Frequently maple cabinets are used in a contemporary style home, but they also appear in many traditional homes . My choice of granite or quartz countertops would be affected not only by the color of the maple, but also by overall style of the room.

In traditional homes, granite is still a popular choice. But in the kitchens that have large islands where frequently two different countertop materials are wanted, sometimes a granite is selected for the island. The size of the island allows for the lovely streaks of color that occur in a beautiful granite slab to be shown to their best advantage.

Then, having made a design statement with the fabulous island granite, a simpler solid surface material will be selected for the countertops used on the wall cabinets. Sometimes it's a quartz product, and sometimes it's granite. There are more quartz products that have little or no pattern than there are granite slabs with little pattern.

In more contemporary homes, we often find that a single solid color quartz product is selected for all the countertops. Or sometimes a large island will have a different solid color or maybe a stainless steel countertop. White countertops are extremely popular in contemporary homes, and look wonderful mixed with almost any color when a second color is added to the kitchen.

In both traditional and contemporary homes we also see butcher block countertops and concrete countertops

So now, if you've gotten this far, I'm going to answer the question about what color granite or quartz to use on countertops with maple cabinets. The darker the stain on the maple, the lighter I'd go with the countertops. With natural maple, almost any color will work. The first photo below shows maple cabinets with a mahogany stain. The countertop is a light colored quartz product. In the second photo we see light maple cabinets with a medium-dark countertop.

Natural maple looks great with black countertops, whether absolute black granite or a black quartz product. We frequently see black used, with light maple, on the countertops of the wall cabinets and a lighter granite or quartz will go on the island. Absolute black granite is one of the least expensive granites and can therefore be a good choice on a tight budget. This combination can also be reversed with a dark island and light or medium countertops on the wall cabinets.

I suggest you visit a couple of granite yards and see if you fall in love with any of the slabs. Frequently these days, the granite yard may also carry some quartz products. So check those out too. With the general movement in the US toward cleaner lines and simpler looks, I'm seeing far less granite used than I did even 2 years ago.

If you will visit the houzz photo section (see Browse Rooms above), you will find thousands of pictures of kitchens with maple cabinets and a variety of types of countertops. Just enter in the seach space "maple kitchen cabinets".
Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID