Galaxy Indigo 2 Drawer Base Cabinets

The SKUs are GI DB24-2 at $724.75, GI DB30-2 at $835.25 and GI DB36-2 at $1,017.25. All three stand 34½″ high and 24″ deep on a ½″ veneered plywood box, with ⅝″ solid-wood dovetail drawers on Blum Tandem plus Blumotion runners, and they arrive pre-assembled. The 30″ and 36″ are the cooktop widths; the 24″ is the heavy drawer at the prep end.

Take away the toe kick and there is roughly 30″ of front, split into two panels of about 15″ each. On the 36″ box that is two wide recessed panels framed by 2½″ stiles and rails, painted a flat, opaque slate navy with no grain to break it up. It is the largest uninterrupted piece of the colour at counter height, and your countertop overhang casts its shadow straight onto the top rail. Whatever sits above it, beside it or underfoot is read against it first.

The counter edge is a line drawn directly on top of the two-drawer front. On Indigo the line needs contrast to exist at all, because at #404754 or so the paint is already deep enough that a dark stone meeting it reads as one mass. Here is how the usual choices behave against it.

Order the stone or quartz sample before the cabinets and put it on top of a door sample so the edge sits where the counter will. The undertone test in our countertop, backsplash and flooring guide works on navy too: a warm-veined slab beside a cool paint either looks deliberate or looks like two purchases, and it is obvious within a minute.

Two tall fronts means two pulls, or on the 36″ often two pairs, all at hand height on the most-used face of the island. The metal decides whether the drawer reads warm or cool, and on navy the three common choices come out very differently.

• Satin or brushed brass: the partner most navy kitchens end up with, because a warm metal on a cool paint is a contrast of temperature as well as value. Unlacquered brass darkens with handling, which on navy looks like age rather than dirt.
• Polished or satin nickel, stainless: a cool metal on a cool paint. It reads crisp and quiet, and it matches stainless appliances. Choose it when the room already has plenty of warmth from wood or a cream counter.
• Matte black: nearly the same value as the paint, so from across the room the pull almost vanishes. Close up it is fine; from the dining table the drawer looks handle-free. Pick it only if that is the look you want.

Buy one pull before you buy thirty and hold it on the sample under the island light. A finish that looked warm in a showroom can go greenish against a gray-blue paint.

The floor, the stools and any open shelving are the other big surfaces near this cabinet, and wood is where navy kitchens most often go wrong. Blue and orange sit opposite each other on the colour wheel, so a red oak or honey-stained floor, cherry stools or an orange-toned laminate makes the island loud in a way nobody planned.

Pale, cool-leaning woods do the opposite: white oak, natural maple, ash, a light rift-sawn floor. They warm the navy without fighting it. If you want wood cabinetry in the same kitchen, the Galaxy Natural Oak finish is the Galaxy stain built for that job, on open shelves, a tall pantry column or the perimeter. Gray-washed plank floors go the other way and make the whole room cold; they need a cream counter and brass to recover.

Most Indigo islands face a white perimeter, and the Galaxy line gives three choices. They behave differently opposite navy, and it is the drawer front that you see them against.

• Frost is the crisp, bright white. It gives the sharpest contrast and the most graphic kitchen, and it is the one that makes the navy look its bluest.
• Dove is a softer, warmer off-white. The contrast is gentler and the navy looks slightly deeper beside it. It is the pairing we draw most for this island.
• Linen is beige. It warms the room most and brings out the faint violet in the paint under yellow light. That suits some rooms, but check it at night before you commit.

If it comes down to Frost or Dove, our Frost vs Dove comparison covers how the two whites differ. Whichever white you choose, keep the counter consistent across both runs so the island and the perimeter are clearly one kitchen.

Fabuwood describes the finish as a deep navy with violet undertones. Off the swatch it is a grayed, dusky blue, and in daylight or under neutral light that is exactly how it looks. The violet only appears in warm light, and island pendants are usually the warmest lights in a kitchen.

Under a 2700K bulb the tall fronts of this cabinet can go muddy and lean faintly purple, especially at night with no daylight to balance them. At 3000K the navy holds, and at 3500K it reads cleanly blue-gray. We usually suggest 3000K pendants over an Indigo island, 3000K to 3500K under-cabinet light on the perimeter, and a dimmer on the pendants rather than a warmer bulb. It is also the one dark finish where a bright room matters: navy darkens a kitchen less than black cabinets do, but only if light actually reaches the fronts.

A navy door sample on its own tells you very little. Put it on the floor where the island will stand, lay the countertop sample on top, rest one pull on the top rail and a plank of the flooring at its foot, then look at the group under the actual pendant bulb after dark. If all four still agree at that point, order.

The design service draws the island with your cooktop, pulls and counter noted on the elevation, usually within 24–48 hours. The rest of the island comes from the three-drawer banks and the base cabinet lineup, and every finish in the line is on the Galaxy Indigo collection page.