The builder is my husband. We have our own company and I'm usually pretty good at making these decisions with homeowners. I think the stress of it being ours has me confused. I'm in eastern Canada. The outside of the house is of the craftsman style. I'm not big on contemporary styles. I love rustic, farmhouse, craftsman. I like earthy tones, browns and greys. I will be going with a laminate countertop because I can't deeply commit to a stone. We have kids of the fur kind, three large dogs.

ah, okay, so already we know some answers

do you know your flooring, is it picked? if yes what is it?

when you talk about laminate-do you prefer "clean" look, mostly one color, no veining, no spotting, in short not mimicking a stone-or would you rather it mimic stone?

What is your style? Do you have pictures of kitchens that you like? Wood cabinets? White cabinets? I personally like medium wood cabinets with light countertops/backsplash/walls. Since your your floors are dark maybe white cabinets would look better? The floor is too dark for me personally.

I was thinking white, grey, or a greyish brown cabinet color.

I like these countertops:

#1 http://www.belanger-

laminates.com/Belanger_Laminates/Charte_2017/Formica/index.html#img=3460-FX46%20Calacatta%20Marble.jpg

#2 http://www.belanger-laminates.com/Belanger_Laminates/Charte_2017/Formica/index.html#img=6697-58%20Argento%20Romano.jpg

#3 http://www.belanger-laminates.com/Belanger_Laminates/Charte_2017/Formica/index.html#img=9305-FX43%20Silver%20Flower%20Granite.jpg

#4 http://www.belanger-laminates.com/Belanger_Laminates/Charte_2017/Formica/index.html#img=9476-43%20Granite%20Glace%20Blanche.jpg

Hire a Designer. You have 10,979 expensive decisions ahead of you that you can not afford to redo if you make a mistake.

I think some of those laminates are mimicing level one granites; many have commented that level one granites were actually less expensive than the laminate estimates they got...not sure if that included installation costs.

Do you live in an area where designers are readily available? Not all of us do....I found a tile store designer with A great “eye” who I hired to advise me on paint colors and other design input I wanted.

I would consider painted cabs with your flooring choice since I am having a hard time thinking of a stain color and wood that would compliment. A darker, greyed-brown might work but the wood would have to be carefully chosen to avoid orangish/reddish tones.

Unfortunately, a good designer isn't readily available in my area.

I'd say stained cabs..but indeed flooring will make picking out the stain for cabinets a process in itself. Possible; just harder.

You prefer earthy tones..what about a paint, either in whole kitchen, or maybe island only, that is not white? Do you have favorite colors like that, muted enough, earthy enough, you'd love to see everyday? Say, some greens?

they usually look better with most granites too..unless granite has a lot of white in it

marble is a different story altogether...your first countertop. It doesn't come across as earthy; it doesn't spell rustic..it kinda asks for a bit different approach.

Most of the natural light will come through the great room. It has 12-foot patio door. And we are surrounded by trees. I figured white could brighten up the kitchen side. We didn't actually purchase that floor yet, but it was our favorite of the many we looked at. I was originally thinking an espresso or dark grey island with all countertops the same. These were two of the cabinet colors we liked other than white, first is pewter the other is mocha

I would honestly start fresh with what cabinets you want, then from there we can help with flooring, countertops, backsplash & wall color.

With the flooring you chose, I would prefer the mocha over the grey, but all either cab choice might end up being really dark looking. Do you like a two-toned look? I love the look of wood and painted cabs together so that is what I did. Lowers/island could be mocha and uppers/tall cabs could be a complimentary white like White Dove.

I like your floor choice...you are just going to have to be careful in what you choose to go with it.

I'm limited on flooring choices, we have 3 large dogs and radiant in-floor heat. We picked this laminate wood floor I picked has a 72 hour spill shield so if my older dog has an accident or they spill or drip water, it won't swell the floor quickly.

Have you done a Houzz search to find an inspiration kitchen? I used “brown grey kitchen floor; you can also try searching for any kitchens using the name of the floor sample.