One vote for Nacarado - I just like the way the color seems to complement all of your choices. It feels like a complete picture with no elements fighting one another.

Hi monkeymo...

I didn't comment on your previous thread, but I will on this one, because I have a preference this time.

In selecting my favorite I really tried to pick the one that I think looks best with the stone wall. And that would be Persian Pearl...

I think Persian Pearl also works with the cabinet and the black appliances.

My second choice would be Bordeaux Sienna.

To my eyes, the other choices have too much gold in them and clash with the gray mortar.

Good Luck!

KA:)

My first choice would be Carnival. I think both the colors and pattern of that granite would look best with the stone wall. The colors of Narcardo are good, too, but I wouldn't like the flowing pattern with the stone wall as much. I'm guessing you'll need at least 2 slabs for your counters. Do all these granites have that many matching slabs in inventory?

the ones i love, in order:

Bordeaux Siena
Persian Pearl
Carnival

Truthfully, they all "go" with your scheme. You have to love what you install because ultimately you have to live with it.

oh, and your new kitchen looks stunning!! that feature wall is really beautiful. can't wait to see the finished pics ;)

Either Golden Typhoon, Carnival or Bordeaux Sienna. All three in the photos seem to pick up your colors and have the movement you're looking for. I like all three. Caveat is we're looking at photos of everything.

First let me let out a WOO-HOO for that awesome stone wall. I prefer the Bordeaux Siennna or Persian Pearl. The reason is that you have alot of red/burgandy tones in your home. I think if you get a stone with that too it will diminish the impact of the wood on your cabinets (beautiful BTW). Your floors, FP, stone wall, cabs, even some furnishing have that rich tone. I vote for the softer color to coordinate with the floors and lighter colors in the stone/grout. It's beautiful!

Bordeaux Sienna - looks nice with everything but especially the stone.
Persian Pearl - looks nice with everything but especially the black appliances.

I vote for Nacardo over Carnival, definitely, because the Nacardo has the colors that complement your other items but unlike the Carnival, it does NOT have too much gray. Those huge chunks of gray in the Carnival are just out of place with your other items.

I also think Persian Pearl is really lovely--judging from the onscreen pictures, anyway--with your other surfaces. It's really harmonious, and it complements them rather than overpowering them.

I like Persian Pearl best. I think it complements everything best. The other granites wither seem a bit busy or compete colorwise...

My personal opinion (and I'm not a decorating person - you could also try over there as this is primarily a decorating question) is ... not golds.

I think you could do the white marble-quartzite thing or a green.

Reasons - your choices are all very, very warm except the mortar which sticks out like a sore thumb. To me its like walking into a sauna. I think the whites mixed with gray or grayish greens could bridge the colors without being shocking. It would let the stone in the wall stand out instead of completing for attention.

The only other thought I have is that your counter could be a more mid-century element, quartz or solid surface or laminate in an actual color - plain blue, plain green, a carefully picked yellow. Or maybe plain gray slate.

hth and picking counter is the hardest choice!

I love the Nicardo.

Because the proportion of grey to stone color seems to be in the same proportion as the bricks, and the more linear (instead of random) veining seems more organized and less chaotic.

It also seems to work best with the black.

Have fun!

African Ivory because it picks up the red in the cabinets, the red brick from the fireplace, the black of the appliances, and the ivory from the flooring. Love it!

My first choice w/o looking at what anyone else voted, was number 2 and my second choice would be number 1. These two seem to go very well with the cabinets etc. They color is much richer looking. The others are too golden and the whiter once are too drab. So in short, I would say you can`t go wrong with Carnival or Nacarado. I don`t know, the more I look at them, I could change MY mind!! You really have a hard decision!

Last night I liked the Carnival, but now, no. Love the stone wall and glad to see you are keeping it!

My preferences:
Persian Pearl
Bordeaux
African Ivory

My concerns about the nacardo and bordeaux siena is that the pattern is too regular and from your post, I get the feeling that you prefer a granite with more movement. Also Persian Pearl tends to me to look a bit bland to me.

Bordeaux Sienna and Nacarado. Wonderful choices!

I still really like the Nacardo, but if you want to go lighter then I would go with Persian Pearl. Both of these stones have some gray in them which would bridge the mortar problem. They also go nicely with your cabs. I look forward to seeing what you choose.

I like Persian Pearl, that's just me.

I've been watching Bang for your Buck and I've deduced that it's a very personal thing. Some people love the movement, others love the static pattern, others love the colors. A lot of times the designers on the show hate the granite choices, but the homeowners love it. They're the ones to have to live with it, so their opinion matters most.

They're all lovely and will work with what you have. Go with the one YOU love.

I forgot to add this one... You all are so great - keep those comments coming...they are soooo helpful!

Rainforest

{{!gwi}}

I am SO glad you explained about the âÂÂbaconâ in your previous post. The two rock samples you posted in that thread were too pink, but now that I see the entire rock wall I do like it a lot. It has a lot of nice tones in it. IâÂÂd avoid a granite with gold in it, as others have said. So my favorites are:

Nacarado: This is my first choice if you are looking for ricker tones in the granite. It's a totally different look from the Bordeaux and pearl, but in a good way. ItâÂÂs richer with a lot of movement and goes well with all elements.

Bordeaux Siena is my first choice if you are going for a quieter look. Like Persian pearl, it goes beautifully with all elements, but also has some excitement to it. Not as calm as Persian, but the movement it does have does not overpower.

Persian Pearl is gorgeous! It's calm, goes with all elements. Do you want calm?

Carnival: I really like this one, but I am afraid it has too much movement and will compete with the wall for attention. IâÂÂd stick with one that has a more subdued pattern.

My vote is for the Nacarado, for the same reasons that others have mentioned. Of course, as someone else also said, we're really limited by the photos and our monitors. Things may look very different in person.

I do want to add a very large L - O - L regarding the pieces of bacon!!!! I'm still laughing about that.

I think the brick wall is brilliant. Good call on your part.

Good luck and have fun! You have to let us know what you decide, and to send pics when they're installed!

Whatever you pick, don't make a final decision without taking a cabinet door (or stain sample) and whatever other samples you can haul to the granite yard to see them all side-by-side in person in the same lighting. Colors don't necessarily come across "true" in photos-especially when taken separately under different lighting.

agree with riverspots. go to the yard with a sample of your door, and your floor. if you have any of the stone wall pieces, bring those along too. Indoor light is completely different than sunlight. Everything outdoors will look lighter and more washed out. BTW: it's always best to match colors outdoors because indoors lighting changes throughout the day. Try not to stand in complete sun but in filtered outdoor light.

I am still digging the Carnival the most (even more today as I see new things in it each time), but also like the Nacarado and the Rainforest if you are not looking for as dramatic.

I know that some shy away from movement, but I think the beauty of a natural stone is in getting the movement (and usually as much as possible, lol). That is one aspect that the man-mades can never quite capture. You will be looking at your counters every day while in your kitchen, so I think the more visually interesting, the better. Your floor is sedate, so you can go a little wild on the counters.

Your fireplace stone looks much prettier now than the bacon shots of it the other day. I had no idea what that was and I could only guess some of your breakfast made it into the photos by mistake, lol.....

I like African Ivory or Nacarado, but I am always drawn to the more swirly stones!

I vote Afican Ivory if you want to get jiggy with it & want a WOW factor. Or, if you want to play it safe I'd go with the Bordeau Siena which is also real nice. I think the Bordeau laying flat would tend to make your brick "pop" and the Afican would sort of bring it all together in an artful way. I just went through this tricky process but with small brick glass tiles. Keep in mind that the granite looks much different when laid flat with the over all color that it reads from a distance. Take pictures from a far as well as up close. Look at the distance picture to get an idea on the overall color that it reads.

You guys are super! I am trying to head out today to some other granite yards our fabricator works with (where I found many of the photos of these slabs in their inventory).

I am all set with my samples...in fact have a suitcase wheely thing to pull it through the warehouse. The tile and bacon pieces are HEAVY. Have door sample as well. The last granite yard I went through I only took the reddish samples of bacon so this time I will take some other color variants as well.

Bacon,bacon, bacon.... now I'm hungry!

I just realized that I overlaid the old photos with the new ones so in the previous thread you can no longer see the bacon. When I cut, pasted, and shrunk the stone and placed it on the granite pics it looked like bacon....

Here is the original photo I took at a granite yard.

{{!gwi}}

What do you think of this crema bordeaux? We thought it was too pink.

I am not a decorator or have a very good eye for colour. However Neither of those things has stopped me from expressing an opinion. So here goes - I love the brick wall in combination with your cabinets. I am assuming that your wet bar will be the same cabinets as in the kitchen. (Maybe some glass uppers in the wet bar to lighten the area) The effect of the two of them is warm and elegant.
The brick wall has pattern in it. It has the pattern of shape, small rectangular and the pattern of colour. When you stand back and look at it as a whole the colour pattern is large with its reds, oranges and golds. (maybe its my monitor but that's what it looks like). Your floor (I think the smaller tile is your floor) has the same tones in it and you have yet to mention plans for hardware, lighting fixtures or backsplash. The other patterns that you have going on is that of your sofa and armchair - unless they are being changed. The other thing is what is your focal point and I think you have already decided that it is going to be your cabinets/brick wall and I agree. I think that they are fabulous together.
My point in bringing this all up is that I am afraid that if you choose any of the granites that you have suggested (except perhaps African Ivory or maybe Bordeaux Sienna) is that you are going to wind up with a riotous jumble of reds and oranges (perpetual Fall) and all sorts of pattern sizes with no cohesiveness to the area . The granite should support your focal point and not try to compete. As mentioned here several times as well - your eye needs somewhere to rest and I haven't seen where that would be. But maybe that is the plan for the backsplash. I would step back and think about what else you have planned for the space before making a final decision on the granite. My opinion for what it's worth.

Love the Carnival. Nacarado would be 2nd.

^ It took me about 5 tries to get "Nacarado" right. My fingers kept insisting on making it either "Nicaragua" or "Colorado". Doh!

On my monitor, I like Persian Pearl. With black appliances and sink, it just looks WOW to me, and it picks up the tones in your brick.

That is how it looks on my monitor, but I know that can be deceiving. Make sure you bring samples home--larger ones if you can get them and look at them in every light, during different times of the day. I remember a stone I really liked in the showroom looked completely OFF in my home.

And now I want some bacon. Mmmmmm. Bacon.

I just had installed the same brand, different style sink. Check to see what kind of faucet and backsplash you want to use. This is the time to consider your options if there is not enough room for that sink because these sinks are deeper than normal front to back. Mine has left me with only a 2 1/2" deck space, to small for a high arc faucet and it's handle to operate. Also check with fabricator on how they will install/attach sink to stone. They used wood on ours. I am concerned if with the weight of the water over time will cause the sink to pull/drop away from the stone.

Lighter - Bordeaux Siena - I like some of the others, but most too pink, too white, too gold. I like the gray and how it grounds and compliments the amazing tone of the cabinets versus competes with it.

Darker - Carnival - the 2nd one is just too much red tone to match the cabinets and doesn't complement as much...

Wildcard - Rainforest - It is just a fantastic stone (what I have seen in person) but not sure it complements your cabinets as much as the other too.

2nd wildcard - Africian Ivory - great stone and it does compliment your cabinet but not as much a connection with the wall, which in MHO is not a real issue, as long as it doesn't look bad together (see below.)

Keep in mind that even though you have all these surfaces stacked on top of each other they will not be in real life. You will view the wall when looking at the counter, but they are not really together (except that small place on the buffet where the wall the the buffet counter touch which is minor. Be careful to not get caught up in them all "matching" -- you are clearly looking at stones that would all "go" with the other surfaces. I would focus on find the stone that you are so psyched about - that compliments the cabinets and more importantly whatever BS you choose.

Bordeaux Siena!!!

What do you think of this crema bordeaux? We thought it was too pink.

I agree.