What’s the lighting situation? With good under cabinet lights, I think black would be pretty with the cabinets and your floor.

I would definitely do white. It will make your kitchen look bigger and your countertop needs to be A . Replaced or B. Stick on counter top. I would go for a grey, marble style.

how small is small? If it’s two walls only both about like that size shown ... I might search for a granite that I loved. Small sometimes needs and benefits from one element to stand out and granite of the right sort might be just the thing. Get to your area stone yard ....walk around and check what is avail.

Need more info. A floor plan?

You should look at multi-toned granite that has a bit of golden color in it if you are keeping the cabinets the same color. Granite naturally comes in many color combinations, often including gold, gray, white, black, and brown. Visit three stone yards if possible. They may carry different selections. If and when you have the cabinets painted, you can choose to match a white or light color in the granite.

As @Flo Mangan mentioned, it would be helpful to have an all-encompassing photo and/or a floor plan. That would show location of counters, as well as providing insight as to linear sf.

If there is not much counter area or long runs of counters, you might consider looking into granite or quartz remnants. Most stone yards have leftover partial slabs at a discounted rate that are a great solution when a large contiguous coverage is not needed.

It would be worth visiting a few different stone yards in your area (if possible) to check availability. Inquire as to what they usually have on hand, and in what quantities.

You might get lucky and find a calm black (my first choice for you) or off-white (to coordinate w/your backsplash) that would look terrific with your cabinets and floor.

Good luck and happy hunting - changing the counters is going to transform the space!

Here are my kitchen measurements.

Here are my kitchen measurements.

We are considering this granite since it has some yellow hues but not sure if it would look good with the cabinets. let's called Giallo Portofino.

Granite close up

We have hickory cabinets with stainless appliances and just installed giallo ornamental granite. We love it.

Brushed nickel cabinet handles would look good

There's another similar discussion currently ongoing. A black granite looks great with black hardware.

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The Giallo Portofino has a purplish undertone which will not be good with your cabinetry. Keep looking.

Consider a black granite, with a bit of movement, and black hardware. The one you chose doesn’t work well.

I'm often a dissenter and a questioner, which I hope you see as the voice of reason:

These cabinets are not new. Are they in good condition -- like, excellent condition? I ask because I'd hesitate to put (expensive) granite on old cabinets. What you don't want is to have great shiny new granite on top of cabinets that are on their way to worn out. On top of old cabinets, I'd be tempted to go with (cheaper) laminate. (Even though I don't love my laminate.) It's kinda in the vein of not wanting to own the biggest /fanciest house in the neighborhood.

Having said all that, I agree with those who say, "Go with white". White with a little bit of print, a subtle pattern. A touch of gold or brown undertone would look good.

I dislike the Giallo Portofino pretty strongly. What I see in that pattern is GRAY. Gray is super trendy today, but it is not a friend to your warm-toned cabinets.

I like the idea of black pretty well. Would you consider painting the cabinets? How would that look with the rest of your house? Cathedral cabinets look great in white, and small kitchens look great in white -- then I'd LOVE black countertops. Painting cabinets + black countertops would be my #1 choice here. Or soapstone.

The cathedral cabinets register to the eye as "a pattern", so you need to stay simple with your choices. In addition to not liking the gray in the Giallo Portofino, it's a busy pattern, and I think it could come across as "too much /too busy", even if the color palate were different.

On the other hand, throw out the idea of "dated". Kitchens last a long time, and likely several styles/trends will come and go while you're still living with the choices you make today. Be SURE you like what you choose, but throw out the idea of "dated".

I pretty much always agree with Mrs Pete, she knows her stuff. Unless you hate your current counters or they are failing, there is nothing wrong with replacing with laminate. The high definition patterns and better looking edge profiles they have make them look, really, really good. In fact there is a 95% probability it's what I am putting in my new kitchen. It would have to be one heck of a wow with looks and price to get me to switch to granite at this point. If you do still want to go with a granite, go with something simpler, minimal veining or solid even.

The Ubatuba black granite is my all time favorite. Colors go in and out of style but the black is always in. We redid our kitchen... painted cabinets white with black hardware, black granite... got rid of table and built a huge island with seating. Our kitchen wasn't much bigger. I also do not put much on counters. Less is more.

Carla OBrien can you post a couple photos of your kitchen with the black granite?

Wow, these are great comments and ideas. Unfortunately our cabinets are so solid we don't want to replace them, rather were considering having them cleaned and restained clear. We have considered painting or possibly new cabinet doors/hardware but not sure of the colors. While the trend for small kitchens are white cabinets we don't believe white would go with the rest of the house which is predominantly brown. We are starting now to waiver against the giallo portofino and leaning toward a darker color. Would love to see photos with painted cabinets with granite. We are trying to determine which color to paint the cabinets other than white.

A couple of nice options. Not sure of the rest of the home aesthetic and style which is helpful to know options to keep this consistent. Is there an overall style or colors already in the other rooms? There are a lot of other color choices as well.

Are you also wanting to see what is good combos with that original countertop out liked?

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That soft green ^^ is stunning.

Forget that granite you posted. there are better choices. don't be so concerned w/matching the 'yellow'. If you get them refinished, most of that yellow will disappear. (the yellowing is from the clear top coat that was applied 20 years ago. remove that, and the yellow should be gone)

And if you get them painted, even better. I have custom birch cabs that used to have a warmer stain color like yours. got so sick of it, I painted them. the cabs are in excellent shape, so the painting came out great. that may be something you'd like to consider, so stay away from the dated, dark granite choices. this is basically what a gray/white speckled granite would look like with your color cabinets. You can do better.

this granite (Santa Cecelia) is similar to that other granite you posted. a big NO on this one.

**If you want to do a tile splash, do NOT get the 4" piece up the back**

Honestly, I'd look at whiter granites or quartz. AND, get some hardware!

Here is a simple redo to these maple cabs. nice hardware, a simple white subway tile, under cabinet lighting, and the granite looks like Alaska White (aka as Dallas white).

Maple cabs with a soft gray quartz. the gray (c-below) could work w/the honey maple color

Natural maple, here are some gray/green choices if you want to paint the walls

that soft gray/green shade would look nice w/the natural maple, and a granite like this one.

they did a soft sage glass backsplash and dark hardware.

some other colors that would work in your kitchen.

Just getting a lighter countertop and some hardware on your cabs will make a huge diff.

another maple. I actually used to have a very similar granite. it has a lot of white, some grays and golds. but it's not overly speckled like the choices you posted

although these are oak, they do lean very warm toned like yours. look how nice it looks w/a white quartz (marble like) a nice backsplash, and a blue/gray island.

same floors like you too. bring in a nice runner, a pendant light. Yours could look like this w/the white quartz and the accessories.

Natural Maple w/a white quartz and white tile splash.

before/after with a two tone white/gray

Huge difference in the look.

same cabs as yours. painted white. (I hate the granite)

With mine, I got the doors refaced. You can see the before here:

After. A nice white cab color, soft gray quartz and a marble on the island.

You might look into that for yours if you plan on going w/a paint job. it wasn't that much more to get new door/drawer fronts

Or, consider removing some of the upper middle panels and putting in some glass
Arctic White quartz

another quartz countertop and glass in the upper cabs

If you plan on painting and don't want to reface, check w/a local cab carpenter and see if he can redo the top rail on these doors. he'd do a straight one to match the bottom.

Those are nice choices Beth! There’s always a Taj Mahal quartzite or maybe even butcher block? Is that even coming back in style?

becky, Taj is a very nice. and also very expensive. Not sure what their budget is, but I wouldn't advise using taj and keeping those 30 year old cabs as is (painting and perhaps refacing the older door style, yes )

maybe even butcher block?

I love butcher block and it's certainly budget friendly, but it's not all that practical for a kitchen.

I wouldn't advise using taj and keeping those 30 year old cabs

Yes, that's the point I was making above. It could create a problem for the future.

We went with Uba Tuba granite and love it. It didn't break the pocketbook either. Now we just need backsplash ideas.

A few ideas for you. I would suggest finding some favorites and taping them up and living with one for a few days each to decide.

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