When working with the strong yellow of maple, I like to go in one of two directions: either BRIGHT WHITE or super dark. Crisp white (more blue than yellow), dark blue and dark green all look VERY handsome with natural maple.
A crisp (more blue than yellow) white looks SUPER handsome with natural maple. Hints of bluish veining is even better. Gray is not my favourite with maple.
Dark blue (like blue stone, slate or blue granite) all look extremely sharp on yellow maple. You get an intense contrast without a colour clash. If blue isn't your thing, then look at dark green. Green slates or green soapstone is another strong presentation that works very well with maple.
One of the few things that does NOT work with maple: gray. I'm not a fan. And adding a counter top with too much yellow/gold/brown leads to the dreaded "Brown Blahs". As much as we want to match-match-match every stick of our kitchen, it actually backfires very very quickly. It gets boring inside of a week. Which is awfully upsetting when you figure you will live with this boring feature for the next 25 years.
"Interest" comes from contrast: crisp white on warm yellow = contrast. Strong blue on warm yellow = contrast. Deep green on warm yellow = contrast. Yellowish stone on warm yellow = matchy-match = not enough contrast.
Give it a go. Have a gander through some of the photos with wood kitchens that have white, blue or green counters. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how interesting/handsome they look.
Q
Black sink, open peninsula, same colors as our house
Q