This is something you have to just see on site. Plus, pick the backsplash first before paint. It will make a difference in paint selection too.

Thank you for the great advice. The piece I am most torn on is whether the quartzite matches an off white or a true white. I read some where that marblle (which I think the Calcuatta quart. looks like) should be paired with a true white. I have sample quarts of each I listed above and have painted sample boards.

I can see a clear difference between the off whites and the true whites. I like both but want to make sure I don't take away from the beautiful countertop with the wrong white.

Lol. I am so far away from backsplash...I'm glad I can worry about that later but agree that simple is better.

Stay truer white. The sample is milky, but not warm. It's almost a hazy /gray/white. "Cloudy white" may be a better term. A clear but not icy white, and NOT ivory yellow in any way on the cabinets. I'd ask for a strike on that as well, if at ALL possible before you sign on the dotted line for those cabs.

When you test on white mat board, leave some icy white unpainted space on the board. You will see the differences in any white.

More important, is be aware you need to see full slab of quartzite ( yours, not just a representation on a lot ) and WITH your kitchen layout in hand, This material can have some fairly strong veining in it. If you have a corner/ perimeter turn..... make sure you will be happy with the seam at that turn. You won''t get a vein match easily. Always ask, assume .......nothing.

Hi Jan,

You have been extremely helpful. We have found the sample (the very small sample) is a pretty close representation of the actual slabs. We will not need to worry about a corner or turn as we have all straight runs. The seam on the other hand is concerning to me. We have not yet created the computerized images of the countertop plans yet. Of course the fabricators say they are not concerned about the seam that the slabs are very consistent. (I saw them all and I agree that they seem very consistent.) This calcuatta quartz. mainly has horizontal veining...very little vertical which we have seen on many of the slabs. I think that this will make the seaming easier. I will try to upload some of the slab pics just in case anyone is interested. (I tried taking some with a flash and some without so the coloring is not exact. Closer to the first one posted.)

We are also lucky in the fact that we are subcontracting the entire project...so we are officially the builders. We get to make the call on everything which is great but also overwhelming. We are having the cabinets built and hiring a painter to do the finish work...cabinets and trim.

I completely agree with the idea of no ivory, off-whites but have had a hard time confirming if this was correct or not. I am leaning towards SW-Extra White which is actually their base white...no color added or BM-Chantily Lace.

Thank you.

the white macaubus stone is beautiful. the other is Calacatta. Is it the Calacatta Quartz you're looking at? are you trying to decide between it and the Macaubus or getting both? The Macaubus has a cooler undertone w/a very slight gray/green hue. The chantilly lace option would work perfectly w/that one. I think your White Dove is a good option for either countertop. The untinted white straight off the shelf will also work (or you could use it for all of your trim work)

The stone I am getting is called Calcuatta Quartzite but this is the name this particular store stone yard calls it. It is a Macaubus and has cooler tones to it.

White Dove is nice but seems like more of an off-white when compared to others. It seems as if every pic I look at White dove is beautiful with cool and warm tones around it. Just not sure about the off-white I am seeing. Chantily is nice but I am not sure if it seems to bright?? Hard to tell. I am off to the store to pick up BM-super white and BM-Simple white..

I plan to use the same color for the cabinets, trim and ceiling. Thoughts on this?

yes, a lot of stone yards butcher the names. there is no such stone called Calcuatta Quartzite. (stone yards often assign their own names to slabs) If they are playing off the Calacatta name, then it seems to be the one w/the most widespread butchering! It appears they mean "Calacatta Macaubus Quartzite". MSI stone has it here:

https://www.msistone.com/quartzite/calacatta-macaubas/

If you look through some of the pics on Houzz, maybe you can find reference to the color cabinets shown with that particular stone.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/calacatta-quartzite-phbr0lbl-bl~l_800

Either one of those you're getting (paint colors) should work nicely for the cabs. you need to see how it looks w/your lighting. If you really want a true white, bring home a sample of the untinted base, along w/the others. you may be surprised and like it better than the tinted whites.

I would not get the White Dove. It comes off as a bit dingy to me. I know lots of people love it, but I think it just looks like a dirty white. Stick with a true white as suggested above.

B.M Simply White comes off as very CLEAN snowy white. Not icy, not warm.. I'd pair with same on trim, and "Decorator White" /Ben Moore on Ceilings. It looks whiter on cabinets than in the paint store. .......So get out of that florescent lighting in the paint store

I never liked Dove.......dingy is a great word for it.

As to seams on straight run? There is no reason a perimeter seam can not be located at sink. Perfectly safe! It will not fall out. Solves the match issue for the most part as it literally disappears. ASK, as some fabricators will not do it. But it's the nuts. You don't want a seam in an island, lets hope there ISN'T one: )

Can you all come shopping with me? =)

I came home with Super white but passed on the Simply white because it appeared to have more yellow. (The florescent lights got me Jan). I will be heading back to get Simply White and Decorator White tomorrow.

With what I have so far...BM Super White, SW Extra White and and SW Pure White are in the lead. Are these too icy?

You are all wonderful. Thank you.

These 2 colors (hard to tell the diif, huh? :-) ) are Snowfall White on the left, and Simply White on the right. I wanted something just a bit different for my lower walls, that would make the trim stand out just a bit, but I didn't want anything too warm. My son, his GF, and I all chose the left one (I painted it on the wall - much easier to tell that way).

Snowfall White is here on the bottom wall. I like the way it turned out.

Looks beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Look into having your cabinets sprayed professionally not just painted with a brush by a painter. Maybe that's what you're planning but since these are new cabinets they need to look 100% and not like they were "painted".

I don't care for textured walls even though I understand the purpose. In my pic above, the lower wall is the sanded swirl texture. I took a sanding block to mine, to smooth it out just a bit before I painted. It was super rough and bumpy. It still has a lot of texture, but at least now if I need to wipe something off, I can, without pieces of the sponge or cloth ripping off and sticking to the wall. I hated that. I have that same texture over the entire wall, in the rest of the house. I would love to have smooth walls everywhere, but it would be stupid money to change it.

tbone, if you can find a good drywall guy, he can smooth the surface to look like glass. it's a real art. I have one of those guys. but it's expensive because it takes time and labor. So, up to you. and you pocketbook.

they have different levels of texturing. maybe settle for the lightest? Again, it also depends on the skill level of your mud guys. If they can't do a good job, you may need to spray to hide their defects.