what's your kitchen flooring going to be?

Hardwood. We picked out one that has alternating plank sizes that is hand scraped. It will be a mix of medium and dark tones.

It's not letting me upload an image but here's a link to it:

http://www.nicefloors.com/p/4100/real-wood-floors-chalet-maple-vail-3-14-4-5

your hardwood is pretty dark, so definitely not espresso cabinet for the island. Something lighter would be better.

CLC is spot on.

Espresso colored cabinets are already done IMO so definately not timeless.As for avoiding trends there will always be another one so no matter what your kitchen will probably date itself no matter what you do. So do what you love, if you choose gray you will have to be very careful it works with the floor and the counter

Go with what you like... gray is already considered "dated" by many where I live, but any color you pick will be at some point. I wouldn't worry about that.

Look at other colors. How about blue or green or yellow for the island.

Suddenly, I'm in love with the idea of a yellow island with white cabinets and marble style counters.

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Thanks all. Yellow might be out of my comfort zone. :) Interesting to hear how trends make the rounds throughout the US. If we go with the gray, it is a laminate color so we can't switch it out without ripping out the island.

The flooring is more of a medium tone, though it shows up darker at the link. Here's another photo of it in a real home. Any better?

http://www.klostermanbuild.com/gallery/kitchen

The link isn't taking me directly to the photo but it's #45 of 48.

That flooring reds fairly red, so be careful of that flooring. I think I would go with a sage/gray green island if that is the flooring you have decided upon.

No matter what, I would avoid the laminate. There is no question that it will appear dated sooner rather than later. And the difference in replacing the island VS repainting is not insignificant.

FWIW, I stained our kitchen cabinets espresso four years ago, and we very recently had Hanstone Brava Marfil installed. The white countertops contrast nicely with the stain. When we are ready to sell in 2 to three years, it won't look brand new. But it won't look terribly outdated, either.

you will have 4 different elements. white cabs, calacatta quartz, gray island countertop and espresso or some other color island cabinets. too much going on. lose one of them. and no to the espresso cabs or gray laminate. get a pre-fab quartz countertop in an island size. 4X6. they run about 600 bucks. then just get it cut to fit your size

gray island w/same countertop

3 diff elements,(same countertop) I love this design. and that blue is amazing. I don't care what's in trend or what is dated, I could live with that color blue for awhile!

Beth, thank you. Maybe I wasn't very clear. We are considering white cabinets along the wall and EITHER a dark stain on the island OR a gray island (the cabinet maker we are using only does gray in a laminate). The counters will all be the same...Calcatta Classique quartz. I do love butcher block but the quartz we found makes me smile so, it's a good choice for us. :)

Thanks Flo and Mickisue. Good points!

ah, ok. when you said laminate, it threw us. so it would be like a thermafoil?

So this vs this....

It's Aristokraft (I know, I know) and it's different than their Thermafoil. It's an actual laminate coating on the cabinet.

My vote is NAVY BLUE. haha. I love them. If you went with Green then it would make the floors look more red so I wouldn't do that unless you want to bring out the red in the floors.

You want timeless? Go "black" for the island. Not black, black, but maybe a "black bean" color. Almost every room could use a touch of black and have you heard of black going out of style?

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Search Houzz photos..."white cabinets, black island" and try to determine the year remodeled! It's tough! hehehe

I agree that every room needs black. Black bean would look awesome with your colors!

I have used Black Bean and it is an awesome color!

I like the black idea. but darker than black bean. do a rich, deep black. If not, then I like the fist laminate pic. that lighter gray is meh. Navy is a cool idea too.

LOVE the black bean! Perfect suggestion. I can't find it for Aristokraft though. Wonder if Sarsaparilla would work?

http://www.aristokraft.com/products/finishes/sarsaparilla/maple

MCG - how did the laminate compare to their painted wood options? I was thinking about Timberlake's version of this but haven't been able to see them in person

Hi lewormuth! We actually switched kitchen designers completely. The original person was rigid and didn't want our input. We are much happier with the new person! We wound up ordering white cabinets for the perimeter of the kitchen and we're doing Bertch "Sable" for the kitchen island. We're going with the same quartz as above. It's amazing how much the 3D models help with decision making!

Glad you are feeling much better. Let us know how things turn out! Hard to make that decision to change, but sometimes you just don't "click" with one KD and everything goes well with another! Good deal!

Sounds like it will look awesome! Post pics please.