You sure you want the uneven grime catching surface of leathered stone?

Check out Best Tile's Shimmer tile in mica. I am going with a leathered granite and I am selecting this tile, though not sure which shade. I will be using 2 x 8 tiles. I think the mica would look perfect with your counters. It is a warm gray. Please know the photos on line do not do this justice. Get a sample. It is glass with a metallic quality. Absolutely gorgeous!

BTW, your slabs are beautiful!

I think a Carrara marble would be just lovely with your quartz (so pretty). You can choose from different shapes, shades and intensity. Last example is an interesting tile for its shape and with it being shiny which may help with that particular decision. Suggest waiting until counter is in, as it will be an easier decision.

Gorgeous counters! I like something simple that won’t detract from the beauty & movement in the quartz. Maybe a simple handmade subway tile in one of the secondary colors from your stone-the taupe or that buttery color.

Wait until the countertop is installed because the quartz countertop and your kitchen cabinets (BM White Dove) will appear different when the countertop is horizontal and all are under your kitchen lights. Backsplash can be last kitchen item installed.

Wow! I cannot thank each of you who shared your comments and suggestions! This decision has been driving me crazy, but now I'm very encouraged to take some great advice given and feel much more confident going forward. THANK YOU! First, Millworkman, your comment/rhetorical question really got my attention. Thanks to your note, I touched base with the man who will be fabricating the quartz, and he will be available to discuss these concerns about using leathered quartz. I'm anxious to confirm that we're not making a mistake. Rachel, thank you for your suggestions on the Shimmer Tile (and for the website to see pictures). I have added this tile to my list to check out. If I can find the right color, they are definitely a contender now. And thank you for your very encouraging endorsement of the slab we've chosen! Maureen, thank you for. posting the pictures of possible tiles that might work. I've heard a lot about Carrera marble but do not know enough yet about the that material in actual tiles (instead, I just thought of it as being in slabs for countertops). You, Connie, and LuLu ultimately gave the most incredible suggestion that I never would have considered, when you suggested that I wait to pick out the tile until the cabinets and counters are in. That is truly brilliant and makes perfect sense - Thank You! So because of this suggestion by each of you, I discussed this with our contractor before we signed his contract today. So we are not going to wait to make the backsplash decision until we reach that point in the construction when we'll have the cabinets and counters in. I'm so happy to no longer have this pressure to make the backsplash decision now - when we haven't put all these elements together. BTW, Dover Design, I also noted your suggestion about the subway tile and that it might work to use one of the secondary colors in the quartz for the tile. This will be a lot easier to consider, now that I will be able to wait for that concluding point in the construction. SO THAINK YOU SO MUCH TO EACH OF YOU!!!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH EACH OF YORU SUGGESTIONS HAVE GIVEN ME DIRECTION AND CONFIDENCE GOING FORWAR WITH THIS!

I am no pro but I know what I like and that includes mixing materials and textures. There is a pro on the forum (I cannot remember who) that has a very traditional, wood kitchen (high-end with built-in fridge) with soapstone counters and a very light contemporary glass backsplash. While my taste runs more contemporary, I think her mixing the soapstone and glass backsplash is inspirational! In some installations, the darker soapstone may look heavy, the lighting and light backsplash truly make the environment. Does anyone remember whose kitchen this is?

Our leathered counters do no catch grime any more than our polished ones. Leathered does not mean jaggedy or rough like a stone or brick surface. They are soft and smooth to the touch.

We don't have leathered quartz but we have leathered granite counters and like AJCN ours do not catch grime. I clean them just like I cleaned my polished granite. We live in a log cabin so a leathered look fit in better than polished.

I agree about leathered stone not being problematic. I am not sure it's as easy a treatment for manufactured stone. Do double check that. People have had huge problems staining with manufactured stone/ quartz when it is honed. Maybe things have changed, but I would check and double check.

This has been a massive learning curve for me, ever since sending this post request for backsplash information. 'Cannot thank every one enough for each thought and suggestion! So I just talked with the fabricator. Obviously I don't know what I"m doing, because I thought we had chosen a quartz, but happily I just learned that it is a quartzite. The stone yard got an excellent price on many natural stone slabs that they just acquired - bought it from a large Atlanta company that is no longer going to carry natural stones. (We got very lucky on the price of the quartzite!) The fabricator has been doing this a long time and has come highly recommended by our contractor who's been in business over 20. He is going to meet us in a coupe days to seal the sample of quartzite so we can go home and play with it to confirm our decision. Plus we will look at about 6 slabs that all came in the bundle we are getting ours from. (We looked at 2 out of 3 a couple weeks ago, and were happy with what we chose. He just wants us to be sure that we've seen it all.) The fabricator also said that they will leather the 2nd slab to match the leathered one we chose (will butterfly the on the large island), and that the leathered finish will actually mute the variations in sheen from the different materials. We'll just know is a few days if we confirm our initial decision. (We LOVE this chosen design!)

Correction in my sentence above at the end of my long winded update! "The leathered finish will actually mute the variation in sheen from the different MINERALS" (not "materials). 'Just needed to clarify.

Oh, quartzite, leathered is gonna be great.

Thank you VERY much for your note, Zalco. 'Appreciate your positive and supportive comment - which is exactly what we needed to hear!

Just make sure it is a true quartzite and not marble. Test some lemon juice on your sample to see if it etches.

Thank you, Vinmarks. I have a sample piece and will do the lemon juice test. Question: The sample piece I have from the slab does not have a preservative on it (yet). Will a preservative protect it from etching?

I’m following for updates I’ll be in a similar boat in about a year or so when we get started on our kitchen! Have you checked out cle tile? I’m obsessed with the Zellige morrocan glazed tiles... but I have no idea if it would work with the counter lol just throwing it out there as another sample idea!!
I’m so so curious how this will turn out I love your slab, I want something similar not sure if leathered or not and all my inspo pics saved (not on Houzz unfortunately I need to update) but on Instagram have been either matching the backsplash like Maureen shared above, with the countertop. I can share one of my inspo pics here. The other is my inspo pic with the glazed tile! Pleaseeee update this thread when you get progress so we can follow along!!!

Sealing will help prevent staining but not etching. If you have a true quartzite you will not have etching.

I’m glad you will wait till the cabinets and countertop are installed. It sounds like you have experienced, considerate contractors. The stone place is doing the right thing by giving you a leathered sample to play with after it is sealed. Don’t rush any of this. A kitchen renovation lasts a long time and regrets do too.

Those slabs are gorgeous.

I have a feeling your counters will have more marble-like properties that you might want.

Look up the Geology threads by karin_mt and jot down the several test that she mentions in those threads, so you can test the sample thoroughly.

You could have a stone that passes the glass-tile test, yet it fails the porosity test. So it could have the hardness of quartzite, but the staining of marble. You won't regret doing the tests. You can still decide to keep a more delicate counter, but you certainly want to go into it knowing its limitations and weaknesses upfront.

Julie, those are beautiful inspiration kitchens! Will be happy to keep this post updated with our progress. It will probably be August or September when we will hopefully be wrapping up this project. Vinmark, I am meeting with the fabricator at the slab yard in one hour. We will be discussing your comments - and also comments by Chispa. Thank you to both of you for your helpful comments. These are on my radar, big time right now!

Good advice to wait and see your counters and cabinets together to decide on a backsplash, but you can certainly start thinking of ideas. We are doing Marine Black leathered soapstone for our perimeter counters with BM Wedding Veil shaker cabinets. I wanted some contrast between the leathered finish of the counter and backsplash, but also wanted to soapstone to stand out. I'm leaning toward this tile from Oasis Tile. It's a beautiful cool white (like our cabinets will be) and has some shimmer to it since it's glass. I love the elongated hexagon tile and plan to install it vertically. Obviously waiting to pull the trigger on it once the cabinets and counters are installed.

https://oasistile.com/products/snowy-owl-white-3-x-10-elongated-hexagon-rippled-glossy-glass-tile

Rower, your backsplash material is stunning - absolutely love it. 'Looked at the price though, and think DH would not be on board. 'Will have to check this out though and see if there might be something similar that is more affordable. When you pull the trigger on the backsplash and have it installed, please post pictures on this thread. Thank you!

'Just met with the fabricator, and this guy is reputable for a reason - very impressive knowledge and experience. He showed me an example of a quartz that is mistaken for a quartzite and explained who this gets people into trouble with their mistakes in choosing materials. The quartzite we have chosen is definitely a quartzite. He agreed that the preservative application is very important - and pointed out the white areas of our quartzite that could be vulnerable without the preservative. He also said that the product he uses is available only to those who are licensed - and It warrantied for 15 years. But he said it's important to use the right cleaning product on a weekly basis, and some use it daily. His recommendation is Revitalize. For a residential preservative that we could use ourselves - Bulletproof (which I've seen suggested on these boards). The sample of our quartzite was not preserved, so he put Bulletproof on it and said I could test it out at home. For a quick demo, he put water on the sample and set a heavy mug on top. We waited for a while as we looked at different edging options. After taking the mug off my sample piece, he pointed out the heavy beading at the spilled water edges. He suggested I run my own tests on the sample at home. Anyway, I feel a lot more confident about this material. My only regret is that I wish the slabs we are getting were available in polished finish - just for an even stronger maintenance-free material, but. their slabs are only available in honed and leathered. Anyway, the extra trip to go to the slab yard and talk with the fabricator was well worth it. Peace of mind! And thank you to those who shared information on the potential problems!

@auntieann1 I'll for sure post photos if we do end up installing it. The price is a little scary for sure, but I'm trying to find less expensive tile options for other areas of the house so I can splurge on this. I really want some shimmer on the wall behind the leathered stone.

Rower, I completely understand!

Auntieann1 - were you able to test your slabs? How did they perform? We are looking at something very similar...

Jennifer - yes, the fabricator tested the samples with me, and it looks like they are going to be pretty easy to work with. He just said not to use bleach. (I'm addicted to products with bleach, so this will be a change for me!). The kitchen is almost finished (just need some small items), the floors will be refinished next week, and the painters will come in about 4 weeks later (delay due to their scheduling). As soon as we pull it all together, I'll post some updated pictures (as per requested in this thread) THANK YOU AGAIN to each of you for sharing all the very valuable and tremendously helpful advice and suggestions!!!!!!

Auntieann1-The quartzite countertop is gorgeous. I’m starting a kitchen remodel went to 2 yards looking for something similar to what you chose. Nothing compares to what you are shared in the photos. Can you send me the name of the stone, wondering where you are located. I live in NJ. Thanks for any details you can provide.

Carol, thank you for your comment on our quartzite. The name is Calacatta Bianchi, and it was leathered by the fabricator. The stone yard we bought it from actually bought a lot of inventory from an Atlanta company called DalTile. For some reason I am not able to post any pictures on Houzz. 'Would be happy to send you pictures of how the fabricator made all the cuts for the island and perimeter counters of the 2 slabs we bought if you give me your email address (this may not be anything you're interested in). 'Hope you find the perfect slab(s) for your kitchen. I can say that we are very excited and thrilled with our counters. They make our kitchen.

Auntieann1, Thank you for so much for offering to email me photos. I don’t mind sharing my contact info with you however I don’t want to post on Houzz for public viewing. Who was your fabricator? In what state do you live?

We live in Atlanta and got our slabs from North Georgia Granite. The fabricator’s name is Dale. Do not have his last name. If you wanted to talk with him, the granite company would be happy to give you his contact info. Dale does his own fabricating and is not actually with N GA Granite but works with them all the time. Our contractor is EXTREMELY particular, and Dale is his go-to contractor. We were extremely impressed. Dale sent up 3 different options for the way he laid out the slabs for the island and perimeter counters. Anyway, good luck finding your perfect counters! The search is obviously worth it!