What color are your appliances?

Appliances are stainless steel

My personal choice would be the darker one as I'm all for character. And it'll play nicely with your cherry.

Giallo Ornimental

Tan brown is nice with cherry. I have cooper canyon

we too are in the process of picking granite, cabinet floors etc. The cherry cabinet is a beautiful choice. We had our main door done in a similar stain. I would consider pulling out the veins of the cherry by keeping the granite pretty uncluttered. A simple black honed granite or any plain color will bring attention and focus to the beauty of the cabinet doors. Or white princess granite. So it really depends on whether your main focus is cabinets or granite or floors when people walk into your kitchen. What do you want to attract attention to first? good luck

Minsk is my current favorite. One downside, it's one of the more pricey granites available.

We are doing cherry cabinets on perimeter walls and distressed black cabs on center island. We saw carnival granite and fell in love. Has green hues with cherry, and black streaks with some white. It is pricey but our focal point. Looked at slate flooring today that won't be too busy

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll check them out. I'm also considering whether to limit the granite to just the island and do the other countertops in a solid colour. If we did that would it look Ok to use laminate for the solid colour or would the quality between granite and laminate be too different?

another consideration could be wood...

Hi I suggest crazy horse granite for the island like in the picture and a different stone on the perimeter. I just did my kitchen the island is 12ft and it looks awesome.

granite on island and look at quartz like caesarstone. That is what we are doing too. They have many colors and it is more durable and stain resistant than granite. It is also in solid colors and say mocha or black or buttermilk blends really well with the colors of your granite.

Granite is a great countertop choice. I would keep them all the same. Consider using a granite that does not have a lot of veining in it for 2 reasons. The tighter the pattern- less veining- means a stronger concentration of quartz which is very durable and will be better to use. Secondly, with larger veining, you have to consider the cuts of the different pieces on the countertop sections since the veins can change direction and may look overwhelming in your kitchen and could require a lot of cuts to get the veins to all go the same way. I always consider the natural lighting that comes into the room before I recommend to get a dark or a light colored granite. Good luck!

Granite is a great countertop choice. I would keep them all the same. Consider using a granite that does not have a lot of veining in it for 2 reasons. The tighter the pattern- less veining- means a stronger concentration of quartz which is very durable and will be better to use. Secondly, with larger veining, you have to consider the cuts of the different pieces on the countertop sections since the veins can change direction and may look overwhelming in your kitchen and could require a lot of cuts to get the veins to all go the same way. I always consider the natural lighting that comes into the room before I recommend to get a dark or a light colored granite. Good luck!

I would go with a more solid counter top of Caesar Stone like Blue Lagos. Do an alternating horizontal pattern of neutral stone or stone and glass tile for the back splash and put the granite on the island only.
For more design tips, follow my blog: "Lauren's Style Library" http://ljacobsendesign.com/

In answer to your question, I would not mix laminate with granite. IMHO I would not use laminate anywhere except maybe a laundry room.

I was going to also suggest Kashmir granite; I prefer less busy granite myself and am edging towards soapstone in my new kitchen with medium or light oak Shaker style cabinetry. Good luck.