Kitchen Design – How to Choose Cabinets & Countertops

When remodeling your kitchen, it is important to have a finished concept in mind and how everything will look when the various parts are combined. Countertops and cabinetry are two of the most important and functional design choices you will have to make. The early stages of your kitchen design is the perfect time to look at these features and decide on the colors, texture, and materials you wish to proceed with. Knowing how to match your cabinets and countertops to your existing flooring is important in helping to make your kitchen design as cohesive as possible, and in making the design process less stressful. Some things to remember and help in the design process are:

If you are using natural materials for your countertops (granite, marble, or quartz), you should use natural materials for your cabinets (wood, bamboo). It is important to keep in mind that different woods have different grain patterns and colors:

• Oak: Very common, durable and long lasting
• Cherry: Reddish in color, also very durable
• Maple: Very flexible, accepts nearly all stain colors

Cabinets also come in several options:

• Stock: No customization, sold as-is, most affordable
• Semi-Stock: Possible to customize if needed, a bit more costly than stock cabinets
• Custom: Made from scratch to your specifications, very costly. Great if you need a special cabinet built.

Also, painted wood cabinets are an option that is becoming a popular trend. Think before you paint, as it is hard to reverse this decision once the paint has been applied. These elements should also take your flooring (wood, soapstone, stone tile, etc.) into consideration.

A lot of stone countertops are neutral colors, or a combination of neutral colors. It is important to match the color warmth throughout your primary kitchen components (floors, cabinets, countertops). Neutrals can typically be divided into two groups:

• Cool Gray: Cool gray colors are great combined with cabinets that are shades of green or blue. Cool gray also combines well with colors such as deep black or crisp white. White is a very popular kitchen color because of its bright, clean appearance. 
• Warm Brown: Best paired with other warm colors such as deep reds, maroons, burnt orange or mustard yellow. Warm brown countertops are often found in kitchens where the wooden cabinets are stained, not painted, and the warmth of the wood is the dominating color.

It is important to view cupboard and countertop samples. Check these samples against your flooring to ensure you are getting the look you desire. Remember that color variants happen with natural materials, so you will just be getting a sense of the finished look and not an exact look. You should also view samples at various times throughout the day to see how the differences in light in the room change the look and feel of the colors together.

Our professionals take the stress out of finding separate contractors by installing both counters and cabinets. If you are approaching the planning stage, or are ready to start your kitchen design, contact our team at All Stone today.