I was thinking of Celticmoon's DIY espresso cabinets that looked so good with whitish Corian and then viola! That's what you show (or something similar).

Still, I'd do stainless counters because I find them functional and sparkly. Backsplash depends on the style of the room. Is this the actual kitchen?

No, that's not the actual kitchen; it's a showroom that offers DIY-assembly cabinets in Seattle. (Our contractor, who is also a cabinet maker, is going to assemble them for us).

The style of the room is totally up to us. We did a complete gut of our kitchen. Here's what it looks like at the moment. The kitchen will be off to the left as part of that one room:

This is the planned layout of the kitchen part (ignore the colors; we've changed our minds).

White or cream quartz, bianca romano or stainless steel.

Slightly off center - Costa Esmeralda-particularly with more white veins, delicatus, vermont green slate- $$$ :(

Bmorepanic, funny enough, my current top two choices are white quartz and Bianco Romano. :) I was leaning toward the Bianco Romano, but have been to 8 granite yards and haven't found slabs yet that I love. (I've seen everything from slabs that look like River White to Colonial Cream being sold as "Bianco Romano" -- so much variation!)

Remodelfla, indeed Sochi's quartzite is ridiculously beautiful! I did find some similar quartzite at one yard in my area, but the salesperson helping me warned that quartzite is not as durable or stain-proof as granite or quartz. I think that might be enough to scare me away. Then again -- my goodness is that beautiful!

pugrolls could you give the name of the company you are getting the cabinets from?

I believe that quartzite is more stain resistant then granite (experts please correct me if wrong) however; trickier to fabricate. Quartz would also work great with a more modern look. I just personally have a "thing" for the swirls and movement of natural stone.

Color looks similar to ours, we went with Desert Limestone Caesarstone (Quartz) and a combination of backsplashes.

There is more info on the materials I used in the link below.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: My Kitchen!

yes, quartzite is a harder stone than granite, but just like granite, the whites have ranges of stainability.

after thinking "my" kitchen would be perfect with "my" dark cabs and marble, which led to a 'white' granite, I learned that this whole process was about compromise...alas, I had to make decisions with my DH :)

I thought I had found the perfect granite (quartzite actually) but they didn't have big enough, nor enough slabs for me, so on went the hunting.

hunting, hunting, hunting....months went on. I found the perfect slabs of Bianco Antico and felt it would be a beautiful compromise. now I love it and am beyond happy that this all happened the way it did. the perfect amount of warmth for the cabs. yadda yadda, basically, I'm telling you to keep looking if you haven't found "the" slabs you want/need. the backsplash will come after. my backsplash literally spoke to me and I could have no other after finding it :)

I was going to also suggest Bianco Antico or Bianco Romano. I've chosen this granite (BA), and while my cabinets will not be espresso (a bit lighter) BA looks gorgeous with espresso. See beekeeperswife's BA on her espresso colored island.

Mairin, would love to see your BA.

Here is a picture of Kelly Wearstler's black kitchen. One would have to be very bold and confident to pull off this color scheme but I think it does look smashing. My neighbour just redid her kitchen with very dark brown black cabinets and black galaxy?? granite, however she has a light floor and backsplash. It looks very nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

This is so opposite of what everyone else is suggesting, but I'll throw it out there anyway. When I was looking at granites, I was drawn to Chocolate Brown. My GC said that he'd just installed it in a home with Espresso cabinets and that it looked incredible. (It might actually be a quartzite...)

I have been debating the countertop choice for my Peppercorn stained cherry cabinets.. (like beekeeperswife's island). I think the Bianco Antico looks great, but I saw Delicatus White Granite and my DH,DD and I all agreed that it was what we wanted. As for the backsplash I am partial to tumbled subway tiles in a creamy white to compliment the granite. Wish you the best of luck!

Chipongo, that is one gorgeous granite slab that chocolate brown granite! I only have the sliding door window in my kitchen with no window over the sink and not other windows in the kitchen although it is open to the family room which is nice. I am feeling I need a light counter top as a result of lack of light.

pugrolls - I'm not sure I would rule out quartzite (assuming you see something you like) because of the warning from your salesperson. Quartzite is harder than granite (which is why it can be harder to fabricate), so I'm sure it is at least as durable as granite. Quart counters are made from quartzite and resin I believe, so again, I can't see how quartzite would be much less durable. As for staining, I took a sample of my quartzite home before purchasing and did the usual tests for staining and etching, nothing. I've been using my counters for about six weeks, nothing yet, and we've left a few nasty things on the counter for longer than we should have. Others have commented here that Luce di Luna is pretty bullet-proof, as are some other quartzites.

That said, I understand that there is quite a bit of variability in all natural stone. If you see something you love, take a sample home and test it yourself, and ask here if someone has personal experience with it. The sales person may not know quartzite that well, or they could be correct about that particular quartzite and not about others.

Good luck in your search!

Espresso cabinets....I have to ask, what color stain did you use. Please don't tell me it's propretary :(
Still looking for the perfect espresso stain for oak cabinets.

Good luck with slab hunting. That's actually my favorite part. Big hat, big coffee, kids in the bjorn and a day cruising the slab yards (we've got some big yards here in socal).

Marin - Would you mind posting pics of your kitchen and floors? would love to see what you ended up with. tx!

hey there, sherriz! glad I opened this thread - I actually even forgot I even posted to it, but am always intrigued by the 'dark' kitchens :)

we did Cumaru (brazilian teak), 4" planks, natural. Walnut cabs and Bianco Antico for the counters. some day I will actually take a whole series of good photos for the FKB!!

excuse the hijack, pugrolls, hope your selections are coming along!

Pugrolls,
Are you still thinking of ideas?

Here are a few.
~boxerpups

Surface Fabrication

Chicago Home Mag

Peach Farm Residence

Bardon Cabinets

Fine Line Blog

Seattle Home Mag Gibson

Carribbean Home Export

Google Images

FB Aea 361

Mairin -

tx for the pics. Your kitchen is beautiful. What tile backsplash did you go with. I also have BA granite and love the tile you chose.

With your choice of cabinets, you can do just about anything, but I would definitely go lighter than darker. I bet you are very excited.

if you can find a kraftmaind cabinet book, you'll see a much better picture of this kitchen countertop and backsplash

Here is a link that might be useful:

Is that OrganicDonna's kitchen under Chicago Home Magazine?