How to Work With Dated Granite in Your Kitchen
When we were house hunting in Richmond last year, there was very little inventory, competition was fierce, and we needed a place to live ASAP. We kept a close eye on anything new that came up, and when the house we ended up purchasing popped up on Zillow, we pounced. The space was awesome, it had the open floor plan we wanted, and it was newly renovated. The one major problem? It came with a brand new kitchen that just wasn’t our style (ugh!).
Functionally, it was good to go, but it had antiqued off-white cabinets, ‘90’s-esque brown granite that felt dated to me, and a busy stone backsplash. There are a lot of competing “stars” in this space - it just feels like there’s to much going on! At least the undertones are all similar; that’s this kitchen’s saving grace! ;) Here’s a photo I snapped of it with my iPhone the other day:
Now, I’m sure there’s someone out there would love this kitchen, but my style leans more modern and simpler. I’ve been practicing a lot of gratitude for it though because hey, we have a lovely home with a brand new kitchen! I realize that’s a huge privilege, and I don’t take that lightly. We’re not planning to do a major renovation anytime soon, so I’ve been trying to think of smaller, more budget-friendly ways to make it feel more updated.
The particular pain point for me is the dated granite countertop that has to stay at least for now. The look definitely isn’t my favorite, but my bigger problem with it is that it’s hard to keep clean. It hides everything (and not in a good way!). I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this style of stone and isn’t in a spot to rip it out and replace it with something glorious like a marble-look quartz, so I wanted to share some ideas for making it work.
Update! After living with our countertops and cabinets for three years, we decided to give the kitchen a makeover. Come on over and see the reveal of our coastal modern kitchen!
How to Work With Dated Granite
Choose a simple, complementary backsplash tile.
via Wow I Love That
This particular style of granite is busy and tends to be a little bit bossy in a kitchen. Since there’s no way to change its look, a good course of action is to make sure the other materials in the kitchen don’t add to the noise.
One great opportunity to do that is with the backsplash. A subway tile in a neutral tone like ivory, off-white, or even greige will complement the granite and actually work to tone it down. Stick with a slightly warmer tone to help it blend in. So if you want a white tile, make sure it’s a white with warm undertones. Also, stay away from tile that has too much color or pattern since that will only enhance the busyness of the granite.
In the photo above from Kelly’s kitchen, you can see she chose a slightly off-white subway tile to go with her off-white cabinets and it makes that granite look so much better.
I’d love to replace our natural stone backsplash with something like this instead. It would work wonders in there!
Here are some tile options to get you started in your search:
Want to go white? Choose a cabinet paint color that has a hint of warmth in it.
Busy brown granite usually has a mix of tans, browns, warm grays, and ivories in it. If you like the idea of a white kitchen, but have this particular style of countertop, try to match your paint with the lightest color you can find in the granite (this is also a great strategy you can use for selecting a backsplash tile!). Doing that will help you choose a color that will blend with the granite and give you that white kitchen look, but won’t feel too stark in contrast.
Grab a selection of warm white paint chips and hold them up to your granite. When you find a match for that lightest tone, that’s your ticket. This is a case where a pure white (sadly) isn’t usually the right choice. You can get close though!
Or, go with a dark paint color to balance the brown out.
Chris Loves Julia did just that in their “Phase One” kitchen renovation and I love how it turned out. The moody blue-green-gray helps the countertops almost disappear! The lighting and accessories also help make the brown granite countertops feel more intentional - hints of brass and warm wood caught my eye as great details that add to the overall look.
Keep your floors simple.
My final piece of advice is to keep your flooring simple. Follow the same guidelines I mentioned above with choosing a backsplash. It’s really hard to find a pattern that will work well alongside a busy granite, so a good bet is hardwood, wood-look tile, or laminate. A neutral, light-colored, solid tile also tends to work well.