Kitchen

[luvsbulldogs]

I have natural cherry cabinets with black granite counter tops. I have the dark cherry cabinets in 2 bathrooms and have light granite on them. I love a contrasting look but that is what I like. Pick what you like so that you will be happy after all you have to look at it every day. Mine is 10 years old and I still am happy with it.

As far as cleaning I was told by the place that I bought the granite at that it was better to go with a dark granite because there is a permanent finish on it that they do but they could not put the same permanent finish on the light granite because it darkened it too much. I did not want to have to treat my counter tops in the kitchen with chemicals every so often because of having foods in the kitchen even though I do not cut on the granite I still lay foods on it. Check with where you are going to purchase the granite from to see if what I said still holds because mine was done 10 years ago. By the way it still looks great and I do nothing but clean it daily. As far as water spots I wipe mine around the faucets after being in the kitchen and using it.

Have fun picking and choosing!!!

[jaxs mom]

I agree black would look great!

[azterry!]

Verde Butterfly granite is a darker green with lots of veining of golds, blacks and sometimes some amethyst. It's striking with cherry.

I had this granite in my old house andI loved it. It was one of the shiniest, low maintenance granite colors I've seen. Looking at it was like gazing into a deep lagoon. I love my new house but I miss my Verde Butterfly granite terribly!

[151949]

One of my dearest and oldest friends is a designer. when we had our kitchen remodeled she recommended we go to someone who specifically designs kitchens because she said the details are extremely important and really only a specific kitchen designer knows exactly where you have to put certain things like the cupboards where you store dishes in relation to where the DW is and in what direction the cabinet doors open. Where the drawers are and where the cabinets are in relation to the appliances. I absolutely loved what he designed for my kitchen after I got in there and was using it daily. He really paid attention to every tiny detail, and got the max amount of storage and usefulness from the space.After all it is a work space not just a showcase. He was worth every cent, and , as many will tell you here, i don't spend money easily.

[KellyMacNamara]

In our current house we built 2 years ago I have cherry cabinets with an ebony glaze over them- my counter is Uba Tuba granite- black with metallic flecks. My backsplash is lighter beige stone with blue greys, golds , browns, dark grey in it. In my previous house where we redid the kitchen we put in dark cherry cabinets with a Corian counter that was white with black, grey, brown, gold flecks in it. Both houses had / have medium colored wood floors. I love both of them lol. I'm sure whatever you choose will be lovely!

[KJPA]

Garden Web is a great resource for ideas! I probably read a lot of the same threads HH is talking about since I did my remodel four years ago.

I love before and after pics. I didn't have my house staged for these so they aren't perfect but hopefully they are fun for you to look at. Although you can't really see the granite very well.

The first shows the kitchen just as we were packing up before the remodel. We had all the flooring replaced with hardwood so EVERYTHING had to come out.

Next is the view of the new kitchen from the family room. It's bigger because we took out that wall where the stove/microwave used to be.

And here is the view from the front door. You can see our travertine backsplash. And of course our fur baby

[Theoriginallacey]

On 8/12/2014 lolakimono said:

I have this one, with a cherry color and gold walls.

Giallo Napoleon

I have this one also with oak. I hate it, but it was in the house when we bought it. If you have dark cherry cabinets I would go with something lighter. The darker ones are hard to see how clean they are but you can feel it when you rub your hand along it.

[Theoriginallacey]

On 8/12/2014 lolakimono said:

On 8/12/2014 vermint said:

I have Typhoon Bordeaux granite.

Love this.

[KJPA]

Here's my Typhoon Bordeaux. It's pretty light but with all the movement and colors it really doesn't show much. I figure it could even get a stain and it wouldn't be noticeable. But I don't do anything special to it. Just wipe it off with a soapy dishcloth. And once or twice a year I spray it with a product, wipe it and let sit a few mins, then wipe any excess off. Sort of like dusting your furniture with a spray polish. I did something similar with my Formica.

[vermint]

On 8/13/2014 luvthatboxer said:

On 8/12/2014 lolakimono said:

On 8/12/2014 vermint said:

I have Typhoon Bordeaux granite.

Love this.

This close up doesn't begin to do justice to how beautiful this color is! Mine has so much movement and color in it...veins, streaks, spots and "splats" for lack of a better word, lol! I really gambled when I chose this...they only had a small amount installed around a bathroom sink that was just leaning against a cabinet. There were no slabs on-site. When they called me to come look at my slab after it was delivered, it just took my breath away!