Help with Countertop for Kitchen Remodel
We are remodeling a kitchen and I would like advice on countertops. At the suggestion of this group (thank you!), we have removed a bank of cabinets between the kitchen and breakfast area/family room and replaced them with pendant lights. The hardwood floor (red oak) is in progress and will be stained a medium-tone (Early American) to match adjacent flooring. We plan to paint existing cabinets white and add a white subway tile backsplash. New appliances are stainless.
Before:
Cabinets removed & flooring in progress:
We have 3 countertop areas, the main one being L-shaped, a second one (on left, not pictured) where a coffee bar will be located, and a third one on either side of the range. Kitchen has south-facing windows and good natural light. Our original plan for the countertop was granite – possibly ubatuba, which we had not realized was becoming dated. Now that we’re reconsidering, the variety of options is daunting. We lean towards the more natural look of granite but would consider quartz. Budget is negotiable but a mid-range granite or quartz would be appropriate for the style and location of our home.
What advice would you give for narrowing down the countertop options and avoiding serious pitfalls? If you could put any granite/quartz in this kitchen, what would it be? Thank you in advance for your help!
Comments (10)
last yearlast modified: last yeardo the brown stained cabinets require painting? the stainless appliances w a white or light corian might be my final changes .... prefer to leave the cabinets alone. if its hard to match the oak stain for the new coffee bar cabs then just paint that left side only. its a distinctly separate area so you can pick any color and keep all the other oak. . light corian looks great on older wood cabs / agree w la la Girl .
there are white granites as well. depends on what you have available.
Taupe White Granite in an historic kitchen · More Infosusanmjenny thanked herbflavorRelated Professionals
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last yearI love the contrast of white counters and backsplash with dark wood. If your cabinets look as good in person as they do in the photo, I’d spend the money you planned to spend on painting elsewhere.
susanmjenny thanked ffpalms- last yearlast modified: last year
If you decide to keep the wood stained, which is trending above white cabinets so far since 2024, I love taj mahal with your wood tones. It is nice with painted cabinets too.
susanmjenny thanked roarah - last year
Thank you so much for your replies – and for the kindness you showed to our oak cabinets! We have loved them too, but for several reasons feel that paint is now our best option. For starters, the cabinets do show considerable wear in the main kitchen area and some refinish is definitely needed. We also think it’s unlikely that we could match the new coffee bar base cabinet and modified upper cabinet above the sink to the existing cabinets. (As herbflavor mentions, we could do the coffee bar cabinet in a different color but not sure we could pull that off for the upper cabinet.) Finally, I’m afraid it will be just too much wood once the floor is stained (see floor color/grain below). We do have a professional painter lined up for the cabinets.
If we stick to the plan for white cabinets, we’d like a countertop that provides contrast rather than a white/white look. The L-shaped counter limits us somewhat to patterns that are not directional. Thanks to those who’ve already made suggestions. One other possibility we’re entertaining is painting lower cabinets a darker shade on the peninsula/sink and coffee bar so that we could use a white or very light countertop with white upper cabinets. The cabinets on the wall near the range would still be white. I’d be interested in your thoughts on the 2-color idea and also any further suggestions for a countertop to give contrast with white cabinets. Thank you again!
roarah