Revisit countertops with me?

[Carrie12345]

I’m including a pic of our main countertop sample. Pardon the reflection. Just your basic entry level granite. Cabinets are stained black, backsplash is white with gray grout. Appliances are SS.

At the moment, we have gray cabinetry ordered for the island we’re doing ourselves. I will probably repaint that a dark red in the future. I’ve mostly decided against a butcher block top, but we have not found anything else that excites us either.

I think we need to go light. The space is open to three big windows (well, one is the sliding glass doors) but they’re on the south side of the house. A very light gray? An almost solid white??? Black has always been my answer to everything, so my brain is resisting light options. And I’m awful at combining real images with imaginary ones. 

[prairiewindmomma]

White or marble look, but if you go marble look you want mostly white with some graining…something like calacatta gold.

[KatieJ]

We have pretty much this exact granite. Photo is realtor photos. I do love the color and it’s really not very dark. 

However, I would not choose granite. We bought a model home…

It shows smears like crazy. I wash it with dish cloth and then with my left hand, I dry/polish it. Then walk

around and see what I missed…

I will be looking for a spray I can use….technician said to clean it like glass and use windex. I refuse to do that, I don’t want windex on surfaces I prepare food on. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by KatieInMN

[Katy]

I'm confused.  You already chose this as the outer countertop?

If so, I'd continue it.

For the grout, make sure it's a warm (beige) gray that coordinates with this, not blue gray.  And if possible i'd go with ivory tile, not white.  White will likely clash a bit unless you have seen the actual slab is more white than this sample.

[Carrie12345]

15 minutes ago, Katy said:

I'm confused.  You already chose this as the outer countertop?

If so, I'd continue it.

For the grout, make sure it's a warm (beige) gray that coordinates with this, not blue gray.  And if possible i'd go with ivory tile, not white.  White will likely clash a bit unless you have seen the actual slab is more white than this sample.

Sorry, lol. Yes, this is the “main” counter being installed. We’re doing our own island. We’re locked in for all builder options at this point, so no changes. That includes no ordering matching granite for our DIY.  I’m kind of worried that tying to order a “matching” slab elsewhere might look different enough to not really match, but not different enough to seem intentionally separate. Or maybe I’m just overthinking???

[KatieJ]

Ok, that explains it.

I would  look for granite that is  either the white or the darker colors in your existing granite and get one with little veining in it. 
Contrast as much as possible so it looks very intentional. 

[Storygirl]

Others can chime in and disagree with me, because I am no expert. But, I think since you know the name of your granite, you could order a slab of it from somewhere else for your island. Yes, it will come from a different source than your other counters. But granite slabs have enough expected variation within them, that I think that it may not matter if the island looks slightly different from the counters.

Are you putting in the island after the rest of the kitchen has been completed? Perhaps you can wait and see what your counters look like, then go visit a granite place and pick out a specific slab that matches them as closely as possible.

If you choose a contrasting color instead, I would pick something with very little pattern, so that it does not look too busy in your room. You could do a quartz island, which would give you the ability to avoid pattern.

[KSera]

53 minutes ago, KatieInMN said:

It shows smears like crazy. I wash it with dish cloth and then with my left hand, I dry/polish it. Then walk

around and see what I missed…

I will be looking for a spray I can use….technician said to clean it like glass and use windex. I refuse to do that, I don’t want windex on surfaces I prepare food on. 

Your kitchen is pretty! We have a food safe spray we use on our counters that works well: https://puracy.com/products/disinfecting-surface-cleaner

The “disinfectant” aspect is hydrogen peroxide and vinegar, so not anything harmful. I’m not one who does pastry or anything like that directly on the counters though. If I was going to, I would still want to rinse before doing that, which would be the case no matter what countertop material or cleaner I used.

[KatieJ]

24 minutes ago, KSera said:

Your kitchen is pretty! We have a food safe spray we use on our counters that works well: https://puracy.com/products/disinfecting-surface-cleaner

The “disinfectant” aspect is hydrogen peroxide and vinegar, so not anything harmful. I’m not one who does pastry or anything like that directly on the counters though. If I was going to, I would still want to rinse before doing that, which would be the case no matter what countertop material or cleaner I used.

Thank you! I am not a blue or gray person, so it’s taking some time to adjust …bathrooms looks the same.

 

I’ll look for that…my DIL says Method has one too..

I still think there is something wrong with my granite…it’s continues to be rough…You can  feel and hear it when you wipe it down. Sigh. 

 

[plansrme]

My perimeter cabinets are solid black countertops on black-stained cabinets, and I like it, so I wouldn't rule out solid black. But, my island is huge (same cabinets) with a walnut countertop, and I love love love my island top. We flipped a house once and put a sapele mahogany countertop on the island with basic granite on the perimeter. I lucked out on Craigslist and found the countertop, which exactly matched my island's dimensions, for about $300. A guy bought it from the cabinet shop where he worked intending to make it into a table. Anyway--the island top was the most-loved feature in the house and looked good with the perimeter cabs. So, I vote for solid black or wood. 

[Clarita]

2 hours ago, KatieInMN said:

I still think there is something wrong with my granite…it’s continues to be rough…You can  feel and hear it when you wipe it down. Sigh. 

 

Probably needed to be polished more (not put on more polish but polish the actual stone). I wonder if you could ask a stone contractor about it. 

2 hours ago, Storygirl said:

But, I think since you know the name of your granite, you could order a slab of it from somewhere else for your island. Yes, it will come from a different source than your other counters. But granite slabs have enough expected variation within them, that I think that it may not matter if the island looks slightly different from the counters.

IF you have a stone warehouse near you; you can tell them the name and look at the actual slabs they have on-hand to see which would go best. As long as you aren't connecting to an existing slab of granite you should be able to find a piece that fits well enough. I'd be hesitant about doing it sight unseen.

[KatieJ]

2 minutes ago, Clarita said:

Probably needed to be polished more (not put on more polish but polish the actual stone). I wonder if you could ask a stone contractor about it. 

I have had the company out here as well as spoken with someone who works for a granite contractor.

it seems mine is very pourus, and the sealant works it way up and onto the surface. The “fix” is a razor blade. Thr tech who showed up to “fix” it was so very much not into it as much as he was into talking.

Even thr areas that were smoother , seem to be rough again. I hope My DH will focus on it soon and call the owner of the company ..it’s been a crazy hectic move and he’s still playing catch up with the house.

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, KatieInMN said:

 

I still think there is something wrong with my granite…it’s continues to be rough…You can  feel and hear it when you wipe it down. Sigh. 

Mine is smooth and easy to clean. No sound at all and my ears are hypersensitive. Mine does have water stains and was installed in 2006.

[mmasc]

I’d do something like this for your DIY island. 
 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/allen-roth-Peaceful-Quartz-Kitchen-Countertop-Sample/1000607763?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-kab-_-ggl-_-PLA_KAB_233_Countertops-_-1000607763-_-online-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W-8i560PiyJKOD2PfkNCJzkF&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W-8i560PiyJKOD2PfkNCJzkF&gclid=CjwKCAjwrfCRBhAXEiwAnkmKmQ1aRkMrgmvkt76RuR_27v8EKcL6q7xVyLoE9tJk0U8CwsWZgo-QnhoCjxEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I think if you don’t go fairly solid with it, that it might clash. 

[stephanier.1765]

5 hours ago, KatieInMN said:

We have pretty much this exact granite. Photo is realtor photos. I do love the color and it’s really not very dark. 

However, I would not choose granite. We bought a model home…

It shows smears like crazy. I wash it with dish cloth and then with my left hand, I dry/polish it. Then walk

around and see what I missed…

I will be looking for a spray I can use….technician said to clean it like glass and use windex. I refuse to do that, I don’t want windex on surfaces I prepare food on. 

I absolutely love your kitchen cabinet colors. We are probably going to buy an older 70's home in the near future (we are looking in neighborhoods near my parents) and if that home still has the same cabinets in the same stain I am absolutely painting them. Can't do it. No way. So seeing your colors is giving me a lot of inspiration. Thank you!

[kristin0713]

I would talk to the granite supplier and try to order the same. My parents have added granite to another counter on the other side of the kitchen and my brother did the same.  They are not right against each other and maybe there are slight color match differences but you can't tell. 

[KatieJ]

3 hours ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I absolutely love your kitchen cabinet colors. We are probably going to buy an older 70's home in the near future (we are looking in neighborhoods near my parents) and if that home still has the same cabinets in the same stain I am absolutely painting them. Can't do it. No way. So seeing your colors is giving me a lot of inspiration. Thank you!

We are now seeing this stain color everywhere in cabinets and  furniture stores. Who knew? We sure were surprised to be almost “trendy”.