You want to mix two different cab colors with two different counters? I often think that seems like too many materials, but I tend to like things simpler so feel free to ignore me. :)

Anyway, have you tried looking on houzz? I know I've seen some. Someone here some time ago posted a kitchen with those counter materials but only white cabs, IIRC. Don't remember the name, but I'll see if I have some pics saved since it was so beautiful!

Should have linked to my inspiration kitchen... it clearly works here but what makes it work and what might I unintentionally do to mess it up. Breezy, I think you are the white cabinet marble kitchen recently completed. Your kitchen is stunning - dreamy even. Really love it.

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen

That is a beautiful kitchen! I can see why you love it. Somehow my throbbing eyes missed the fact that you had pics. (sorry....raging cold and cough.). Is your kitchen very large like that one?

My kitchen is white with Carrara, but not really done yet. Thanks for the compliments. I think your inspiration pic is dreamy. :)

A lot of people here have done different cabinets with different counters. It is particularly a good plan if you want the island to look more like a piece of furniture than like part of kitchen cabinets. Your inspiration kitchen is beautiful with a classic look. I wouldn't be afraid to do that.

But I'm not one to ask about busy, perhaps, as I have 3 countertop materials and 4 cabinet finishes in my kitchen. ;-) I still don't think it's busy. :-)

I mixed countertop materials and cabinet colors- black granite with white cabinets on perimeter and white marble with black cabinets on island.

This was my inspiration picture:

This is my just about done kitchen:

I wish I had an inspiration picture. Yours are all lovely and certainly give one a goal, don't they?

My kitchen has been developing as I find things, get ideas, or find I can afford a particular material. I have a very gray-green cabinet paint. But because the natural light hits the base cabinets and turns them turquoise-y, I'm going to repaint them a different, complimentary green. There's two colors. On this particular bank of cabinets, I've made butcherblock. Two materials.

On the other side, the back of the peninsula is a wonderful dark green-gray. In natural light, that is. In the light of the kitchen, it's leaning towards a more olive color. Will figure that paint out eventually. 3 colors. That countertop is a really Olivine-something Wilsonart a friend built for me so I could put my sink in. 3 materials. (Kohler Hawthorne, Roussilane red. I'm misspelling that, but "red" is the key word. 4 colors.)

I'm building a credenza on a 3rd wall, which will probably be some other color, to resemble furniture. 4 colors? The countertop will be these burled walnut tiles I saw on Bathtastic and tracked down the manufacturer. Gorgeous! :) 5 materials.

Luckily my kitchen is HUGE. As in really, really big.

Doesn't help, probably, but I guess I am saying that I think your color combinations will be beautiful and play off each other. I look forward to more pics! They all inspire me.

Christine

My neighbor did it and it is beautiful. She did a black granite with a fine light white vein on perimeter white cabinets and carrerra marble on a dark stained island. It looks great. The whites compliment each other. Her back splash is a crackle white subway. She did chrome for her hinges, nobs and drawer pulls as well as lights and it gives it a very sleek elegant look. I wish I had a picture. Her floor is a medium stained wood.

Finestra, I wish you had a picture too! I love the OTK idea but I also want the kitchen to be warm and a little funky I guess. My husband worries that the island will look like one big brown blob. I guess my kitchen is average size... hard to say because we are moving the kitchen to the dining room (to take advantage of french doors and sidelights that open to the patio -- can't wait to have all that light. So I will have an L shaped kitchen I guess - 13' of stove and cabinets on one wall and about 14' of sink and cabinets on other wall and then there's a door opening. A few more cabinets and fridge next to french doors resulting in about 20' (instead of 14') length on kitchen and then beyond that is dining table and pantry cabinetry. I have a picture from BHG April 2008 (but no scanner) that has all white cabs with dark perimeter countertop and light on the island top. I guess I have liked mixed materials for a long time! CEFreeman, any photos???

Don't know why I didn't think to pop your inspiration picture in last night. I'll blame the cold again. ;)

{{!gwi}}

It depends on how faithfully you intend on following your inspiration picture. Califkitchen, except for the backsplash,followed hers quite closely and so translated her inspiration picture, both in looks and feel, really nicely. (Beautiful kitchen by the way).

There was a thread not too long ago about taking an inspiration picture and doing this instead of that, and except for this I did that, and I didn't like this so I did that and there was no resemblance between the two. It was done tongue-in-cheek but proved a point. Anyone remember it? My head is so full of cold (maybe the same one Breezy?) that I'm having trouble thinking.

In your inspiration pic, yes it could have been busy, but the backsplash and lighting are very simple so as to almost disappear and the faucets tie in with the concept of old-world marble. Would you beable to keep the rest of the kitchen and accessories as simple?

I have a whole bunch of inspiration photos with soapstone perimeters and marble islands, but I'm not home so I can't upload them. It's a great look, but I will probably go for something simpler.

Califkitchen, your kitchen is beautiful, and I have long loved your inspiration pic. What is your perimeter counter, and is your island painted or stained? Can't wait to see the finished pics!

There was a thread not too long ago about taking an inspiration picture and doing this instead of that, and except for this I did that, and I didn't like this so I did that and there was no resemblance between the two.

That was livewireoak. Her point was the importance of correctly identifying what is actually in an inspiration picture and then making very conscious choices about when you can, and can't, veer away from it. My inspiration kitchen has soapstone on perimeter white cabinets and carrara marble on med/dark stain wood island

All of the inspiration pictures in this thread show dark-stained islands that are very close in tone to the flooring. Are you planning a similar floor? Doing the floor in a different or lighter tone would add a fifth major finish to the room.

CalifKitchen - I don't know how I forgot to mention that your kitchen is beautiful. So nice and clean and fresh. Thanks Breezy for putting my photo up!!!
I am planning on a dark wood floor and I would take care to make sure it is similar in tone to the island. I am good with disappearing glass light fixtures and chrome hardware and faucets make me happy. Two things about my plans worry me. I have been attached to this tile (it's Michael Smith for Ann Sacks) for a long while. It's simple but it's not simple like subway tile. And my husband wants a a farm sink like we had in our last kitchen - it was a Shaws. I'm thinking the Waterworks white farm sink has cleaner lines and might work better. But maybe a ss undermount sink is the way to go since it's less busy???

Here is a link that might be useful:

A lot of mistakes have been made by people trying to avoid "busy" like it's a communicable disease. So I think it's fine to do something other than subways.

However, I am not seeing how a backsplash full of Crusader crosses relates to anything in your inspiration pic.

According to Ann Sacks' site it's Moorish gardens and mazes that inspire this tile. Nothing mentioned of Crusader Crosses... certainly not why I like it. Just like it because it's interesting and simple and pretty and textural and stuck with me. Perhaps it won't work with my inspiration kitchen direction or maybe I'll have to change to accommodate other inspiration. That's why I am here - looking for ideas and advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: tile installed

I think you'd be ok with the farm sink combined with the marble/soapstone but the tiles I'm not so sure. They're a little "moorish" and could become the star of the show and do you want that? I wouldn't but that's just my opinion.

I'm going to NY soon for the weekend and will look at Ann Sacks showroom again. Any thoughts on something I should look for other than subway that might be interesting but not busy? I like subway, just want to explore options. I know I don't want carrara tiles or glass tiles - both very beautiful but just not what I am looking for. califkitchen, I keep going back to your kitchen and to this other kitchen I really like (link below). Is your black granite very black or more grey like it looks in the photo? Do you LOVE it? If I wasn't so afraid of a kitchen full of marble turning me into a mean mom/wife/sisterinlaw/aunt I'd probably go with all marble. I'll admit, as much as I was first drawn to my inspiration kitchen - and all of it's various materials/surfaces, I dream of a "clean" kitchen space.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Kitchen with only light countertops[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/globus-builder-traditional-kitchen-los-angeles-phvw-vp~296660)

My black countertop is honed black labrador. It is light black with some grey in it. I will take a close up picture of it later and post it. I can use an enhancer (?) on it and it will look darker.

I was originally going to go with honed absolute black. My stone guy convinced me that it would show every fingerprint, etc, and I would be unhappy. And the black lab would look better with my marble. The honed black labrador is bullet proof and shows nothing. And it is nice to have that to do prep work with things like food coloring or citrus that I try to keep away from my marble. BUT, I do wonder what it would have looked like if I had stuck with my guns and gone with the AB.

As far as the marble is concerned - mine is statuary marble (it was the only white marble that I could find locally that was at least 6ft x 8ft.. It is fairly busy so it seems to hide quite a bit. I definitely don't have any staining yet (2 months since install). But, I do have a few etching spots. I am a perfectionist....but I promised myself that if I did get marble I would just let it be loved, patina and all...so far I am doing pretty good with that. Also, my stone guy convinced me not to go with honed....he thinks that polished "ages much more gracefully" (yes, his words...and yes, he is a very odd duck). BUT again, I wonder if I should have stuck with my guns and gotten it honed.

I haven't posted pictures of my finished kitchen, because I really mostly lurk here, and didn't think people would be that interested, since they didn't really know me. If you are interested in seeing the whole thing, I am happy to post pictures - before and after.

As far as my overall kitchen - I do love it. It definitely is what I envisioned when I started this process. BUT (yes another BUT) I find it rather cold - not warm it all. I keep thinking it is the black and white, but then I look at other black and white kitchens here, and they seem to have some warmth. I'm not certain what it is exactly.

HTH.

lafacia - if you're looking for a "clean" kitchen but are afraid of the issues with marble have you looked at silestone or ceasarstone products? It's a manmade quartz/resin product.
Now, in full disclosure, I am a granite girl and would not put that product in my kitchen because I find it quite sterile. (Just my opinion and not trying to start a granite/silestone etc war). But it might be of interest to you.

califkitchen: post before/after pics with your concern about how you are finding it cold and you might get some suggestions. One thing to maybe change - is in your glass cabinets you are displaying glass which can come across as cold so do you have some colourful pottery that you can put in there instead? Seeing the rest of the room would help in terms of suggesting drapes/artwork/seat covers etc.

We did a whole house reno last year and I got what I thought I wanted - a neutral house which is what all the magazines are/were showing and I asked myself where did all the colour go? I hired a interior designer for 2 hours and she made some great suggestions for bringing in warm colours through drapes/valances, moving some of my accessories for better flow throughout the rooms, moving some of the artwork etc.

here are a few..
Marble and granite, marble and soapstone, or wood and marble.

I like your tile choice. I don't think the pattern will be overwhelming at all in the monochrome finish/color... It will just appear as an interesting texture, especially if you have a fairly quiet stone on the perimeters.

califkitchen: hmmmm, it feels cold to you. I wonder why though I do think it's all about the accessories. You could easily do a colorful roman shade kept open on the window. And I agree about what you put in the glass cabinets...even if the color you add is white it will be warmer than glass. Big wooden cutting board in a rich brown would be nice on the island. I actually kind of thought the dark perimeter (be is soapstone or granite or whatever) might ground the room and make it feel warmer than all light/marble countertops though admittedly I'm only really considering it because it will be more forgiving than marble - and well, because it's in that original kitchen inspiration of mine. I do think that some accessories will go a long way and if you don't want to add color via fabric on the window then even a natural roman shade will add warmth and texture. Oh, and yes, please post your photos. I'm new/a lurker too. : )
boxerpups: thanks so much - so much to look at and consider!!
blfenton:I want to like quartz...only saw it once in a showroom and wasn't too excited about it. I am going to see if I can find it installed somewhere that is less modern so I can see if I can warm up to it. It would solve a lot of my issues if it worked for me.

I've put this pic up many times, so apologies to those who have seen it, but I have painted and stained cabinets and two countertop materials. I also have a variation on subways: more elongated, handmade, hand-glazed moroccan tiles that have a lot of variation. Click on the picture for the whole album.

Califkitchen's space will definitely make it into someone's future inspiration board!

oh, it's so good to see boxerpup's pics again --not that they're ever the same pics twice, amazingly!

lafacia, I imagine you've seen the threads on Cambria Torquay but in case you haven't, here's one. Maybe it could be a quartz look that you like?

HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: bridesmaid Torquay

Love your kitchen histokitch!!! Very warm and inviting!! I love your built-in pantry especially the paint color. What paint is that and what color?