STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

ok so we are slowly renovating our house. we did the dining room and living room, and now i am mapping out the kitchen.

here is our dining room:

i was unable to take a picture of the living room that really did it justice (and since we still need to tile the area where the fireplace used to be), but it has buttery white walls, same wood floors, taupe couch, red ottoman, red/white pillows, white floko rug, etc.

i am kind of hellbent on doing yellow shaker cabinets, with a muted yellow wall (i have seen a room with both yellow cabs/wall and it looked amazing)..but i also want checkerboard floor. i don't want "steeler kitchen."

any thoughts on granite/flooring colors? thanks!