Thanks, Tapric. The backsplash is 12 x 12 mosaic tile of natural stone with insets of brushed stainless steel from Home Depot. It's a bit spendy, something like $15-$17 a sheet but you don't use that many sheets and, if you do the work yourself, it's economical. (Tiling is easy, people.) I prefer to run the tile all the way up to the cabinets. When grouting, try to match the color of the stone. Home depot also has stainless steel subway tile as well as other metal tiles but I like the juxtaposition of stone with metal.

I used Gaillo Ornamental granite for my new counters. It is a great choice because it has grey, white, cream, brown, would go with almost anything.

I am terrible about taking pictures or I would show you my kitchen. I have natural maple cabinets in a Shaker style. My counter tops are "Kilimanjaro" by Corian and my floor is a warm beige ceramic tile. The wood trim (and I have a lot of it that includes crown molding and a fireplace mantel) is painted with a medium French grey that was a custom color by Sherwin Williams. My walls are "Decorous Amber" by Sherwin Williams. It is an orange color that plays very nicely with all the other colors and finishes. My sink is a granite composite in charcoal and all appliances are stainless steel. I have loved it for the past 15 years and receive many compliments. I am over granite counter tops. It is too common and I want something that is uniquely mine. I still have clients who insist upon having it, so they get what they want.

We remodeled our kitchen 16 years ago and chose a "new" product on the market called quartz. We had 4 children in the house with lots going on in the kitchen all the time. We are now building a new home and I have chose quartz again. My 16 year old quartz has "stood the test of time" and children and still looks new. Time and again I have people come into the kitchen and ask me if I have new counters. I love it and would highly recommend it. No special handling necessary, no sealing, stain and heat resistant - it has been great!

suggest you avoid gray..... gray is going "dated" now. I love light maple cabinetry, so find some quartz in creamier colors and see what looks best in your space with your light.

As a Real Estate Consultant, Very few people like a dark tile in the kitchen, nor a squared edge as it gets chipped much easier. The best selling and most beloved because it brings "light" and life into the room and it is not a constant job to keep it looking nice, is the nearly white/off white picture almost to the top with the robin egg blue stool. Wood floors with almost the same color of wood floors is a big NO-NO! Do not go down that road, anyone who has done that ,if they are honest, will tell you behind closed doors, they wish they had NOT done that~ Make wise decisions~

Wood floors with wood cabinets is what I meant~

bere, what is your white countertop, please? Lovely!

I have maple cabinets, similar back splash, wall color, SS sink, and wood floors. Here is what I used: Lowe's Allen Roth Nutmeg quartz.

I love my light floors for keeping it clean but i do wish i had chosen a darker stain for the cabinet but painting them is out of the question as my husband loves the wood and we paid to get this upgrade. This is a solid maple doors and if anything i would consider re-staining them to darker finish sometime in future but not now. I have chosen a black counter because i just don't like the look of natural maple with the white counter. Anyhow it will be installed thursday (keep my fingers crossed all goes well and seam is tight) so i will post an after pic. I plan to also install recessed lighting soon and there is under cabinet lighting already there. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I replaced my old laminate counter with LG Viatera Aria a mostly white quartz that has grey and beige and flecks of silver. My floors are natural hickory and the cabinets are oak. It is beautiful. I also added an undermount sink that has a 4 inch divider between the bowls which makes it much easier to wash large items; the Elkay Harmony Wave ELGULB3322 in Mocha.

I concur with those saying new backsplash. Why end up with "almost" gorgeous? A contractor we use once said, "You're getting a new car and asking me to put the tires from your trade-in on it?" Your cabinets are fresh, the counter will likely be beautiful and there in the middle will be that that old tired backsplash. There are just times not to be cheap.

i will see how things turn out after the counter and may redo the backsplash

This has been great... The progression of ideas, the pros gave were good. I liked the designer that said I'm so OVER granite, that is the new consumer trend as well... As they realize that it needs sealed each year, or you run the risk as did one client of getting a stain in the stone that no matter who she called or what she tried could not be removed. I think you will love Quartz.

The reassessed lighting and under cabinet lighting that someone mentioned sounds over the top, but from a resell stand point. I have NEVER had a buyer say this room is too bright... Unless they mean the color is way over the top, but as for light a buyer wants to see a lot!

For the lady not wanting to paint her cabinets, I understand. There is a product called gel stain that anyone that can paint can use. It goes on like paint, 2 coats, and then you cover it with a poly, 2-3 coats depending on how rough your family is. It is a semi-transparent color... So the wood grain shows through and because it is thick. If you lightly (stress lightly) sand between coats you will get a very smooth finish without having to strip your Cabinets. There are several YouTube videos on it. It will not look like you painted them. I do suggest if you want to paint cabinets that you have them sprayed... I personally don't like the brush strokes... And it is more area for dirt to cling.

Best of luck! I look forward to your kitchen pictures.

If it is your forever home, then there is no need to please anyone but your self! However I always caution people to get what you would like and what others can live with if not like also... As most people do plan to sell in the future. My last $11,000 kitchen remodel wasn't for the owner but for a buyer. A very small space that had only one light and one window. It had to be light, bright and seem larger than its 9x10' foot print. I did very little color, so a buyer could do their own. It was a 100 year old house, and although the seller didn't agree a glaze was applied to age the cabinets a bit.

The solid surface material as you can see gives you a great flexibility, as we worked a counter and cabinet around an old chimney, and the entire U of the room without one seem you could find. This was cheap choice in solid surface, but it worked with the design... I should say in that cost I also had an 8' butlers pantry built into the dinning room with solid doors at the bottom and all glass at the top to show off their China and glassware, it was an attempt to create more storage and also to use room in a much larger dining area, disproportionate to the kitchen.

I don't understand why people think granite must be sealed every year. I have had mine ten years in two baths, a bar, and my kitchen. I have never sealed it. It takes lol kind of abuse. I do have a granite spray that I use now and then.
I have black and another type. I love the natural sparkle and coloration.
My daughter has a white marble look Quartz and it is also beautiful.

@shawndmiller regarding the gel stain.....how does it take on maple? My doors are solid wood but the boxes are not, will the stain take ok on those non wood areas?

Grey is on it's way out. For a more updated look, replace the backsplash with white subway tile but add a strip of ceramic/glass and pick a quartz countertop to go with the decorative strip. We did that in our kitchen and it looks fabulous. I'd go with a darker countertop to contrast with your light cabinets.

We had nice existing counters. yours look to be in good shape. We tried a new laminate, but it was cheaper looking than what we had. So at Home Depot, we bought the kit to redo our counter. it was like 249.00 messy job but I now have counters that look like black granite! check it out

I would consider something with a warm rather than cool tone since your kitchen leans toward a warm palette. Or go with a contrasting color like black with a few lighter specks since your kitchen cabinets, backsplash, walls and floors are light. I have read several articles recently about how the grey trend may be on the way out. It will always remain a viable neutral color choice, but not to the degree it has been. One of my friends has beautiful maple cabinets and a light backsplash similar to yours, and has a solid black counter with specks of mica and other small reflecting colors, and it's beautiful! Bottom line is you have to go with what YOU like!

@shawndmiller, what did you select for the cabinets and countertops? I think it's really pretty!

I would turn to concrete. You can get most any color you want plus you can add sea glass and other wonders to really make it something special

Cambria "Canterbury" would be perfect. It has the darkness you like, and the gray to complement your backsplash. It also has the same undertones as the maple.

Canterbury also has some great pops of copper in it - it's a very popular top around here!

It is all about personal preference so it is hard to tell you what to do. I personally think a lighter color (beigey grayish tones) would be the best. I do not like black counters. I have lighter oak in my whole house. The counters are a blue because I also like blue.

I really like the quartz that looks like Carrara marble. I believe someone farther up in the feed has a picture of it posted. I have a lighter version of quartz and just love, love, love how it cleans up. I have a bottle of water, with a few drops of dawn in it and it cleans it up so beautifully. I have friends that have granite tops and the maintenance is pretty intense. Concerning redoing your cabinets with a new stain. I've done this several times and didn't like them, so I resanded them yet again and painted them a beautiful color of navy blue. How I loved that kitchen. I now have white cabinets and they are the best. It depends on the look you are going for overall as to what you should pick. Try to have fun getting everything together if you can.

Gel Stain, I have to admit I've only researched it, there are some very good YouTube videos on its use... From what I can see in videos and what I've been told it will work on the wood and even the faux paper areas if you have them, at the end of some cabinets also on veneers. You have to use a very light touch with the sand paper... As areas like the faux paper can be removed and ruin the finish.

The cabinets in the picture were a semi-custom cabinet from Home Depot, they were white with a mocha glaze. This antiques the color and adds depth to all the ridges and features of a rather plain raised panel cabinet. The countertop was a very inexpensive sold surface... I think it was sand stone? You can still find it... It is a cream color with speckles of white and dark throughout... The idea for this kitchen was to appeal to the largest buyer pool, not be extremely expensive and yet deliver good materials that looked great!

If you look close, you will notice that cup pulls were used for drawers, except for the spice drawers to the right of the stove. I found glass knobs for those drawers to add a little something special. It also helped the illusion of an older kitchen with differing hardware... Even though everything was brand new!

A med-dark hand scraped flooring was used, throughout the first floor and was a perfect compliment to the glaze color, which doesn't show clearly in my pictures.

I'm glad some of you liked it. I just hope it gave the homeowner additional ideas. Glass doors can open up a space and storage dosent always have to be in the kitchen. Even counter space can be added to butler pantries or dining rooms.

And many of you that love your granite... My mother still thinks her Laminet is great as well! Open up your minds and consider newer options as the next buyer may see your granite as you see laminate today... I will add one more thing... Acrylic surfaces and new Laminets can be so good... You can not tell from a visual inspection alone, but they tend to try and look like quarts, marbles, soap stone and the newer higher priced veined granite.

As for those of you who mentioned not sealing your granite, you may have been lucky it hasn't stained... But you also seal it because as it is a porous material that can grow bacteria on food, hands, dishes that come into contact with these surfaces and can contaminate other items... So if you don't seal your granite once a year I would never put dishes that you plan to stack or food on the surface at any time... Unlike Quartz who's makeup is naturally anti-microbial (quartz crystal is). Granite is a volcanic rock with thousands of micro pours where germs can grow. So it isn't only for stains that your granite should be sealed!

At least one person mentioned Cambria Windermere for the counters. We planned to paint our maple cabinetry (we had one cabinet replaced due to water damage and wanted to paint instead of trying to match stain). Once we installed our Cambria Windermere, I almost didn't want to paint the cabinets any more, because it looked really nice with the maple! It has some gray, cream and copper, and I think it would also look great with your existing backsplash.

I think it is too dark or muddy looking. Need to lighten it up. Cambria "Canterbury" would be perfect.

hopesellmore, are you finding painted cabinets still sell (white, pearl, etc)?

hopesellsmoore....sorry spelled the name wrong. Can't figure out how to "tag" people.

I had Cambria Castlemartin - basically cream with some grey marbling installed in my new kitchen last fall. It's nice - very neutral - and would look good with maple cabinets. However, as the installers were leaving, they said "Don't put anything hot on it". !!!! Aaaagh - that's why I chose quartz. Is that true? Heat resistance isn't heat proof. I'm sorry I didn't get granite.

We have had Cambria for 1.5 yrs. w/ no heat problems. Our fabricator/installer has installed tons (literally) of it. His crew said nothing about heat. We have toaster on it on sink wall. But one doesn't want to place scalding hot items on any surface w/o trivet. My late step-mother once knocked silver dollar-sized divet out of porcelain in our old sink when she poured boiling spaghetti water in sink.

I have not read the comments, so I may be saying what someone else has said. Gray can work, but go with a warm grey. Your cabinets have warmth and so does your back splash. I don't think a cool grey would work well.

Given the pinked-off brown in the tiles, you could even go with a lighter pink tone in your quartz. In the end, it will come down to what your supplier has, and what looks best out of that. Of more concern, though, are those eye-height cupboards above the bench. In my experience they are more trouble than they're worth, making it more difficult to use your bench-top effectively. And opening the doors can put your eye out! If you're really tight for storage and you need them, by all means keep them, but I'd be replacing them with open shelves no more than half their width, if it was my kitchen. Narrow shelves are GREAT because you can see everything on them at first glance.

But the bench-top? Look for caramel pink tones.

Kjoy1 has the best ideas. Black would be a mistake; you don't have enough light. Also, it would be a shame to get new counters and not change out the backsplash.

I just had quartz installed this past spring. The only caution the installers had about it was to caution me not to set something hot on the seams for a long period of time. The glue could soften and the seams could separate. The heat will not hurt the quartz.

I've read all the comments and looked at your original photos. It is very hard to see what your flooring is, all the hard surface elements should coordinate or relate if possible. While the gray quartz you selected is very pretty, I do not see it relating to your current back splash in any way. I can't tell if it is ceramic or tumbled marble, but it definitely has a "pink beige" cast to it. The gray blue tones of the quartz are "clean" colors and the back splash has a "warm" pink beige undertone. They don't work. Perhaps you should nix the back splash and just do a timeless subway tile, but it would need to be off white or cream, not bright white. I would not do granite...the pattern is busy. There is a quartz that is called Eco by Cosentino Creamstone. It resembles gold calcutta marble but is maintenance free. It is not a "busy" pattern and would relate to your cabinets but you would need to change your tile backsplash

Re: my comment above about the heat problem with quartz, it's good to know that others have put hot things on it. It does make sense that the glue would soften in the seams. Maybe, like with drug prescriptions, they just want to cover themselves by overwarning the consumer. Hot spaghetti water taking a chunk out of a porcelain sink is scary. It sounds like the sink must have been flawed for that to happen. I agree that grey is nearing the end of its run. A couple of decades from now, people will probably look back and blame its popularity on the recession, just like us looking back on the psychedelic styles of the 70s.

Keep in mind in regards to heat and quartz...it's an investment...take whatever chances you like, but the chance you're taking is cracking that investment. I don't think it's over-warning when (as for one of our clients) something as simple as a plug-in pancake griddle's radiant heat cracked her top, for another it was her crock pot. There is a simple fix...just put something under the hot stuff and all should be well! I have had a client put a casserole dish on a granite top (usually more forgiving) - just happened to be over a fissure in the stone - as that is natural stone there's no way to see those and it cracked. It happens, so better to be fore-warned. There is no such thing as a bullet-proof top, and that's an important thing to remember. I will say though, the only top I have never seen crack with heat is soapstone.

PatriciaKORouke, you may be right abt sink. We weren't original owners. Based on poor quailty builder's appliances & cabinetry, he probably cheaped out on sink, too.

mhz20 I love that Nutmeg counter! I think that would be very pretty with her natural cabinets. It has some warmth to it but is a medium tone. Not too dark or too light. AND it would be beautiful with her backsplash. However, I notice her floors are the same light color. I think it would be very hard to find colors with all the wood surfaces being the same light color. If the floor was some darker it would "ground" the kitchen and I think it would make it easier to find colors suitable to use. Just my opinion.

Boyce Lumber - Thank you. That settles it - I'll be sure to use a something under hot pots. So many people told me otherwise.

Here is the finished kitchen, went with my initial choice of black as i really didnt like the light colors with the natural cabinet. Love the look, hate the upkeep.

It looks great! What is the upkeep that you hate?

It shows fingerprints, oil stains very easily. Water marks etc. Probably my expectation was too high. Would have liked if
fingerprints and oil stains weren't so prominent. I am trying to find out about color enhancers for quartz, which may help with that.

It takes some adjustment to care for black granite/Quartz. I would hold off on the color enhancer and buy some good microfiber cloths:) Here is a thread you might find interesting. Looks great!

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/best-product-to-clean-and-polish-granite-countertops-dsvw-vd~4037051[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/best-product-to-clean-and-polish-granite-countertops-dsvw-vd~4037051)

Don't put color enhancer on your quartz!!!

Did u try and have problem ? Suzyq53

Quartz is non-porous so the enhancer can't soak in. It will just look like its wet. Then it will wear off unevenly and make you crazy. I put it on a damaged backsplash and then had to scrub it off with comet. I don't think its a good idea on a food/work area.

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