agree the cream one, for sure! especially if you do a black perimeter.

Definitely not the 2nd one. First one is nice.

I think unless a kitchen is enormously large, having the perimeter and island in the same materials keeps it from looking busy and choppy. BUT...that is a very busy piece of granite and it would most likely be too much. I don't like the black as they are also busy. What about soapstone instead?

I would also NOT do the "brushed sepia" on your cabinets - as it ages, it can end up just looking dirty.

Love the cream colored slab it is beautiful. I think it would look nice in Perimeter and island.

not a big fan of the black island but it goes fine with the granite.

Another vote for cream.

Wow, the dark one is really not popular! I thought it was a very unique looking stone. Maybe I can use it for the perimeter although that's a little concerning for too many competing focal points. Seems like most would prefer the cream to be on the perimeter as well. I appreciate everyone's opinions.

Well, you have to keep in mind that this is GW response, not a random sampling of the population :).....so you will get a GW-biased opinion.

Based on the fact that no one thought the dark one was terrible and having lived with dark kitchen counter (black pearl) I would say go for it if thats what makes your heart sing :). Just make sure that the kitchen gets lots of light : natural or artificial since the black counter will suck in light (its dramatic though so choose your poison :) ). Perhaps you can re-think the dark island if you are going with the dark granite.

You could look at a stainless steel range hood - will go with either granite.

All the best !

I visited 3 granite places this week, and saw some leathered dark granites in person. They are SO beautiful, your picture doesn't do the slab justice. I was drooling over them to a point that I started second guessing my choice of black lowers just so I could have those leathered dark counters. Sexy, dramatic!!

I currently have dark counters and dark backsplash and they suck the light and life out of the room ... and this is So. CA with lots of sun and the kitchen has plenty of windows and a skylight.

Remodel will have dark stained cabinets but with light counters and backsplash.

Well, everyone has swayed me away from the black island top! Here's some updated renders showing black perimeter vs. cream perimeter. Which should I go with?

Changing out the range hood makes a huge difference in light/dark balance. As rendered, I think the dark perimeter is a good look. Where did your ovens go?

I personally like the second pic, all light counters. Just has a better feel to me.

I like both new rendereings. Do the one YOU love.

All light counters. The first one has too many competing elements. With #2 your island and your cooktop and hood become the stars.

I prefer the second one. Smaller range hood is a huge improvement.

What rendering software are you using?

OP: Sorry if I read through the posts too quickly and missed something (and I completely 'get' this being a new home and possibly you haven't developed any opinions on what you like), but you haven't told us what YOU like. I can understand your polling people if, at some point, you're thinking resale will be at play. But if you will be spending a substantial amount of time in your kitchen (whether cooking, entertaining -- whatever), I'd suggest walking through as many showrooms and viewing as many different vignettes as possible. It may hit you very quickly that you either absolutely love that darker counter; or, on the opposite end, you find the all-light surfaces & cabinets too boring (I'm keying off your initial 'very unique looking stone' comment). It's really difficult to get a true sense of what your kitchen will feel like from 2-D images.

All that said, I prefer the final image (all light counters).

I don't have an eye for any of this stuff at all (I'm very much a "don't know what I like, but I'll know it when I see it" type of person); but if you want to pull in more of the black, perhaps consider darker (ORB) cabinet hardware. Congrats on the new home -- very exciting!

I like the look of the lighter countertops in the 2nd pic, but it might be difficult to find something that plays nice with the color of your cabs.

Thanks everyone. It seems like the popular choice is to stay with the cream tops everywhere to prevent a discohesive look.

javiwa - you're right, I didn't say what I liked! I didn't want to insert any bias. I initially liked the black perimeter to keep the color combo consistent (black cabinets with cream top and cream cabinets with black top). I also liked the idea of having honed black granite or soapstone somewhere in the kitchen. However, I can see the rationale about why a cream top everywhere is the better choice.

There's more to the kitchen that will draw attention. As I mentioned before, I'm probably going to do a stone range hood (similar to this).

In addition, there's a barrel ceiling that I can get creative with to draw interest.

Thanks again everyone!

I thought I made a final decision with the cream tops in the whole kitchen but I revived an old thought I had. Which do you prefer, butcher block top or Sagebrush for the island?

Chess - Sorry, I forgot to answer your question. My KD created these with 2020 Design.