am considering installing a granite countertop in my kitchen. My cabinets are decent wood from 1989; they have an orange tint in the stain, and two vertical grooves on each door. My designer said not to go with the granite if I don't re-face or paint the cabinets, even if I choose a granite that goes with the current color of the cabinets. She said it would be too incongruous a match of old and new. I'm thinking eclectic might be okay. Does anyone have experience of installing granite without changing the look of their old cabinets?

We just installed granite countertops with full height backsplash on old cabinets. The cabinets had been refaced about 16 years ago ... the kitchen looks georgous! New hardware ($250. worth of handles, pulls, and knobs and matching brushed nickel hinges saved us $29,000 for the price of new cabinets.

We are in the market for Silestone countertops and have no plans to change out our 1989 oak cabinets. We have the budget for countertops, but not new cabinets. We feel that anything will be an improvement over the current laminate and will still increase resale value. We did change out the brass hinges for brushed nickel, and that alone made a huge difference. I say if you're going to do granite, get a neutral type color in case you decide to paint the cabinets later on.

I would get a new designer. At least get another opinion. We are doing exactly what you are doing. We are keeping our white cabinets, which are in perfect shape and changing the hardware on the cabinets and drawers. The granite is on it's way! GOOD LUCK!

We are toying with the same exact thing. We have old oak from 1986 with a slight orange stain. Top rack of cabinets are in great shape with a corner stain glass cabinet. we also have beautiful oak crown molding. I would like to just replace the bottom cabinets, but the oak they are offering has a diffent color stain, more brown than orange. I'm thinking with new knobs and granite, the kitchen will look vintage.Am a little concerned about how the top and bottom will match up though. I think oak is beautiful and will never be all the way out. It's a beautiful grain of wood.