cani123:

Contact Caesarstone and find out where the closest distributor is to you. Make an appointment to see a whole sheet.

If I remember correctly, Quantra Silver Oak was the lightest most neutral grey that I've found. A little darker was Silestone Kensho. Ceasartone Haze was nice, but had a pink undertone. I was leaning towards Ceasartone Raven for my perimeter (with a marble/quartz or quarzite island), but I might go Silver Oak. I just don't know much about the brand Quantra....but here is a picture.

I haven't seen Pebble recently, but I might be looking at countertop materials tomorrow. I'll let you know!

And here is Silestone Kensho.

Pebble was on our short list. Definitely more brown than gray to me. Sounds like your sample is accurate. Did you get a sample of Raven? It isn't as dark as it sounds, but it was too far on the cool side for what we needed.

I have Caesarstone Pebble; I never thought of it as having brown undertones, but I would say it does not have blue undertones. My perception is that it is a true gray.
I wanted contrast with the white cabinets, but not black, or near-black.

Hi,

Cambria Greystone is a grey with blue undertones. I would describe it as a mid-toned grey.

Carol

I was at a tile store today and looked at the pebble in the normal size samples that are out there. I liked it in the store and swore it wasnt the same as my sample. Went to the car and got my little sample and it matched. In my house it looks like a brown/gray mix.

iroll, thank your for posting the pictures. I love it on your counter, just the look I wanted a true gray and not too dark. I really wanted a soft looking counter but I have to admit that the darker grays really makes carrera pop. I'm disappointed that the pebble looks brown in my lighting. What backsplash are you putting with it?

I'll have to check out the Cambria greystone. I haven't seen that one or the Quantra silver oak. Not sure where I would find those two brands.
I'm now looking at the cement or concrete colors from silestone and ceasarstone. Haven't checked out the raven yet,
I ordered a carrera porcelain tile sample today and I'll have to see what looks best with it in my lighting.

cani123,

You tend to find Cambria in independent kitchen cabinet showrooms and the like. We have a Cambria showroom fairly close by where we were able to see bigger samples. They will also send you up to three samples in the mail. You will not find Cambria in the same spots that Silestone and Ceasarstone are sold which is likely why you haven't seen Cambria yet. I would judge the quality of Cambria to be about the same or better as Ceasarstone and pricing similar too.

If you search the website for Cambria you can see all of their colours and order a free sample. They also have a colour matching on their site that pairs their counters with BM paint colours. I find on my monitor their counters on their site all look bluer than in real life.

Good luck. Searching for counters is tough and greys, while neutral, have undertones that definitely need to be considered.

I have linked the greystone from Cambria's website. It is less blue and more grey in real life.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Cambria greystone

I am doing just paint around most of the backsplash, and white ceramic beadboard behind the cooktop.

Is the lighting you're viewing the samples in the permanent arrangement? Lighting can have a huge impact on color, even natural light changes throughout the day.

In my kitchen, the samples of pebble look gray w/no brown undertones. We are putting in honed pebble with fireclay glass tile in island flower (or possibly plankton) for the backsplash. The blues look great with our CS samples.

I stopped by the Ceasarstone plant today. The lady that helped me last time (who was a bit uppity) went to lunch so the receptionist was kind enough to help me. I explained that the small sample I had (2 1/2 x 3 inches) was looking brown while all the pictures I saw showed a true gray with a blue undertone. Their large sample looked like my small sample. I offered to buy one of the large samples which she said they don't have available to sell, but she was kind enough to find a 4x4 which she gave me. Guess what, that sample was the color that I was seeing on the pictures. It was definitely not the same as the other samples I have seen. The only thing she could think of was that the sample they had out front had been there a long time. I'm wondering if they changed their color formula. When I brought it home during the daylight it had the right tone, now at night with my lighting it has a little of the brown undertone but that is my lighting.

It is amazing how colors change in different lightings and pick up colors around them. I love the BM Bone White on my walls downstairs but when I had an oak bedroom set (before getting a white sand wash over Maple), it appeared orange on my walls as it was picking up the brown bedroom set! In the family room and my home office, it is a creamy beige with no orange. Bulbs in lights can really change the color also. Let us know what you decide as it will help all of us.

On my computer monitor, any online pictures always look bluer than in true life (so your online image searches will not be that true to life). I would second the suggestion above to try to see a whole slab. I have not seen the pebble from Ceasarstone, so can't comment on it's undertones, but I have looked at so many other grey samples of quartz and grey is a real tricky colour (it either has a green, violet or blue undertone).

If your pebble sample does read brown in some lights would that be a problem with your other finishes?

Carol

Lynn, I'm already dreading choosing a paint color because that has always been my worst nightmare in this house. It never looks the same as the sample and I usually have to lighten the paint a lot.

Carol, I think I've ruled out the pebble, it's just too iffy with the brown in certain lights and I don't like the brown undertone with the marble. I must have 6 samples of grey quartz here and they do have different shades of undertones. This countertop is going to kill me yet. How hard can it be to pick a countertop?

cani123,

I hear you choosing counter tops for our build has killed me too. That and choosing ceramics. I have a feeling from studying grey counter tops for months and examining the colours in every light, and your desire to match blues that you may love the Cambria Greystone one the best.

Carol

carol, I checked out the Greystone at the Cambria site and I like it. I sorta have a problem with going with Cambria though because the installer I am going to use is only certified with Silestone and Ceasarstone. I don't want to change installers because I have talked and texted him so many times now that I would feel horrible if I went with someone else. He has been so kind and never gotten frustrated with me so I can't dump him. lol

What did you wind up going with? Im starting to look at the darker greys. Whenever I look at the darker colors I think they are so dark (compared to my white tile counters) but I know once the white cabinets are in that it will be fine.