edouble33 Just paid $30 a square foot. Retail is $58. Typically about twice as much as granite.

Caroline Morse What is the material on the island? LOVE IT!!

aschleusner sea pearl quartzite

TanCalGal You can look through photos of these kitchen-granite-counters & see what you learn. I do not know if there is an exact rule (& innovative designers are always breaking rules), but I would not choose too many different finishes for a kitchen without professional help. One thought, if you're having different wall finishes (like the brick & marble above) I think ending at an inside corner looks best. http://www.houzz.com/kitchen-granite

SH interiors Hi. It's hard to tell without seeing a photo of the space, but it would probably be just fine.

lwcabell The backsplash looks like calcutta marble. We have that in our bathroom.

Rebekah Zaveloff They were purchased new, but we had them custom powder coated at a local company that does metal painting.

mitsy In Kitchener, Ontario
Are cabinets distressed? Having a hard time finding the right shade for cabinetry, how does someone come up with a custom colour?

mitsy how would I explain this finish to my kitchen company

Rebekah Zaveloff I'm sorry for the delay - just saw this. They're from Brocade Home.

Rebekah Zaveloff It's actually called Mother of Pearl here, but is also referred to by other names.

flauritsen Just to clarify -- Is it granite, marble or Quartize? They are 3 different materials, correct? This is actually quartize, is it not? With the look of marble, it is natural stone (unlike quartz) but even hardier than granite and better in the kitchen than even granite, is that right? I'm just combining what I'm learning from you and others on quartize. Need the calm of a neutral marble but for the kitchen with 3 messy kids. Thanks for any clarification you can give me!

Rebekah Zaveloff They're from Lyon Industries but we had them custom painted at a powdercoat paint company.