How much did it cost to have your polished slabs honed? I'm having a hard time finding the right slabs in Perla Venata that are honed.

Sorry, I don't know. It was factored into the overall price of granite and installation. I'm just guessing but it might be 3 or 4 hours of labour per slab. They should just be sanding off the shine.

@Maureen Campbell I looked at honed and ultimately decided against it. 1 place told me it would be $400 and another place told me about 10% adder.

I had for sure thought I wanted Taj Majal & picked out a very pretty slab. We need 3 for waterfall island. I went back today just to " make sure" and they had just received a Perla that was just PERFECT! I immediately changed my mind.. it was lighter in color and had the veining of a brass color which i wanted for the GE white matte appliances. Grateful i went back. Get what YOU LOVE.

@Jane Y Did you take a sample of the GE finish and look at it with your slab? Only asking because my Perla slabs are very creamy. I currently have white appliances and am changing to stainless (was planning to have ss regardless). I don’t like how the white looks with it. It just looks off, but if you are doing white cabinets I’m sure it would work. Mine are wood tone.

Completely understand. Our cabs will be white. Island will be anew grey. Ill post a pic & show you. We aren't changing our existing floors which are creamy. We have alabastar on walls. Im going for an updated neutral look. Hopefully it works. Fingers crossed. These ge appliances have bronze handles & the stove top is stainless which will be in the island.

The appliances are in the dining room right now where the lighting isn't the greatest. The 2nd pic is the transition flooring into a family room. Im standing in the kitchen

Here's 2 pics of the slabs we chose

Love the Cafe appliances. Sadly, my kitchen is too small.

Have you measured? They are standard size unless you go bigger.

The stove and dishwasher would fit. I can't fit the refrigerator.

Even the 22cu counter depth one. Thats the one we ordered.

@Jane Y Your slabs look more grey at least on my screen. That will look wonderful with the GE cafe! You must have ordered those a long time ago? I have heard of so many people complaining about the leadtime on them.

Not sure but those slabs weren't there when I went the first time. Just went back on a fluke & they had that. Said they got it from somewhere in Miami. Further south than where we are.

@Jane Y, please post photos when your kitchen is finished. Your countertops are gorgeous!

@Jane Y, thank you for posting the photo. Looks fabulous so far. Looking forward to your next photos. What finish did you use on the countertop?

Ty JJ, We went with polished & had it sealed. Cant wait for the waterfall island 😍 and a refrigerator delivery would be nice. 🤔🥴

We just completed our remodel. I needed 3 slabs and wanted the white/creamy tones vs the grey/taupe tones. At one point I had 17 slabs of Taj Mahal/Crystallize reserved all over town. I ended up with leathered Crystallize from Dal Tile. I almost did not take these slabs because of the spots of filler that are throughout the stone. What a difference lighting makes. I am in love with my new kitchen and countertop. I have gotten used to the filler spots.

Looks beautiful Donna. Ours has the same but I love it!

These kitchens are gorgeous! Well done! @Donna Ewy, would you be willing to take some closer photos of your countertop?

One thing about this stone is that when you photograph it, the grey tones come through more than in person.

@Donna Ewy, thank you for the photos. It's a beautiful countertop! Thank you also for explaining about the gray. It's so challenging to get photos to reflect the colors we see in person.

It was by far the hardest decision I had to make for the kitchen.

@Donna Ewy, you made a great choice. I can understand how it was the most challenging decision. I know it will be for me too in the kitchen.

I’m in need of advice after receiving quote of “no less then $14,000” just for kitchen area yesterday and we’re also doing an adjoining bar area not included in the $14,000. The kitchens posted are gorgeous and I envy anyone who is past the countertop phase! We switched from our original choice of Calacatta Verona quartz to Taj Mahal Venata quartzite and our decorator chose BM Chamois for cabinets. Is Taj Mahal less expensive than Taj Mahal Venata? We have a fairly small kitchen so the price was shocking and I’m back on a hunt for a countertop. We probably won’t be in this house more than 10 years at most and have bathrooms to be renovated after this so really can’t spend over $14,000 just for countertops.

@lcwburton This was my slab of Taj Mahal. I paid about $5,300 for the stone and fabrication. I have a small L-shaped kitchen and separate peninsula, and I used the whole slab. I also had the fabricator install it on my window sill. There were a few other quartzites I loved, like Ijen Blue, that were more expensive but didn't work with my kitchen.

Marguerite Mastromatto Thank you so much! I’ll share the info with our contractor who just arrived and our decorator who also designed the remodel and cabinetry. This is what she does so I haven’t started stressing yet but that could change at any moment! I’d originally picked Verona over TM but it stopped feeling right to me.

@lcwburton I really didn't like Taj Mahal - thought it was a bit gray and/or muddy/ribbon looking. I loved Ijen Blue, Nuage, Fusion, so many others that just didn't work. I had been to at least six stone yards over several months - a much longer search due to Covid and no shipping of slabs for almost a year. This stone yard had several batches of Taj, but only two batches looked like this - more veins vs. that ribbon look. Even my fabricator said they hadn't seen a Taj like this one, so it just depends on which side of the mountain and how deep into the mountain. Another customer saw my slab at the fabricator and had them call for two more. I just lucked out at the right stone yard on the right day. I'm not sure where you live. I am in PA, so we have to pick a slab at a stone yard and get pricing from the fabricator.

Marguerite would you be able to share what fabricator and stone yard you used? I am also in PA thanks!

@chestnut3 Santoro Tile and Marble were the fabricators. They have stones in their yard, but I went to a few stone yards - IGM, Granite Central, CH Briggs, United Granite.

@Jane Y Can you share the color of your cabinets? Your kitchen is gorgeous!!

Thank you Sarah, The cabinet company ( N-hance) did the white. They would have it. We switched out our cabinet faces. It's their whitest one. Hope this helps 😉

Jane Y Your quartzite looks fabulous! How has it held up? How many square feet did you need and what price did they charge? Can you tell me where you got your slab? Anymore pics to share would be good. Is quartizte more durablle than quartz?

@Jane Y are you happy with you countertops? Your project looks beautiful and I am ready to commit to a Perla, but want to be sure not to have any of the water staining issue that folks talk about ,.. has yours been ok?

We've had no staining at all. Water? No. I don't let grease or anything sit on it. I use soap and water to clean it. We love it. Very neutral so it goes with anything. Good luck!

@ Dawn, We honestly don't remember how much we paid. Sorry. We bought it in Melbourne Florida. I like the Quartzsite better than quartz because it's a natural stone & is more unique. That's my opinion. Make sure you check out each slab & have fun! Good luck.

@Jane Y thank you for your response. What about scratches? Not etching, but scratches. My fabricator told me she had a client (1) that had scratching .... I think she is just trying to talk me out of the stone ...

I'm looking at it now. No scratches. Take a knife with you and try to scratch a slab. Lol.

Donna Ewy can you tell me about the leathered look of your quartzite, is it smooth? Can you share pictures? Who does the leathered process?

I put polished perla venata countertops in the kitchen of our house in 2012 and absolutely loved them. They looked as beautiful 12 years later when we sold our house as the day they were installed. I only sealed them once and never had an issue with scratching or staining- and I cook a lot! I’m strongly considering using it again in the house we just bought and will be remodeling.

I’m in California and about to start a kirchen remodel. our kitchen cabinets ordered and replacing our countertops and backsplash with quartzite. I initially looked at a white diamond quartzite with a price tag of $12,000 per slab! The supplier said that the slab I wanted was rare and mostly composed of crystals. After that sticker shock, we looked at many slabs of Taj Majal and Perla Veneta and liked Perla Veneta because it had much lighter veining. I liked the polished finish, while my husband liked the leather finish, but in the end, we both decided on the leather finish because we have canister lighting in our kitchen and we didn't like seeing the light reflection on the polished finish as we noticed in the warehouse. The price per slab was around $4000. We need 3 slabs. We're curious what fabrication pricing will be. I’m seeing varying prices from different states. Attached is a photo of the Perla Veneta we chose in a leathered finish. Our cabinet contractor is trying to sway us from choosing the leathered finish. Any thoughts out there?

Below is a picture of the polished finish for those who are looking at this finish.

I have Tahitian Cream which, to me, looks similar to this slab. I have the polished and I absolutely love it. It gleams! Even when it’s a little dirty it’s still beautiful. The lights reflecting in it don’t bother me at all. I’m in PA and I paid about $95/sq. ft. for everything- slab, fabrication and installation. That’s how they price it here.

Tahitian Cream in the polished finish is gorgeous in your kitchen! Love it!

@Jane Y I would love to know your paint color/colors you chose for the Perla Venata. So many shades in the stone. Your white?... and SW Anew Gray???

The white was from the cabinet company (Nhance) so it's their bright white. SW Anew Gray was used on the island, yes. Hope this helps you.