There are so many quartz options that will look gorgeous in your kitchen!

Thank you all! I’m feeling better about quartz now with your comments. I think quartz will make the biggest difference in lightening up the kitchen vs granite (at least what I could find). 😄 which is what I’m lookin to do.

I don't think the countertops are too dark at all -- in fact, I think they are quite nice with the cabinets! If you do a whitish color, it's going to be white on white on white -- and if the room isn't as bright as you'd like it because the lighting isn't good, that isn't going to help, it's only going to look dingy. IMO a nice refresh would be changing out the white backsplash to a soft color; a soft grey-ish blue would be lovely.

The island is white and all the other cabinets are gray. That’s why I wanted change to a lighter color. I agree the lighting isn’t good. I have to keep on all the can lights at all time to even be able to see in the kitchen. I am having two pendants out in over the breakfast bar. Hope that helps the lighting to have layers. I’ve thought about having a glass tile backsplash added as I think that would be pretty!

If I were you I would visit a few places and ask alot of questions and then make your decision. You also have to consider your budget because in all choices, there are usually low, medium, and high price points. I love the look of marble for my dream kitchen, but I know it isn't practical! Please share with us what you decided. Be sure to try to bring home a sample of what you were mulling over so you can see it in your lighting, with your existing elements. Keep us posted!

first off, true quartzite doesn't stain or etch. not sure who told you otherwise. it's actually stronger than granite.

TajMajal quartzite. this guy is almost bulletproof.

a lot of slabs of marble are marketed as quartzite and that's probably where that myth started. (Fantasy Brown is one of them) you have to do your research.

secondly, there are so many quartz options it's hard to just suggest a few.

what you could do is a white perimeter quartz and pick something different for the island. Or vice versa.

maybe something like this and a solid gray or white on the other?

or do you like more modern?

White Ice or Dallas White granite

Honed River White granite

White Macaubas, vein cut, is a true quartzite

they have some beautiful porcelain slabs on the market now.

Wow! Now my head is really spinning! Thank you for so much info! I did read that a true quartzite doesn’t etch, but I’m nervous about what is a true quartzite. It seems that marble is often marked as quartzite. I’m dealing with a large fabricator here in Charlotte, so I did see quite a few options of granite, quartzite and quartz. I “think” I settled in Statuary Gioia (Polarstone) quartz. White with a blend of darker gray and lighter gray veins. See the sample on the right below. I did think of having the island a different color but it’s not a big island—5 feet long. I thought it would look not put together if it’s different?

you have to do your research if they're selling something as quartzite. go home and check the name, find out where it's mined, look for pictures and info.

you can always do the glass test on something your unsure of

scratching a piece of marble w/glass will turn the stone into dust. glass is harder than marble. scratching a piece of granite or quartzite w/glass will not scratch the stone. the glass will turn to powder. lemon juice is another. drop some fresh juice on the piece of the marble. does it etch? it's marble. does it do nothing? it's quartzite.

of your choices, either of those will work.

I mentioned the two tone depending on what the choices you picked were.

my island isn't that big (maybe 4X7) but I did two tone. I have a charcoal island w/marble, and white perimeter cabs with a gray quartz. (marble tile backsplash)

some people like the look, some don't. what matters is what you like.

check and see if they have any remnants that will fit your island size. you might find something you like that goes w/the quartz.

you have solid elements in there, so getting two colors for countertops won't look too busy, plus you have the solid white backsplash.

maybe you could a walnut butcher block for the island.

or, a honed piece of black granite.

or, a solid gray matte quartz like I have on mine

Silestone Eternal Serena.

Your kitchen is amazing!!! I love your marble island!!! I do like the option of having the island a different color as I feel that all the countertops plus the breakfast bar (5 countertops) seems like it would look like all white strips as they are the same width. I will definitely look into it!! Thank you so much for your insight!!

I added more to my comment about testing for marble. reread what I wrote. and thanks!

keep looking until you're satisfied you have what you want.

ask the fabricator shop for his remnants to see what he has. you can easily buy a 1/2 or 1/4 for you island

maybe do the quartz like I have, in the matte for the island.

this is the charcoal version of what I have in silver. Matte.

by the way, this is another quartzite. and it would look nice w/your reddish flooring. It's called Sea Pearl. has soft sage gray tones w/the white.

pictured here too. maybe you could do this w/your island? the waterfall. I don't think it looks too modern. some do. I think it might look nice

Ahhh...sorry! I was jumping ahead looking at your beautiful pictures! I actually took a bottle with me to the fabricators to try to see if the edge would scratch the glass. Most quartzite slabs had an edge protector so it was hard to tell. I like the Sea Pearl image you have! The Slabs of Sea Pearl I saw weren’t as pretty. You’ve given me a lot things to think about!! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your input!!

I really, really REALLY wanted quartzite for my kitchen remodel, but after many trips to many stone yards and doing research online, I decided I didn’t want to deal with the possible headaches of it. I also think lifestyle and possible resale value come into play. I was looking to sell in 2-3 years and people in my neighborhood/area/price range want quartz. Also I was honestly afraid of spending that kind of money and having to worry constantly or baby my counters. Yes, true quartzite is pretty indestructible but I would never be able to get that right in my head, I would worry with 2 messy teenagers who have been known to leave things out in middle of the night, or when my husband and I go away would I want to worry about spilled spaghetti sauce on the counters left there for 2 days, etc.. In the end my brain told me to pick quartz, so I found a beautiful and durable Cambria quartz that has definitely held up amazingly over the last 3 years with no babying whatsoever. So much so that I’m choosing the same quartz for my new home build. Not trying to sell it to you, lol, but you need to choose what’s right for your lifestyle, value, etc.. Good luck! It was the hardest decision to make until I had to choose backsplash 😆

Thank you! I do feel as though going crazy (and driving hunny crazy) with this decision. I haven’t find a Quartz that I love at the warehouse after 5 trips. I’m going to a new place today to look at the Cambria samples as they appear to look more real online. Which Cambria did you end up with? I read online that you can’t put things such as toaster, crock pots, coffee makers in Quartz due to the heat. Have you found that to be true? This is soooo frustrating.... 😬 thanks again!!

Bulbs in your can lights should be 4000K...available on Amazon but can be hard to find at a hardware store or even a local Lowe’s. That alone will help the kitchen be brighter. Do you have undercabinet lights?

We switched from black granite countertops to a Hanstone quartz called Oceana and it was the best decision. We love our quartz with white kitchen cabinets.

This is what we currently have in the can lights... it’s a bright light but feels “shadowy”. Do you have any other light bulb suggestions?? We have an electrician coming out tomorrow to put in fans so I plan on asking him about under cabinet lighting options as we don’t have any. There is a tile backsplash already so hoping I have some option. The house is only 5 years old, so not sure why the previous owner didn’t out any in...sigh

What do you love? I think your trouble might be that you don't love Quartz but you want new counters. I say this because I was in your shoes once... I kept trying to justify what I wanted and could not make a choice. Wanting a counter that was bullet proof kept me from getting what I love. I looked for Quartzite and Quartz trying to find the right one. I too went to three different stone yards a dozen times. My hubby was annoyed and kept saying Pick something I hate them all the same. HA HA HA

I ask, What do you REALLY love? Pretend they were all the same in cost, care, etc.. Now Which would you chose?

Side note, new counters will be pretty but they won't show their beauty if the lights are too dark. If you can change those bulbs to the brightest you can find. Is it possible to do under cab lighting?

I too have heard you can't put hot things on Quartz... But Quartzite and some Granites you can.

I agree with @Beth H. Quartzite is strong. In fact she helped me with my own kitchen choices. If you find a counter you love get it. Quartzite is an incredible stone. People only post about the horror stories. There are many many more happy people who don't post but have no issues and love their quartzite counters. I have heard the same horror stories on Houzz but in person I have seen 10 beautiful counters in different homes from friends and not one has ever had an issue. Get what you love.

I got Marble. It is one of the softer marbles (chips easily) could stain despite having stain resistant sealers and is a more delicate stone. I love it and would do it all over again if I had to. I love my counters. I got what I loved. Life is short get what you love.

Boxer's kitchen choices 2018 · More Info

So those bulbs are 5000K (Kelvin) which gives a cool blueish light. 4000K is kind of middle of the road...not too cool but not warm. 2700K, which is readily available in hardware stores, is warm. I have a new (to me!) house with a very green leaning paint scheme. First thing I did was change out the bulbs, first to 5000K which were much too cool and sterile then to 4000K which I like. It changed the way the paint reads....less green and more neutral (paint is SW Universal Khaki). I plan to paint after renovations are done but I wanted to get the light right first. So it may be worth it to try some 4000K bulbs as you make decisions on counters etc. undercabinet lights will be good for sure.

@Boxerpal, can you tell us exactly which marble you got (and the sealer used)? Thank you!

Forget about anything being "bullet proof." Doesn't exist--everything wears in time, nothing stays pristine forever. The key is finding something that you will like after a few years' wear. As one of my design teachers stated, "XXX doesn't wear out, it uglies out."

@Mary Elizabeth

Carrera Rio Venato Marble.

I have no idea the sealer our Stone artist Ralph and his team use. It is some heavy duty sealer that should protect for 18 years. I totally trust them. When a stain does appear one day, they will come out and fix this. At our expense of course. We trust them and we love this stone. It is soft and easily chips. It is a delicate stone but this is what we really wanted we love it.

Creative Stone

P.S. we have a navy blue island that brought the blue in this stone out wonderfully.

Love is a slab salesman's best friend.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC

True

No regrets for me. Life is short I am getting what I love.

Boxer pal and KR ...you struck the nail on the head! I’m frozen right now as I need to love the choice I make. So far I haven’t loved a Quartz, quartzite or granite option I’ve seen. We went to a mew place today and did like a Spectrum sample. Does anyone have any thoughts on that brand of Quartz? We will be going to the slab yards this week to check out full slabs...hubby is VERY excited! 🤣 if I could find a Sea Pearl quartzite that Beth is showing...I would be excited!!
Thanks plf12652 for the lighting suggestions. I’m going to look for the 4000k light bulbs and try those! I feel lighting is an issue I can’t seem to solve so maybe this will solve it!
I will keep y’all (just moved to Charlotte...😀) updated once I finally make a decision!! THANK YOU!!

even though I love the look of white marble, I need the bullet proof aspect. I can't always be there to wipe up a stain before it sets in, my husband cooks like a tornado so he doesn't notice. things get dropped. damage seems inevitable.

so, if your home is anything like mine, you might want to open your search up to other colors. I think a really dark grey would look absolutely stunning next to your white cabinets -- such as the grey counter Beth posted.

(Beth H. -- what type is that dark quartz anyway? it's beautiful.)

I loveMOD, Silestone Eternal Charcoal. I debated getting that or the Serena (lighter gray).

I wish I had white cabinets! I have gray (not my fave but came with the house.) forgive my mess in the pics below. If it was my choice I would definitely like whit favs with dark granite! 😀 that’s it
Looking for a whitish countertop as the current granite is very dark gray splotchy (Caledonia). Kitchen doesn’t have any windows so it’s very dark. I need to leave the lights on all day so I can see.

oh! well, they're really light color. I still think a dark countertop would look stunning in there. but I understand the light issue. are you open to solid surface, such as LG High macs, corian, or porcelain?

or if you think you can live with the fussiness of white marble, go for it. it would look really beautiful. you will need to keep in mind undertones. your cabinets and backsplash look cool in these pics.

you might want to consider new wall paint too. I'm not a huge fan of light grey next to beige. white walls will brighten your kitchen a little more.

@S Maj I think under counter lights will make a HUGE difference and also help you with choosing a stone. Needless to say, this "journey" is one many of us had to take and you keep thinking "I'll never find what I want." (And your spouse is just getting annoyed at you...) But there are so many stones and slabs and there is also turnover, so make a friend at each place and let them know what you are on the lookout for and hope they call you when a new slab arrives. I'm glad you're going to look at Cambria as well. People I know who have it really like it.

I love mod....I totally agree with the paint color. That is also on my list.
Red Ryder...I KNOW! I really want under cab lights out in. We have an electrician coming in tomorrow for other things so I want to pick his brain on that! I do know that I won’t just pull the countertop trigger unless I’m really excited about it! It’s too much $$ to just say ok without loving it! 😀

also, what's above and around your kitchen? is it possible to add windows, a skylight or a solatube? personally I'm all for getting as much natural light as I can, when possible.

even if you can't, it's a really lovely kitchen. once you get fresh wall paint and new counters, it will look amazing.

Above was our old small kitchen (unable to find a top down view). We had professionally installed Sealed Quartzite. No seams around the under mount 36 inch single sink. I think natural stone will never be totally consistent with durability ; it's non-manufactured. Our Quartzite (passed glass scratch test) did etch but not highly noticeable. Baking soda and plastic wrap helped fade stains. A heavy pot was dropped and there is a small crack fine line not easily seen by eye but can be felt underhand and a quarter inch chip of the sink rim ,again from pot washing. Did we buy Quartzite ? Stone supplier labelled it Quartzite. Again it is non-manmade non-uniform. We are foodies & cook/bake all the years we lived there; didn't use trivets (never had burn marks or noticeable scratches). None of these imperfections were noticed by the buyers who loved the whole kitchen. Backsplash is tempered glass over painted wall zero grout lines. We are considering man-made tough Dekton USA or Xtone surface counter top for our new build home. Our previous homes before above, were all various Granite counter tops (no chips no cracks no etch). Install what you love :)

John:

Dekton is a fine material, but you must follow Roberto Colonatti's fabrication manual, even if it conflicts with Dekton's instructions. He has much more experience than they do.

John, that looks like Super White. It's a dolomite (very commonly sold as a quartzite) Quartzite will not etch. Quartzite is actually harder on the Mohs scale than granite.

what stone sales people label it as, and what it really is, can sometimes be very different. You didn't have quartzite.

Beth H: yes you are correct, we loved it anyhow and was not going to have the stone supplier take it out and replace. After weeks of construction having a functional beautiful kitchen was a relief. I'm just thinking (being a non -geologist) natural stone can be a mixture so perhaps some parts were more of one stone than the other as they sliced out the slabs from the ground. Who knows , doesn't matter, it was beautiful and we loved it.

We put Sea Pearl Quartzite in our master bath. Looks very much like Sea Pearl. It has shown no wear.

I wish I had put this in our kitchen instead of the Quartz. We do have a black and white exotic granite on our Island. It is very easy to keep up. The Quartz is the only one that has shown any kind of marks. We have a few hard water spots that don't want to come off.

I like your existing counter top but agree that the lighting in the room needs to be adjusted. Have you considered trying to change the lighting first to see how things look? You could then perhaps look at painting the walls a different colour?

I guess not a “gray” person so between the cabinets and granite, everything is gray. I am gonna to swap out the lights per the previous comments to 4000k bulbs and add two pendants over the breakfast bar. We are heading out today to a couple new supplier warehouse to check out granite, quartzite and quartz ...wish me luck!

I think it’s a very pretty kitchen and looks really nice altogether. What I would do first is remove everything from the counters except for the basics like coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven, fruit bowl, utensil canister. Really see what your kitchen looks like with clear clutter-free countertops and then slowly add things back in. Keep decorative items deliberately chosen and cohesive. There’s lots of stuff that breaks up the white-light-bright of the tile backsplash.

It takes effort and organization at first to live everyday with clean, empty countertops but it was a game changer for me and I fell back in love with my outdated-old-ugly GREEN countertops. I have uba tuba which many on here poo-poo as one of the worst, ugliest, most common, etc but it suits my kitchen and is still in great shape. It’s got that similar age/look from the kitchen in the movie “Somethings Gotta Give”

And I also agree 1000% on trying new light bulbs. I replaced all my bulbs and even my husband noticed the difference.

Lookinlu...I will work in decluttering the countertops as I know I have way too at things in them. Hubs and I went to a Cambria distributor yesterday. We fell in live with Berwyn! It’s totally different than what I’ve been looking at. Concerned though as it’s very busy and not sure if it works with the gray cabinets. What do you all think of that Quartz??? Also saw a granite named “White Cloud” that was gorgeous. I seriously am losing my mind. I hear a bottle (or two) of wine calling my name. 😂

Did you being home a sample of Berwyn? It may not seem busy in your house. When I went to the Cambria person here it got dizzy looking at them all in a showroom. But my designer’s kitchen and it and it looked gorgeous in a whole room. What did the “White Cloud” granite look like? (The names are not consistent from p,ace to place.)

She didn’t have a sample of the Berwyn that I could bring home. She’s trying to send me one from another warehouse. If not, I can order in online. I had the name of the granite wrong. it was called Viacon white. Here’s the picture of it. They only had one slab available. More is coming in March. The Berwyn was so sparkly...I really like that and the movement of it. Thank you for your help!!! I’m seriously frozen I feel. I don’t want to make an expensive mistake.

I agree @RedRyder Berwyn is very pretty in person.

Here are some photos of it.

Cambria Quartz Berwyn Kitchen · More Info

Cambria Berwyn Kitchen - Iowa · More Info

Cambria Quartz Berwyn on White Cabinets · More Info

Cambria Quartz Berwyn Kitchen in Raleigh, North Carolina · More Info

that granite is Viscount White. (you can google it and see it in kitchens. your place changed the name of it) don't know what they're charging you for it, but just know it's an entry grade granite. (not that it's bad, I just don't want them to overcharge you for it like it's an exotic or something)

Thanks Beth! It looks as tho fun they have it labeled as “C” which is the medium rate. Do you feel the Berwyn would look good with great cabinets in kitchen that doesn’t get much natural light? I’m going to change the light bulbs to a 3500-4000k per everyone’s advice here. But, I still need to have the lights in all day as the only daylight I get is from the eating area on the other side of the room. Or should I stick with whitish Quartz with gray lines? I know it’s a personal decision, but I’ve seen some of your comments here and I very much appreciate your knowledge! 😀

What about something like Cambria’s Big Sur Mist or Foggy City?

S Maj, it's whatever you like! the two choices are completely diff.

With your under cabinet lighting, it should be enough during the day so that you won't need to turn on ceiling lights. my kitchen is on the dark side and I leave the under cab light on 24/7. during the day I don't need to turn on ceiling lights.

what you currently have right now isn't much diff from how the Viscon White is going to look! you have to imagine it fabricated into 24" deep pieces. that movement will be lost, and you'll have basically the same that you do now.

I don't know why they're giving you a level C on it. You can buy that entire slab for 1200- 1500 bucks.Especially the quality they're showing you.

This is the Good Viscon White

up close you can really see the blacks/whites. this slab is pretty.

see how muddled yours looks?? see how there is no bright white/and black compared to these others?

it's a cheaper quality

Look at Shadow Storm (could be a marble though. you'd have to test it) it's a nice piece that would work w/gray

I'd keep looking. If you like Berwyn, look at all the pics of it online to make sure it's what you want.

Beth H...WOW! I definitely see what you mean about the slab being pretty much the same as I have now and am trying to get away from. Thank you putting that comparison together for me. I also see the difference in the slabs you mention. The black and white is muddled in the piece I saw compared to what you are showing! Hopefully the electrician will make it here this week (hanging Fans, pendants etc) so I can ask him about the under cabinet lighting. As we already have a tile backsplash not sure how that can happen...but I’m hoping there’s a way! Thanks again for you input...it’s so very helpful! I will looking into the quartzite you mention and keep options open. I’m not doing anything until I’m in love with it!!!