cabinets-full overlay raised-panel square door. 10 x10- no windows- very little natural if any. Pass thru window – neutral family room on other side. Replacing dark ugly oak cabinets. Floor will be last- have to go with engineered wood(slab home in Ohio). Dining room off kitchen also neutral. All walls neutral/off white- carpet neutral.

I’m set on getting granite counter tops even if it’s stupid! Please help me pick out the best color. I am color blind with little help. (ok I lied, not officially color blind, but I may as well be). I need a counter top color, wall color and color of wood floors. The rooms off the kitchen can all be re-done as far as paint color.

I like the Tropic Brown with the cabinets but you keep saying it has to be a large kitchen so that killed that idea. Today I looked at Bainbrook Brown and thought that might work. I was also thinking about something that would allow me to paint my walls some sort of green or melon/pumpkin etc… just anything for color but I’ll settle for creams. Can you help??? Husband is insisting on painting the walls before the cabinets come in 2 weeks. I know this makes sense but how can I pick out the granite if I don’t have the cabinets to work with? I’m having a hard time hooking up with pay pal for my donation, but I promise, I will keep trying. Please look for it. I won’t ask for it back.. even if you tell me to “give it up”.

Thanks,
Debbie

Hello Debbie

First of all, paint the walls last. After the granite and cabinets are installed, your room décor will change drastically. You need those elements in place or you will be repainting later! Trust me. Just plastic off the granite and cabinets and then paint the walls. In addition, you will want to caulk the granite to the wall with paintable caulking.
Then, paint the caulk when painting the walls.

Now then, you need to brighten up this no window, no color kitchen and here is what I suggest. I am not going to suggest anything too exotic for the granite because you mentioned simple formatted granite colors like Tropical Brown and Bainbrook Brown. That is a personal taste and I think it is best to keep in that direction since it can work very well. I want you to take a look at Giallo Ornamental Granite. This is light gold/yellow granite which will brighten your kitchen area up and compliment your Maple Spice cabinets.

Another color I would suggest is Santa Barbara Granite, which is a little darker and has a richer color. These two colors will not blow your budget and you can keep those black appliances!

For the wood floors I would select a natural maple color and finish. Walls can be darker now. You can bring in some rose and melon color as long as you don’t go toward the orange tints.

Review this pallet and let me know if you have more questions. You can see these colors swatches and more on www.GraniteStock.com but for a real feel of these colors, see the slabs at your local granite supplier.

Best wishes and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Hi Tom

We are in the process of remodeling the kitchen of our 20 year old home. The kitchen is about 11 feet wide by 22 feet long and opens up into a large family room. The room gets an average amount of light. The cabinets are going to be maple with a honey colored stain, flat panel shaker style. The cabinets will be in a U-shape with one end being a peninsula. There will be a small island which will be stained a “rubbed” black on the bottom and have a maple butcher block top. The back side of the peninsula will also be black. There is a black china cabinet in the eating area of the kitchen in a shaker style. All the appliances will be stainless. The floor is oak stained a medium-shade finish.

Two granites we are considering are a dark ubatuba or blue volga. Which do you think would look better given the description of our kitchen? Any ideas for a tile backsplash or paint colors? Thank you so much! This is an extremely useful resource.

Pam

Hello Pam,

I like your two choices because both of these colors work well with your kitchen color pallet. However, they will give distinctively different stances after installed. The Volga Blue granite from the Ukraine is beautiful as you know and well know for its large opalescent blue mineral inclusions. This granite will look much darker than even the darkest Ubatuba because the overall mineral components are more waxy and less reflective that Ubatuba. That being said, you have to decide if this is want you want or don’t want. Looks at the slabs again and you will see the ‘waxy’ look that I am referring to.

Ubatuba will provide a more pleasantly sterile and clean look, while Volga Blue will be more exotic and jewelry-like. With the shaker cabinets, I would consider both equally complimentary with the wood island and the black accents you have in the room. Again, the Volga Blue will darken the room up a bit so be sure that you have enough light to handle it.

I would go with the one that you love more. I also think you should consider a dark Blue Pearl Granite as well because it would look great with the décor, give a nice crisp clean kitchen feeling and brighten up the room with a highly upgrade look. You will find that it is the same price as Volga Blue.

Consider a straight edge detail for whichever you choose because it would not be fitting to have a bullnose edge detail with shaker style cabinet.

If I could make one more suggestion it would be to reduce the amount of black in the room. Except for cook tops, black is definitely on its way out!

Best wishes and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Hi Tom,

I need help picking what granite I should use for my kitchen countertop. I have existing medium oak cabinets and white appliances. The floor is going to be 18 x 18 ceramic tile (Slate Sand by StonePeak) to match with a natural oak engineered hardwood floor that connects to it through a very large opening. The countertop will be about 45 square inches in a u-shape. I have a garden window in the kitchen that looks out to the south so my kitchen does not get a lot of natural light. I originally picked Sunset Gold, but now I am told that it is only used in rentals. What do you think?

Thanks,
Pam

Hello Pam,

Sunset Gold is not a good granite choice for several reasons. I know this granite very well and it comes from the Fujian Provence in China. It is a porous igneous rock with less than 65% quartz; therefore, it is not really a granite by definition. What this means to you is that it can more easily stain if the sealer ever wears off and is not as scratch resistant as true granites. It also contains an amount of mica minerals which will rust and increase the pity feeling over time. It has become popular because it is one of the most inexpensive granite and the color generally compliments the pallet of most natural wood cabinets. I recommend staying clear of this granite if long term satisfaction is desired.

You really do have a lot of options and I’d feel better commenting on your ’short list’ of granite colors so that I can tell you what I think will work and wont work out of the one you like. If I was to mention colors now, with the basic medium oak cabinets and the white appliances, the list would be very long. I would like you to write back to me with your short list. When looking at slabs, take my “Homeowners Checklist” with you so that you don’t miss any steps in choosing the right slabs. Right back to me with your short list and I will reply the same day, promise!

My very best wishes and more later, ok?

Hi Tom
We recently had Pompeii 3cm granite installed in our kitchen. We haven’t had a great experience with our installers, which leaves us with three questions for you:

The surface, which is sealed, has multiple small divots. These appear innumerable in direct sunlight and many can be felt – is this a normal surface polish? We’re hearing that this is normal for natural stone. I don’t like it because it looks like it is dirty all the time.

Secondly, our bar is C-shaped with side overhangs of 4″ and an 11″ overhang on the 70″seating area. Are two 9″ wood corbels sufficient for support?

Finally, we have a seam on each side of an undermount corner sink. We’re happy with one seam, but the other joins two slabs with different color and color flow directions. This granite has a lot of movement, so we’re not sure what an appropriate seam should look like. You probably won’t believe this, but when we asked to pick out individual slabs, we were told that was not possible because it would be too hard to move them around. Yes, we’re having a “Duh” moment in retrospect! We didn’t know what to expect. Wish I’d looked for your website earlier – thanks for being available!

Karyn

Hello Karyn,

Sorry to hear about your experience. Let me answers your questions for you.

Regarding the two corbels, I could answer this better if you email me a photo but I do believe what you have is sufficient since the granite is 3cm solid. If it was not ‘fractured-type’ granite I would be confident to say that at 3cm solid thickness, your overhang situation is absolutely fine as
long as the corbels are secure. However, this is weaker granite than most, so sending me a photo would be best so that I can see where the corbels were placed and how big they are.

Regarding the pits and seams, this is really unfortunate. Both of this issues are address in my “Homeowner’s Checklist” article on the Rock Blog. Unfortunately what you are describing is typical in granite like Pompeii because it is naturally highly fractured granite and the veins where the quartz meets the orthoclase tend to fill in with weak sediment over millions of years.

It is common now for overseas factories to apply a resin coating before shipping these colors in order to avoid this exact customer dissatisfaction. However, these slabs were either not resin coated or they just did not have enough to meet your satisfaction. The salesperson should have pointing this characteristic out to you during your slab selection process. There is a special product of which I am involved in the testing phase, which is coming out in about two months. It can be applied to the surface and will somewhat reduce the issue you are experience. No promise as it is still being tested, but keep in touch and I will let you know about it at the right time.

Regarding the seams, that is just bad fabrication planning. Sometimes it does not look to bad so I hope you can still enjoy the granite, but the fabricator should have matched the veining across the seam as best as possible. Matching color and veining across the seam is an industry standard. Personally, I would reject it and any local expert would say the same. I bet one of the seams could have been avoided as well.

Again, sorry to hear about your troubles. My best wishes to you and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids.

Hi, Tom.

I need to pick the granite for my kitchen remodel. The kitchen is L-shaped, about 13X13. My cabinets are maple with a toffee stain (medium) in a bead-board style. The island will be a cream/bisque glaze in the same bead-board style. The appliances are stainless, and the floor will be solid red oak in a stain yet to be determined. I want to stay away from yellowish wood and other colors as the cabinets have a pink rather than yellow undertone.

The kitchen is open to the dining room and somewhat to the living room.
Although the kitchen cabinets have a country feel, I am more eclectic and pick what I love. I do not like blues or grays as main colors. The colors that repeat in those rooms are warm burgundies, creams, ruddy roses, deep greens, warm tans. My kitchen gets plenty of light and receives lots of morning sun. The windows all look out to natural wooded property views — lush green in the summer and wood in the winter with fall and spring changes.

I love the granite with some movement and don’t like the smaller patterned or speckled stones as they seem too consistent and man-made to me. The favorite right now is Crema Bordeaux, which I saw yesterday on a slab.

Any other suggestions? Thanks for your site and expertise. I found you just in time!!

Lisa

Hello Lisa,

Your instinct to stay away from gray is pretty sharp given the maple and toffee satin cabinets with the bisque glaze island piece. That would have been a real drab mess. I do think a blue would be stunning but that is also not the best choice since you have a little pink cast going on in the inland glaze highlights.

You mentioned Crema Bordeaux which is one of my favorite colors from Brazil because of it many blended colorful orthoclase and quartz minerals. It is what I call, ‘more art than function’. However, with the red oak floors and all the other shades going on, it will be too busy and too playful. I really think you won’t love in long run.

There is a granite color called Juparana Bronze which is just perfect for your kitchen. (You can see a nice swatch of it on www.GraniteStock.com.) I believe this is just perfect and has less of the prime colors that are so ‘over-vivid’ in Crema Bordeaux. It will pull all the tones together in your kitchen and because it an exotic granite, you can pick out a nice piece with interesting movement for the island.

I hope that this helps and be sure to look at several bundles of Juparana Bronze and similar colors before deciding. Each bundle is different!

Best wishes and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!

Hi Tom,

I know this is a long e-mail!

I’m remodeling my parents kitchen. It’s been an experience. We are nearing the end. haha!

CABINETS: Cream with medium glaze with a contrasting cherry Kaffe crown mold and light rail trim with a white rope inset in the crown(sort of French Country European style I suppose).

SINK BASE: Cherry Kaffe that juts out from the rest of the cabinets with the corners 45 degreed.

ISLAND: Cherry Kaffe with stainless warming drawer and overhang for stools.

LINK for Irish Cream by Merillat (not sure that this picture accurately portrays the color)

LINK for Kaffe Cherry (middle picture of right).

APPLIANES: Wolf Stainless 48″ range with 52″ hood. Meile dishwasher with a cream cabinet front adhered. Subzero 650 stainless refrigerator. Wolf warming drawer on island.

Wall color (have no idea).

Floors: Acacia in a mahogany stain. The island is the darkest color of the grain that you see in the wood. This wood has a lot of variation in the grain, but because of the dark formal stain, you don’t see it as much as you would if it were a lighter color. There isn’t a picture online, but it is a 6″ plank handcrafted (rustic feel) wood. Feels like its always been in the house…very Old World farmhouse.

Cabinet hardware: Birdcage style oil rubbed bronze/black.

We are stuck on our granite.

They looked at Titanium and loved the piece, but my husband and I just don’t think the black matches the style of the kitchen with the contrasting trim they have.

Our designer at Reico said New Venetian Gold would be too yellow for the cabinets and suggested Giallo Venenziano (which i thought looked pinkish brown), and the other designer (who was in town while we are granite
shopping) said it would go beautifully as long as we looked for one not too washed out or golden I think.

I’m leaning towards the fact that it will go with the cabinets, but I’m not sure. My parents have traditional, elegant, and ornate taste. I think that with the trim already contrasting and there being a lot to look at already in this kitchen, that a monochromatic look with the creamy cabinets would whiten the cabinets up some and set the island off as the feature that it is (because obviously, it would contrast with the garnet colored cherry)… but I worry about the New Venetian Gold and its yellowness that people say it has.

I’ve read absolutely every entry you have made regarding New Venetian Gold and its tract home style and all that, so you don’t have to recap if you don’t want too

I work for a production builder, and my husband does remodels and this is what we came up with ( but I wouldn’t say that granite selection is a strength of mine). So I need your opinion. I have a WORLD VISION sister too, btw!

We have one arched 50″ window over the sink, and the sitting area has 3 2′8″x5′2″ windows letting in light. I’ll send pictures at your emails address as soon as my father can send them to me tonight, I hope.

I was thinking that the New Ventian Gold would look similar to this kitchen (in the areas of the kitchen that we have cream cabinetry since its a two toned kitchen.) LINK

Thank you in advance,

Naomi

Hello Naomi.

Thank you for your clear description and the follow-up photos. I believe that I have the perfect suggestion but first I strongly want to discourage New Venetian Gold and Giallo Veneziano for this kitchen. With the two-tone
glazed cabinetry, the glass doors you definitely have a William-Oh meets French Country décor going on here. The granite must have compatible presence or you will blow the whole room.

Many people choose New Venetian Gold and Giallo Veneziano for color, and that is right thing to do – for color only. These two colors do nothing for ‘presence’. That is exactly why track-home builders use these because they do not want to create ‘presence’ in a home that does not have much elsewhere.

The right time to use these granites is when ‘color only’ is the goal and/ or an emphasis is going to be place on the backsplash as the room’s focal point.

Your kitchen needs semi-tight grain granite with smooth black lines and some clusters of muted brown tones. Absolute the best choice for this is granite called Terra Brazilis. As the name states, it is from Brazil and a so-so swatch of it can be seen on www.GraniteStock.com.

This granite is rich, deep, classy and still old-world. It has just the right amount of black that you need to bring color-purpose to the hardware and the café browns are perfect with both the light and dark glazed cabinets.

I would carry it up the backsplash as well, full-height up to the cabinets.
You might consider tile for the splash but there is already too much going on in depth and shades in this kitchen. Enjoy the granite and go full height on the splash.

I recommend Arandis Granite sometimes in this décor, but the combination that would be a second choice because you need more black than the Arandis has to offer. Still take a look at both.

I also want to add one note about full exotic colors like Juperana Persa. It would blow this décor in just the opposite way as New Venetian Gold. I mention this because I bet you will see and consider it as well. However, you have beautiful cabinets and floors and exotics like Persa or Ferro Gold would be like putting pinstripes on a Roll Royce.

Lastly, there are two ways you can go with the edge detail. You can stay more-old-world and simple with a half-bullnose or you can really bring up the formality with a Roman Ogee or an ogee bullnose. Just don’t go with a flat edge (too contemporary) or a full bullnose (too modern/traditional).

Good luck and thank you for supporting the Rock Blog’s World Vision kids!