Kitchen: Maple Cabinets, Read Oak floor--what color granite??

Greetings! I'm redoing my galley kitchen. I've chosen simple natural Maple Shaker design cabinets and I have existing Red Oak flooring covered with clear satin urethane. Both woods show their beauty without any enhancement.

I am concerned with what color granite to go with: I have Rosa Beta and Black Galaxy as two potentials. They both go, and are both completely different. Greens haven't looked good. Neither have browns. Are they any other grey's or light colors or blacks anyone has tried with these cabinet/floor combinations?

Thank you kindly in advance! Sincerely,

I have a kitchen of natural maple with satin poly, and a heavily mottled dark brown looked best for my countertop. Didn't clash with the wood at all, rather it complemented it and made some nice contrast.

I remodeled a galley kitchen this spring and also had maple cabinets. However my original floor was vinyl, so I put tiles instead and solid surface countertops. They are both dark blue. Walls are painted into a off white/dirty pink color. The whole combination looks really great. In your case where you already have natural wood cabinets and floors, I would definitively go with a contrasting color for countertops although I am not sure black would be my choice.

Impala black and nero pearl are both beautiful grey colors. I prefer them honed, it brings out the pattern. Galaxy is a little showy for the natural wood look. Have you looked at ubatuba, or dakota mahogany?

I have natural maple cabs,

Cambrium black counters (pretty much straight black with rather large reflective crystals) and a medium slate green floor.

I'm happy with the choice of black, but you have to clean the counder with a well-rinsed sponge or you will see spotting.

YMMV

Steve

Hi Mariette, Impala black is too 'grainy' or 'busy'. It did not look that good testing against the cabinets. I do like this granite and was dissapointed by the 'busy' feeling it projected. Nero Pearl is new to me

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I'm curious as to why you'd avoid a honed finish. Here in Seattle that's very popular now, in fact I'd say we do three honed for every polished countertop where I work, and I've never heard of any problems.

We seal them thoroughly both with a good quality oil-based sealant (to repel water) and a water-based sealant (to repel oils), and recommend that sealant be re-applied once a year, or whenever water stops beading on the surface.

It's a softer, less formal look, and Nero Pearl in particular looks better honed. Galaxy black does look nicer polished, and actually Cambrian black might be even better than galaxy with oak floors.

If Dakota Mahogany's too red, how about Cafe Imperial / New Imperial Brown?

Definitely choose the actual slab yourself - it's the only way to go.

Oh, I fully agree it's an interesting look; my reluctance is based more on day-to-day maintenance. Not that a honed surface is any more absorbent or the like, of course. But water spots and other residue seem to show up more prominently on the matte surface than on a glossy one. The extent to which this is an issue will depend on the particular stone and the finish, of course. Something uniform like Absolute Black would be worst in this regard.

Of course, the need for sealing depends on the type of stone. If the stone is not absorbent, sealing can be counterproductive.

OK, that makes sense. But it's funny, honed Absolute Black is our number one most popular kitchen countertop, and has been for at least a couple of years. I personally prefer something with more patterning. We just did a gorgeous Montauk black slate slab kitchen countertop, with very faint wavy light 'splotches', for example.

For our friend with the red oak floor, how about Azul Imperial / Aran? White with grey and silver, looks beautiful both polished and honed.

The 'friend' speaks... That sounds really nice. Do you think these two types will also look nice with Natural Maple cabinets?

I appreciate the input