pick a warmer white, not a blue/gray marble tone. This is Laza. somehow I don't see this in a farmhouse. it's very modern looking. and w/such a small island, you'll lose the effect of the veining.

small piece would look like this.

they were having issues w/some of the honed quartz, so I would do a lot of research on your type if you go that route.

are you getting a remnant or something? seems like an very small island for the quartz slab. are you allowed to purchase a small piece at a reduced price?

what about a quartzite like TajMajal? colors are perfect

ceaserstone has some warmer quartz options

Thanks for the input! I will check out the ceaserstone. What I really loved was a white honed marble but this is a cottage and I'm not willing to take any chances with etching and stains. Do you think Calacatta gold quartz is still too white? And yes, the shops in my area carry smaller slabs.

do you have a sample of the calacatta gold quartz? I'm not as worried about the white color as much as the more 'modern' look it has to it.

Taj Majal is a quartzite. a hard quartzite. depending on how much calcite is in that particular slab (usually not much) will determine if it etches. you can always do the scratch test and lemon test with a small piece of the slab. if it has marble in it, it will turn to powder when scratched along a glass tile. if it scratches the glass and leaves a mark, then it's quartzite. and quartzite is harder than granite.

then dribble some lemon juice on the surface and let it sit for 10 mins. wipe away. see if it etched.

You can't choose your stone in a vacuum, you have to bring your finishes (paint colors, tile, hardware, tc) to the stone yard and put them next to the actual stones to see what will work best. Then you can narrow it down to a handful of candidates and make a decision based off price, aesthetic and personal preference.

Honed vs Polished - regardless of which you choose you're going to want a sealer coating on it to protect it. With honed, the surface is rougher with more 'pores' exposed so the sealer will penetrate better and protect better for longer. That said, if you prefer the polished look by all means don't be dissuaded, you just may need to have it resurfaced more frequently (they just repolish it and re-seal it)

honed quartz (sueded) is different than natural stone. That's why I mentioned doing your research on the company that's doing it. some of them had issues.