I've seen plenty of island vs all perimeter counters different, but never on what you're thinking about doing. Look at the Workshop of David T Smith since he does collected kitchens.

The two different countertop materials look is very pleasing, but I think the look only works when one does the perimeter in one material and the island in a contrasting one.

I think your kitchen is quite beautiful except for the white outlets. Does it function well for you?

What is your goal in making a change? Just to use mixed materials? Or is that a tiled kitchen and you want to go with something smooth and easy to clean?

To me, it looks like you have two islands and a wall with a sink and stove. I would do the two islands in the same material.

If you redo the sink counter, then most likely you will also have to remove the backsplash.

The layout is fine except for the island being a bit too big. But I hate the countertops. The tile is not at all smooth and the grout lines are big and impossible to clean. The sink and faucet also need updated. My eventual plan is to replace all countertops, backsplash, sink and faucet. At the moment, we can't afford to put stone throughout the entire kitchen. So I thought I could start with at least the island so I would have at least one smooth workspace. I know that it would be difficult to match down the road so I want to make sure I set myself up to have a nice mismatched look when we're able to complete the portion where the range and sink are with countertops and backsplash.

Honestly, I would be happy with laminate, but I don't think we'll be here more than a few years and it would negatively impact resale in our neighborhood.

I recently made the same changes to my wood kitchen. My island has a butcher block top - not a very expensive one. I left that the butcher block but put quartz on the perimeter. Butcher block may seem like too much wood, but it worked out in my kitchen. Your cabinets are lovely.

My pics -work in progress: · More Info

My pics -work in progress: · More Info

I love not having grout lines! If I had a limited amount of money, I would start with the countertop where I do the most prep work. If that's the island that's fine if it's the counter by the sink then I would do that first and its backsplash and I would probably do it in a minimal movemnt white or off-white and then later when I had more money I could do the island in a spectacular stone.

Something to keep in mind, if you are only going to do the one island, you may be able to find a "remnant" stone or single slab for not very much money. A lot of times people need to buy five or six of the same slabs because they are redoing all of their counters. It is definitely worth a visit to the various slab yards in your area to see what the story is at each of them.

The better practice is of course to wait until you can do everything all at once...

You mention that the island is too big, is it something that could easily be made smaller at the time that you are redoing the top?

No, the cabinets themselves are too big. There is not enough space for walking between the island and the sink/fridge which is unfortunate. But it's not bad enough that it would make me completely redo everything.

I'm slightly concerned about not being able to make it coordinate by doing it in phases. Torn between contrasting granites or maybe doing different materials for the island and the perimeter...

This view shows the rest of side that has the bar seating (sorry it's messy today!)

If you go with something like quartz in a standard color you would have a much easier time matching in the future unlike slabs of granite that can vary greatly and not always available. I would do a beautiful stone on the islands and a quartz or something along those lines on the perimeter. Do one area at a time if you must. You can paint that tile backsplash you know. I have seen some amazing transformations of painting tile. Do it a solid neutral color that would go with lots of colors.

https://www.google.com/search?q=paint+over+tile+in+kitchen&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

IMHO the peninsula does not look like an island. It is perimeter. The island can be treated as a separate entity and have a different counter top. I would just make sure it is relatively neutral so that you have options down the line.