Did you find quartz for a countertop that you liked? Hi Sue :)

I'm going with Silestone in Lyra

This is more white as opposed to a slight gray or a creamy background like most others---

Can I ask what color you are doing your cabinets with this countertop? I'm having a hard time choosing a "white"

By the way there's a quartzite called super white and another I can't remember the name that are almost like marble and much nicer than quarts because its a natural stone so more varied just like marble is. They are often just sold as granite so I may do that because quartz (the manufactured stuff) is too uniform and still doesn't quite look like natural stone. I am doing white cabinets. Not a really bright blue white but soft white but not cream ether and white kitchens are the prettiest all that dark cavy brown is out!

Carrara Marble or stones similar to this look like lyra silestone will look the best with a plain white like BM OC-65 Chantilly Lace or Behr Snow Fall WF600 (below) or even a white with a blue undertone like Behr 790C-1 or Dulux White Wing 50GY 83/010.

If you are choosing a standard white from a cabinet manufacturer, just make sure they are close to any of the above and your cabinets will look great.

Avoid the creamy whites like "Cloud White". Carrara has quite an overall blue-gray undertone which will look cold and wrong if you get the white wrong.

we're planning to use marble on our kitchen island and protect it with Clearstone which is a new product guaranteed to protect the stone. It is very very expensive (about $25 per square foot) but carries a 15 year warranty! I just can't get away from wanting to do marble in the kitchen!

Wow that's amazing! So it guarantees that it will not stain at all?

That's great! I'm not familiar nor do I know anyone with experience with it. Would love to get your feedback after a couple of years after sealing the marble with that product. Attached is my kitchen with silestone counters in "Lyra". No maintenance and very resilient if you're an avid cook like myself. Turned out great! Zero maintenance!

Thank you for posting pictures of the silestone lyra. I am in the middle of a kitchen redo with ben moore "simply white" cabs and a stained espresso island. I am torn between granite and quartz..just recently looking at samples of silestone lyra, cambria tortquay and granite in super white. I thought the lyra seemed creamier in color than the torquay? The granite is running less expensive but not sure im loving the larger movement of the super white ...are your cabs more of an off white rather than a bright white? Thank you ! And did you consider a "marble looking " granite when you chose your counters?

You're very welcome! My cabinets are very white. If you look at an earlier post, I have the Lyra sample held up to carerra. Lyra has the most similar look to carrera than most other samples that tend took look more gray or creamy white.

Here's a better picture of the cabinet

Was it ever established what the material is on the island in the foreground? I am still not clear but I am sure it's not Lyra or Cambria Torquay. Wondering if it's River White granite. This is my first post on Houzz so go easy on me. Maybe it's Carrara marble but to get a slab that white you have to go to the yard and probably wait a long time.

Never mind. That's Statuary Venato marble. God how I love the internets. :-)

I am doing a marble substitute search and think I will go with the Cambria Torquay.

Actually I did some more research I think white macaubas quartzite is best! Looks almost like marble if you find the right slab that does not have too many parallel stripes. It's so much better than the manufactured quartz that can look fake with the repetitive patterns. Quartzite is durable like granite.

From the manuf quartz silestone helix is new and looks much better than Cambria Torquay

In many ways, quartz is an upgrade from granite. It can cost more compared with common granite, but can have an edge ex. non-porous, hygienic properties. On the other hand, it can cost less versus level 4 granite with exotic patterns. Also, Viatera is proudly made in USA and because of our regional advantage, it tends to be relatively more affordable than the other major brands. Best wishes for your project!

What is the name of the quartz that is picture on the left counter?

It's Aria from our newest collection Musica.
Here's a link: http://www.lgviaterausa.com/products/16/184

Feel free to contact us should you have any further questions.

now I'm really getting confuses as to which countertop to select :) I too am looking for a marble alternative for the counter, but hoping to do marble as a backsplash

If you have larger areas like my 12' island any of the manufactured quartz products in my opinion look fake and too repetitive in pattern and really don't save much money over natural stone. If your kitchen is more traditional and classic and not modern or contemporary the manufactured quartz in my opinion will cheapen the look. If your kitchen is more modern it may be ok. From what I have seen Macaubas Quartzite, Super White Quartzite, and Calacatta Quartzite are the closest to marble esp if you want the typical grey and white marble look (there are other colors of marble that maybe different stones would resemble closer). Some have more grey some more beige and they can vary between slabs so it's taking me several months and I still have not found the right slabs. I want the most white I can find with grey veining and more greys vs beige/brown. Really hard to find! I really want marble but can't get it for the kitchen! I will keep looking. And by the way my cabinets are white.

Sorry I meant to say princess white is another but superwhite is an option also.... some places call it granite so it's a little confusing. And some places call a granite that's more blotchy a superwhite so it can also be granite not necessarily a quartzite so it can vary by where you go and it can be confusing and sometimes they don't even know the differences.

Look for "White Fantasy Quatzite"

White Fantasy Quartzite

Found macaubas quartzite hard to find it this white

You can't really get the real stone look with manufactured quartz it all looks fake especially on a large island so I am finally going with macaubas white quartzite because it's less busy and whiter than any others I found and I have been looking for over 6 months! It's hard because it's all random and you never know what you will find and the same type of stone can have so many looks and colors. I wanted long veins with a lot of white like marble which is almost impossible and not blotchy and dark.

Like this more than the blotchy darker grey of superwhite...it's a little more creamy/beige and less grey but it's still better than anything else I have seen. You can google images of macaubas white counters and you will see some pictures look just like marble. I will use marble in bathrooms. I use castile soaps (dr bronners) which are basic not acidic so that will help with the stains but I will seal it well and be careful. They use marble in many luxury hotel bathrooms and it looks great and those bathrooms get a lot of use and toxic chemical exposure!

And better than the white fantasy above

Calacatta quartzite is macaubas quartzite cross cut...same stone different cut so pattern will be different

very beautiful- do you think it would go with a light cream (e.g. durango) backsplash?

There is no such thing!! period.

?

There is no such what?

I'm just doing white subway by the way

Joanna, I think I just figured out what donna0503 meant by "There is no such thing!! period" :)) the fact that some are looking for quartz that has the look of marble. Sure there are many that look similar, I'm getting one myself. Nothing is going to look exact, but it still has the marble like style without the upkeep. I still am thinking to buy Calacatta Gold subway tile for my backsplash.

Oh yes of course there is no such thing....it's not marble so will never look identical we just have to get close so that's what I did. What stone are you getting? Good luck with your project! :)

I couldnt do marble bc of kids and husband with red wine! No way! My stone ended up being so hard nothing soaks in even without sealing just beads on the top lemon juice wine test noting went inside absolutely no stains it's extremely dense! It's amazing!

And after we installed it I looks just like marble in fact people come over and ask what type of marble it is! So in my opinion if that's not as close as it gets to marble then I don't know what is! For all practical purpose after we installed it actually looks just like marble. And the was my goal get is as close as I could but have a durable dense stone that will not stain and etch and this one I don't even have to seal its so dense! In fact if you try to seal the stuff will not even penetrate and sit on top and make a mess I woud then have to strip! Not all stone needs to be sealed its a major misconception. Very dense stones in fact shouldn't be it makes things worse! Creates a mess you then have to strip!

Hi JMSS, I appreciate your advice. I am really close to choosing a Quartzite and I love the Calacatta as well. I much prefer the movement of that over horizontal or also called linear movement as I am trying to stay more transitional with a touch of farmhouse. Do you have any pictures of your new counters you could post? Or if you rater email me just let me know and I can send you my email I guess. Thank you very much! VK

P.S. I mean the Calacatta Quartzite when I said that, not marble. Thank!

What is the best paint color(white) to use on kitchen cabinets with Silestone Lyra. The color I selected from my contractor looks a little too vanilla to me. I want a white without it blinding me. Is there a pure white that is soft and would go with Lyra?

BM Simply White, F&B All White. Sherwin Williams did a good All White match for me but I had a small sample of the real F&B paint I ordered on their website. You don't need it though. All they did was use a high reflective base for it and basically just add a drop of yellow. The smallest amount of yellow they could add nothing else. It was very close but you have to use the high reflective base. But BM All White is amazing. These are the best whites! Not too blue not too yellow!

And sorry I just saw the message about my counters let me see if I can find photos

These are not great photos I have to look for some more but mine is not stripes like most of Macaubas White. These portions show more stripes but the whole thing has movement like marble. It's just not as white. It's more grey overall.

Taj Mahal quartzite is another good one more beige though

If you look at comments here go up you will see the actual slabs I used. I posted pictures a while back.

well now that the counters should be going in sometime in February 2018 I have decided on Viatera Soprano :)