I'm curious about everyone's responses as I am replacing my island as well. How may people do you need to seat at your island? I've seen stools that are rectangular in shape that would fit nicely under your existing and look a lot less cluttered. I know that is not the answer you are looking for, but a very cheap option. Good luck and I'll be looking in on everyone's comments :-)

I would get several samples of lighter colors and compare them to the darker granite for a few days. See what works for you.

Honestly...it might look too busy. You might want to just hold off until you can replace all of the counters, otherwise your picking a counter for the island to go with a color you don't like and want to replace anyways.

We have 3 boys so at least seating for 5. I know, I've seen a lot of cute stools that would look better but I think we want to extend the island out so it gives everyone room to put their legs under when sitting :) We also want to make island the real center of home, we practically live at it! :) here's another pic with some tape laid down with new size (Inner tape is cabinet, outer are 2 counter shapes we are considering)

You will either want the same cabinet color and two different countertop colors, or the same countertop color and do an accent color on the island cabinets. Try to keep one element the same throughout to avoid your space being too busy. Good luck!

IMO you should either have the island cabinets a different color and all the same counter or the cabinets all the same and a different counter on the island , please do not do espresso as that color is already phasing out I would paint all the cabinets a white or even a pale gray and do either the same granite or a green soapstone on the island and make sure you use the steel supports for th overhang so you have free space for stools

are you building on to the island cabinet? please don't do that rounded look, if you do an eased edge it will be fine if you are worried about corners with little ones. Paint the cabinets white or edgecomb gray, I love the soapstone idea. yes, make sure your contractor is aware of the need for steel supports. Then when you decide to change out the perimeter you can pick a lighter color that would look fabulous with your new island

Verde butterfly granite is anything but plain

Thanks for your input. To my eye, she could still do a feature piece on the island, but it is great that she is getting different opinions from so many wonderful designers.

How about something like a butcher block or wood island countertop?

could we have a couple more views, or a floor plan of the whole space? it looks like your island is departing the kitchen and taking up the adjacent space, across traffic paths. if this is meant to be one stop on the way to a different kitchen, dont spend a lot. make sure you arent breaking your current layout with no plans for step 2.

why not have the 5 of you just walk over to where the island is heading and sit down at a table?

Thanks for all your advice, I truly appreciate it, I have struggled with this for a while!! I do feel like I need to keep either the cabinets or counter the same as the perimeter, to keep things looking coordinated and tied together, I just have to get more quotes on the cost. I'm leaning towards changing it all the countertops to the lighter color. as I feared, my little island project is starting to have a domino effect!! To the last poster, I've attached a few more pics of the space. We've tested out the traffic flow and as long as we keep it narrow it seems to be okay.

How about a concrete counter on the island. A shade of grey and paint the island a contrasting grey. Wood counters are popular now too and I don't think you would ever get tired of it.

thanks for the pics....is the dining area staying or do you have other plans for it? we all want and crave and need different things...but it seems that by the time you get to where you marked off... you've crossed the path of the two doorways and are practically backed up to your dining area.

happy mulling!

Did you decide to do a different color granite? You have a similar kitchen (same cabinets, similar dark granite, similar floor tile) to mine and I'm in the same "dilemma" with already having dark granite but wishing it was light. We are needing to replace the island granite and I was thinking of doing a light granite. Do you have pictures of what you ended up doing?

Hi jubru05! So funny you should ask, we’ve been sitting on this project for over a year because I am so darn indecisive and thought we would just keep everything as is. Well, just today we decided to go take a look at some granite and brought a few samples home - Kashmir Cream and Nassau light. I think we are going to replace all countertops at this point instead of just the island. For the island we are thinking gray for cabinets and then we might have our perimeter cabs painted at some point (maybe offwhite or same gray). I’m still so undecided, I have thought about the possibility of having a butcher block island and then just keeping black granite on perimeter and painting cabs offwhite. I’m just not sure butcher block will be as durable and I’m finding out it can be just as expensive as granite! I’ll keep you posted on my progress, good luck with your project too!! Any ideas on your design?

Paint your island a color you love. It is the most important unit in your kitchen and gets a lot of attention.