That first on is something you can sink your teeth into.

I meant "that first one..."

I vote walnut or QS oak natural with clear coat stain (kinda biased on that one). Frosted glass uppers.

I'm sorry. You have me completely confused.

You have shown pictures of four kitchens with:
- Strong turquoise elements
- Orange elements in 3
- Blue tile backsplashes that are all striking in some way
- Light tone wood, or a mix of dark and light tone with strong linear grain patterns
- Hardwood floors, where visible

And you have selected:
- This as your countertop

If you are still actually looking at your inspiration photos, it must be in the rear view mirror as you floor it 90 mph in the exact opposite direction.

I suggest you slam on the breaks right now and ask yourself if you really want anything that looks like your inspiration photo. If not, fine, but get a new sense of direction. If you think you need to make a U-turn to get back to your inspiration, then start by finding a cabinet finish, countertop and backsplash right now that all work together.

Beautiful inspiration pictures. I think I like the first one best, but the third and fourth pictures have interesting examples of unique uppers - open in the front, or with interesting glass.

Is that first kitchen a mix of walnut and cherry? Nice.

The fact that your kitchen is small shouldn't impact your wood choice. If you really want a darker wood keep it on the lower cabinets. The type of wood really comes down to preference. I considered quarter-sawn oak & cherry, teak and walnut. I just loved the walnut best. My kitchen isn't very bright, so I kept the walnut to the lower cabs and accented the white uppers with walnut.

I will post pics of interesting uppers in the other thread. (I wouldn't do white (but of course I did in my kitchen, so I guess I would! But not in your kitchen).

I'll think more on the peninsula colour options.

Sochi your suggestions and photos are fantastic- thanks!

Enduring and remodel. Important. I love the first one most and best. The one. Instant for me has been natural wood.

Marcolo. Sigh. Okay, thanks for the brutal honesty. I am obviously design impaired, I know this. Can you help me? The common theme in the photos to me is that they are all happy and colorful places, natural materials and beautiful while still feeling warm and welcoming.

It's the FIRST Picture I love. Ignore the others, marcoli & all. I agree the other pics confuse things.

The only material I am stuck with is the cork floor.

So,
To create the look of the first picture, what backsplash?
Their countertops are concrete (not an option for me. I've had them before and am not a fan). But I can choose any I want from Zodiac, Eco by cosentino, silestone, Carsarstone, cambria.
QS OAK vs walnut? Not confident scherrs can wrap white cabs in walnut like Sochis, but could do all painted uppers.

Wall color??

This kitchen is not bringing out the best or most capable in me. I'm definitely one of those who has come for hand holding !! ;). But it's an important project for me and I'd love for GWWizzards to tell me how to make my space resemble the first kitchen ("splash o color" is the title on houzz).

Thanks for looking!

From what I see, you like an aqua color, some bright accents and natural wood with grain. Your counters will be a semi solid tone, to be determined. I see clean lines and not heavy on upper cabs, probably open shelving.
The light fixture in the second one would work nicely with your choices.
The big question is do you want the aqua as a wall color, bs or counter? Once you figure that out, you can figure out the rest. Since your counters will be somewhat simplein whatever color you end up with, I'd pick the bs and work off of that.
You could also do open shelves in stainless if you don't want white in your kitchen, but want a lighter tone up high. Of course, if you copy your true inspiration picture for bs and shelves, that would answer a few of the questions. Personally, I'd like the first one even more if it were just the lighter variety of wood. The dark cabs don't flow as well with the rest of it. If they wanted dark cabs, I'd have rather seen them all dark. In your case, you sound like it would call for the lighter of the 2.
btw - which direction do you want the grain to flow?

Thanks dianalo.

I think horizontal grain; the space is small and I think vertical grain makes it look smaller. And what lighter wood would you use?
I'm getting mine from scherrs over IKEA boxes.

I think I am drawn to the aqua colors because I miss living near /on the Pacific ocean. I'm in the hyper urban mid Atlantic now where I can't smell the saltwater or watch the sun set over the thrashing endless hypnotic ocean. Though I love where I live and am here to stay, I dearly miss the northern California coast- redwoods, fern forests, tide pools and steep rocky cliffs. Dramatic beauty!

Water, wood, stone. All soothing to me.

So, let's say that the aqua is in the backsplash. Maybe the tile even has some movement in it. White walls? Salty white :) !

Can I still do a white countertop, or should it be a grey honed Carsarstone?

White uppers too stark? Obscured glass softer? I don't see myself having all open shelves as I worry about the collection of dust in real life. my dinnerware is white, btw. Drinking glasses clear. Mish mash coffee tea mugs.

WALL COLOR is the most pressing issue right now. White? Grey?

::: would anyone add a pantry somewhere??

::::: is my intent any more clear now? Happy for all the input!

I personally like the lighter wood. Here are some turquoise options for backsplash and counters.

For what it's worth, I see what your first two inspiration photos have in common--they both have turquoise or aqua tile, both have at least some orange and green (the pots on the shelf in the first picture). They're both colorful and the surfaces run to shiny.

Glass tile http://www.susanjablonmosaics.com/
{{gwi:1976933}}{{gwi:1976934}}{{gwi:1976935}}

Vetrazzo countertops in Floating Blue, Icestone in Blue Sky and Denim Moss; Corian in Mint Ice

Here is a large format terazzo tile in turquoise
http://www.wausautile.com/terrazzo/productsDetail.cfm?pc=4&psc=15&pg=22&prod=1037

Marmoleum on your walls (not as shiny as tile but less expensive): Rafting river, spa, dove blue, light blue, or fresh fountain

Ann Sacks tile:

{{gwi:1976945}}

{{gwi:1976946}}

{{gwi:1976947}}

sicis by Ann Sacks
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Maybe my fave for you:

{{gwi:1976059}}

Random birch door, just for the heck of it, Candlelight.
{{gwi:1976949}}

Look at Corian Mint Ice. It's the right color, and it's translucent and can be backlit for some interesting drama.

{{gwi:1976951}}

{{gwi:1976952}}

Or there's Formica's Aqua Boomerang
{{gwi:1976953}}

There's always ThinkGlass or another glass supplier if you have deep pockets.

Louise Blue Granite, also for deep pockets.

Turquoise Lavastone if you have REALLY deep pockets.

Or tile is available at pretty much any budget.

Aqua boomerang Formica has sadly been discontinued :-(

As you seem to like bright cheerful colours I'll attach the site of one of my favourite Toronto designers, Holly Dyment. If you like colour, she's your woman. The complete antithesis of the SGG kitchen/style. Enjoy. Hope there's something in her site you find inspiring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Holly Dyment and colour!

I'm playing with all y'alls ideas - so colorful and beautiful! I love them. Lisa - wow Holly Dyment is brave :)
Green Designs, some wonderfully affordable options. And wild in a good way.
Marcolo, I love the backsplash you prefer too. Too spendy, but very much like what I'd want - movement, liquid, serene.

Cawaps, made me look at IceStone again. Pricey, yes. But I just got my countertops paid for via Ikea's 30% off countertops sale and that makes it less of a stretch. I looked last night and tried to create a 'storyboard'. Can't get the wall paint right yet. I may end up with white walls.

re: backsplash. I don't think I can yet afford to get the backsplash I want. How about a high gloss paint, or a sheet of glass over colored paint?

Any thoughts on wall color??
Thanks all,
BalTra

Dissect that first kitchen. It has natural cherry veneer cabinets. The reddish tone is a good color balance and contrast with the STRONG AQUA counters. It has a touch of dark in the walnut cabinet section. And it all rests on what looks like a medium dark red brown toned heavy grain pattern red oak floor and medium toned grey-blue painted walls.

Your choices include yellow toned wood cabinets, a PALE more grey than blue grey-blue counter, a medium grey-blue paint, and medium yellow orange toned almost no grain pattern cork floor. The paint color is the only consistency between the two. Your choices are not bad, but they lack the "oomph" that your inspiration picture has. There's no strong color play of the red toned cherry against the blue green of the aqua. It's, well, "safe" and pastel. It will make a nice kitchen, but it won't be your inspiration.

If you want your inpiration kitchen, jettison the counter material and go with the Corian Mint Ice. Even think about underlighting the peninsula section as a feature for when you entertain. Change the cabinet wood to cherry veneer and find a section that can use the walnut accent. Maybe a walnut china "hutch" with the aqua from the counters color matched for the interior. Keep the paint color. I know you're dealing with the already bought cork floors, but I'd ask a flooring refinisher about applying a tinted topcoat on it to darken it down a bit. There isn't anything you can do about making a strong grain pattern with cork, so if you can get it dark enough, it will at least "disappear" into it's color block.

Your paint isn't too blue, it's not blue enough. Since you choices so far are neutral, but you want something like your inspiration photo, you need to get that color in there somewhere. Paint is easy. Any color you want, and if you don't like it, it is easily changed. If you don't want the bright paint throughout the kitchen, do a feature wall.

I really like the wavy Ann Sacks tile Marcolo posted for your backsplash (it's Vicente Wolf Waves in Ocean Blue Pale Gloss). It's probably expensive (the line starts at $30/sf), but you could do a course or two of tile and combine it with paint in a similar color and get the effect you want. Or go with a cheaper tile (see link below, for example)

Here is a link that might be useful: Mexican Turquoise Tile

live wire -
i'm afraid of the corian mint ice. afraid it will look plastic and lack the solid feel of the inspiration photo's tinted concrete aqua color. And you are right. It IS safe and pastel. Which is exactly what I don't want.
Would it change significantly if I boosted it to:

The counters are THE key element in your inspiration. If you don't get them right, you don't get your inspiration.

I think you need to visit some showrooms and lay your hands on Corian in person. It's more like concrete in appearance than it is any of your other potential choices. Except in two important details. It's warm to the touch and it won't etch. It will scratch, but it's difficult to see most of the scratches in a light color like you are considering.

Decisions based on fear usually turn out to be among the worst decisions you can make. Don't be afraid. Take a risk!

Here's your inspiration photo again, larger for more analysis:

Your elements:

Paint:

I'm not sure why you're worried about the wall color? It's the least of your surfaces, if you're going to do a tiled backsplash. :-) But take a look at Sherwin Williams 'Rainwashed' and Ben Moore's 'Palladian Blue'.

Uppers:

Scherr's makes simple shaker doors in walnut that can be toned to suit:

And this Sherr's door in a rift-cut white oak, which gives you some nice movement (either horizontal or vertical) and the richer golden tone that plays off the blue:

Walker Zanger's linear glass mosaic:

Is there some reason you can't do a thick concrete counter like the one in the photo? They're not insanely expensive, or you can even DIY it.

Whoops, sorry, strike that re. the countertops, I missed that bit about your not wanting concrete.

I like the Ice Stone in blue sky. Also the suggestion of Marmoleum: you could make great Marmoleum countertops of any thickness you choose...? (I think the chunkiness of the blue is part of the appeal in the inspiration photo, perhaps?)

Also, Pionite does a nice rich turquoise called Surfin' USA:

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and something more subtle called Kale Fiber that gives you some textural oomph:
{{gwi:1976973}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Pionite colors

While I like the counter in the inspirations photo, I don't agree that it's absolutely necessary to have a turquoise counter to get the feel of the inspiration photo. BalTra, if you cover up the right half of the photo (the turquoise counter; I think the perimeter counter is gray), does it still float your boat? If so, turquoise backsplash/walls might do it for you. If it doesn't, then rethinking the counter might be the thing to do.

BalTra, I like your most recent idea board much better. It's moving toward what you want. Here's another idea, working around the original counter. I tried to match the paint pretty closely to the tile (the paint is BM Spring Sky). If you want a less expensive tile it shouldn't be too pale or too gray, and the paint would change to match). I threw in some orange and green items to echo the inspiration photo.

how about being the GW guinea pig and use Kerlite Colors Lake on your zqua-topped island ala your inspiration pic?

cheers

oops, that was supposed to be Aqua-topped, not zqua-topped, whatever that is.

also, I believe that's a grout seam in the middle of the pic, not a part of the tile.

cheers again

I disagree bout it not being important to have the aqua counter. The whole inspiration pic is about that curving horizontal aqua river in the kitchen. That's why I focused on finding the right color of counter in my post above. Having the aqua on the walls is important, yes. But it's more about the horizontal and vertical elements relating to each other. And that's why Marcolo's curving watery aqua tile is genius. It replaces the curves in the original inspiration. You NEED curves. Everything else is so blocky and square. Something has to play off of that. If that tile is too expensive, then maybe penny rounds in varying shades of aqua could substitute.

I have seconds to check in.
But must say
YOU
GUYS
ROCK!!
I am so excited. Heading in the direction I really really want.
My cab frames are in and walls being primed right now. The space looks incredibly open, more than I had hoped even.

Headed to look at tile, paint colors.
Grateful,
Tracy

Beutiful ideas,
I think it is going to be stunning.
Can't wait to see what you discover at the tile store.
Be sure to post.
~boxerpups

When I started the remodel process I really wanted IceStone or Vetrazzo, but after talking with several dealers learned that it chips very easily. Indeed, one showroom display had numerous chips and gauges and this just from people walking through shopping...imagine everyday kitchen use with pots and pans, etc....sorry to be Debbie Downer!