Go back to drywall.........yes. ditch the wall treatment that certainly looks like tile in the photo! Ditch the floor; trying to complement it is more money thrown at a problem you can eliminate completely.. The counter hasn't ENOUGH gray to make it worth designing around.

You know what you want in the long run. Haste in your desire to get the quick fix is a long term fail every time. I realize it's tempting. Try not to do that.

Thanks Jan. The wall treatment in the breakfast area is wooden shiplap, sounds like you're not a fan of it. I'm an amateur at design, long way to go.

Diana, the pics you shared are very helpful, I think the quartz sample I have picked out is similar to the whitish ones in your pics.

The granite looks TERRIFIC with the cabinet color (which is what, btw?) And the floor might not be the *best choice* or the *perfect choice*, but it does work, color-wise, with the cabs and the stone.

Work on getting your lighting just right (color temperature is crucial!), including undercabinet lighting, and then start testing backsplashes!

I would still choose granite and there are some very nice white ones. IMO polished granite is almost bullet proof and is still my preferred counter for my clients.

hi there! I am certainly not a professional, but I like your shiplap in the dining room and the color of your cabinets. I agree that wood floors would look much better! I’d start there and then pick the counters to coordinate with both. Maybe you’d find that the existing counters could work with new wood flooring! Good luck - it’ll turn out great!

I agree with several posters - keep the granite and find a backsplash that works with the countertop, cabinets, and floors. I would also paint the backsplash area to a neutral color - it is currently affecting how you see the colors...

Not a designer- the ship lap area feels incomplete to me.. I had to look to see if there was trim around the door or window. Will there be artwork on the large wall?

MEA CULPA: I just am not a fan of slapping up a fad on a wall, but especially when in this case, it doesn't suit the arches on the cabinetry.

Yes, planning to add a piece of artwork to the shiplap area, a window treatment, and cushions......will look to use colors that help tie everything together (e.g. dark gray cushions, tan-ish window treatment). I'll try painting the backsplash for now to see if that helps me visualize.

Based on all the (helpful) feedback, it sounds like the floors are a bigger issue than I was aware of, wasn't even on my radar before. For now I'm going to focus on the backsplash and see what I can find. Thank you all! Some very talented people on here!

mullrich I also think the cabinet color looks nice with the counter and the floor. They seem complimentary to me. I didn't see the name of the color anywhere. Can you share? On my monitor is looks like a warm gray with green undertones? The lighting is not the best in the pics. I do love wood floors so agree to go that route should you decide to change them but if you are not looking to do a full kitchen overhaul for thousands and thousands I think a nice creamy subway tile would pull it all together. And art in the eating area that pulls the colors from the kitchen side.

I'm in the minority here...I would not have painted the cabinets. The only thing that didn't look good before was the back splash. Now you have the painted cabinets and you can't easily go back to the wood, I think...you have to strip the paint and refinish the wood...a lot of work. You could repaint them to a warmer creamy color and use a creamy tile for the back splash. Maybe a watery light blue/gray? I've always like the combination of blue and tan. The granite is pretty.

Step back to look at the colors to see why they are a mismatch.
On my monitor (real life may be different) the original colors looked pink (floor) and orange (counter), which coordinated with the original orange cabs. The new cool gray (blue? green?) clashes.

Color wheel from Maria Killam:

https://mariakillam.com/maria-killams-understanding-undertones-colour-wheel-now-available/

Please don’t remove your counters, floor and shiplap based on the advice here. so much wasted $$$.

Have someone in person help you choose a backsplash or problem-solve from there. It looks really good to me on my monitor- in fact I’m trying to understand why anyone sees a problem. I might paint the shiplap to match the cabinets...the white seems out of place. And I think better lighting would help...Higher K bulbs

I wonder if you can choose a very light gray tile for the backsplash.

The granite really does complement your tile floor.

i probably would not have chosen gray for the cabinets with this floor, but I also think you should work with it.

The gray BS there isn’t the right gray. I would also get one that doesn’t have color variation.

if you get the quartz, the one with caramel and cream could work. Then you could do a BS in either very light gray or a white. But.....the whites of the BS tile and counter have to match. This might not be easy to find. When it’s off, it looks really bad.

I would paint the bottom cabinets a dark color. You do not have enough contrast in value for the different hues that you have.

You spent $3000 on the cabinets? It would be cheaper to get the cabinets repainted than to replace the granite. Even if you replace the granite, the grey cabinets don't work with the floors.

Thank you all!

The kitchen cabinet color is called "Perfect Greige". I went to a tile store this morning and her advice was to replace the floors at some point, but not replace the countertops, she likes them. Here is her recco. for a backsplash tile (2 pics below), it's a super light gray glass tile. Not something I would have picked but I really like it. She said that if I do a backsplash like this it'll work with pretty much any floor if I decide to update it at some point (or not).

Thoughts?

Sorry to enter this discussion late. Replacing the floor is a big deal as I went through it. Replacing countertops is also very expensive. I think I see grey in the floor. If there is grey in the floor could you try to find a backsplash that ties the colours together? Just a thought.

I love your back up countertop sample!

And the BS

I too see a little gray in your floor. Maybe you just need runners or kitchen rugs that have some beige/tan/gay in them. Like a kilm style maybe.

Love the glass tile for the back splash!

Shiplap in perfect greige, white trim, dark pulls (black or orb to match your chandelier), that glass tile, and I think it’ll look perfectly pulled together. IMHO

Thanks again for all the helpful input, much appreciated!! I'll post pictures once I get the backsplash done.

I see this often. A client wanting to "update" in the color of the moment without taking into consideration all elements in the space and how they are going to work together. OP has stated that she selected gray as the rest of her home is gray. That's fine, but throwing gray cabinets into a warm space is not working here. imo continuing down this road is going to be costly and unsuccessful. At this point, I'd replace the floor. I wouldn't want to make any decisions based on a floor that is not only the wrong color, but also from the wrong decade. Once new flooring is in place, you will have a wide choice of counters and backsplash that will work to bring the overall space to a cohesive look. The granite is a problem because of everything around it - cabinets and shiplap- not the same vibe. It's from the 90's. No backsplash is going to pull this together (certainly not the glass ones posted above) and it will only cost more in the long run.

Jumping in late.... but I don’t think that tile works at all. It is a cool white, and even if it looks a little creamy in real life, glass tile always reads cool. Which is the opposite of what you want to do here. The grey was already too cool in the room and that’s why it’s fighting the floors and counter. The backsplash will just accentuate that clash. Am I crazy that no one else thinks this?

@H202 - I'm with you - that tile is NOT going to work. Just pointed that our in my comment above.

exiting! I think you'll love the final result.

lost track of other bits, but maybe you can take out the wine rack and find a way to mount a microwave there, so that you can reclaim some more counter. so many possibilities! good luck.

I think the backsplash tile will help connect the differences in the space, and although I didn't initially like the counter/floor/cabinet color this morning when I looked at your thread, this evening I think it's very bold as well as understated, simultaneously.

I especially like that the floors and counter share a connection and the cabinets are unexpectedly posh-looking. I like that you don't have a copy of all the trendy kitchens. Your counter and floor seem to have been neutralized as much as possible, but the whole space had an understated elegance that sets it apart.

This kitchen looks very similar to yours in terms of color. They did what appears to be a biscuit subway tile with sand-colored grout

Lenox Kitchen and Family Room · More Info

Thank you all.

Katie B., that kitchen countertop / cabinet color combo look very similar to mine, and I love that backsplash, MUCH better than what was recommended to me today at the tile store. Of course, they have nice wood floors in the pic you posted, so may need to consider doing something like that. Thanks!

I'd be very careful with glass tile. Many posters here on Houzz have reported that once installed it looks green, and I'm not sure that's what you want. You may be adding another problem.

I like the example kitchen with biscuit tile with sand grout--definitely avoid installing any tile that could look blue or gray once it's up.

You could even try a greige grout. Get samples and see how that would look with biscuit or off white subway.

Great idea! Thanks.

Late to the party but the major problem is the floor tile. It's just too bossy/busy, fights with everything else, and the color is a little bit off- pink beige predominates. If you replace that with a neutral wood floor to match the wood floors in the rest of the house, that will take care of much of the problem.

A few other suggestions (some of which have been suggested, some not):

1) Keep granite but get it honed. That will slightly lighten it and update it. Granite is so much easier to live with than quartz, and can be repaired. There is no reason to remove your perfectly nice granite- it ties the grey and wood tones together. It will be far less money to get it professionally honed and sealed.

2) Remove the wine rack.

3) Either extend the upper cabinets to the ceiling, or remove them and replace with open shelves (that will get rid of the arched door problem).

I like the neutral subway tile suggestion with greige grout. May want to paint the shiplap a lighter version of the cabinet color, or at least a less stark white. Ballet white is pretty neutral light greige and plays nicely with others. But please, don't pick that color until you have picked out all of your other hard surfaces (backsplash, floor, granite). Deal with the expensive surfaces first, then paint.

You really want to learn and pay attention to undertones. Someone already linked to Maria Killam's website- read all her posts about undertones.

Honing granite on site is incredibly messy and disruptive, if you can even find anyone to do it.

I'd replace it first, then select a tile after the granite is installed. No one can help you pick a tile color by viewing it on a computer monitor--you need to do it on site in your space with your lighting.

Diana, I just had mine done. No mess at all. He used a large orbital sander with paste and water, and a hand held sander for the edges. It was not disruptive.

lerkat, then I guess I'm wrong. I was told by my stone fabricator that it was not a good idea. I'm sure yours was done well.

Diane, thanks for your gracious words. I see your point about finding someone to refinish counters. I got my guy's name from a stone fabricator. He said "You know, I hate cutting myself out of work, but if you honed your counter, it would get closer to the look you want with marble." And then that angel of a fabricator gave me the number for his stone refinishing guy.

It's still not marble (which I may do in the future, although I still have misgivings with upkeep in my household), but my honed granite is really nice and looks updated.

I actually love honed granite--I have honed Jet Mist and it was already honed at the stone yard. It's my favorite counter top surface ever!

Quick follow-up, here's what my kitchen looks like now with the new backsplash. Thanks to everyone for their input. Katie B., the pic you shared was the inspiration. I know the floor is still terrible, that's next (maybe).

your new finishes look good. One suggestion- change those outlets -/ wall plates to match the BS color! That black just jumps out & detracts. White would be soooo much quieter!

And IMO, floor & counter balance each other. I wouldn’t change either. If you remove one, the other will be unbalanced

Thank you KW!

Thanks to you all again for your very helpful suggestions. The floors weren't even on my radar as an issue until a few of you pointed them out. I took your suggestion(s) and ran my hardwood floors into the kitchen. I'm very happy with the outcome, here are some pics of the (almost) finished product. Not a high-end kitchen by any means but appropriate for the house, all in I think I've only spent about $10k. Still need to replace the outlet covers!

Thanks again!

Matt

Wow what a difference! Love the way the floors and granite complement one another. And the gray cabinets add a nice contrast. You did a fantastic job!!!

@mullrich Just WOW! Beautiful floors & what a huge difference they make to your kitchen. Had to laugh about your note on outlet covers as I’m the one who mentioned changing. I think stainless metal covers would look great with the gray cabs & stainless appliances etc. Did you also update the hanging light in eating area? It looks great - looking at old pics looks liike it was dark brownn finish, Thanks for coming back after all this time to show us. Such fun to see how things turn out.

Yes, I had that light installed, I really like it! A little unusual / contemporary, much like the style of the house. I bought stainless outlet covers from Home Depot (online) and they looked great but were a little too big so I returned them. Need to find some a little smaller and reorder. Thank you for the kind words and your design help!

@lerkat suggested removing the wine rack, I think I may do that since I don't use it and it does seem to date things a bit. Great idea.

mullrich, love the new floor! It looks so much softer and natural, and flows with the adjoining rooms. Great job!