Unfortunately, you put the cart before the horse. Finding a hard surface color match to the paint is problematic. You are choosing a costly addition to your kitchen using a small sample. Rather, work with F & B and look for a quartz closer to the paint color recommendations for White Tie.

Our prettiest white is named after the old, pre-brightened, starched cotton used for white tie jackets. One of our Yellow Based Neutrals, White Tie brings a gentle warmth to any room and is deepened with a touch of black pigment. Combine with Matchstick, String and New White for a delicate scheme with reassuringly creamy undertones.

String:

White Tie:

MGS Solare quartz

The samples I have ordered are 6 x 12", which seems to be the size of samples I would see at a showroom. Why would it be any easier to find something that goes with FB string than something that goes with FB white tie?

Have you considered Corian? Their solid colors have such a rich look. I am a huge quartz fan, but most quartz manufacturers seem to do a poor job with solids.

I have thought of Corian. I was at my mom's house for Thanksgiving and loved the ease of care of her quartz and decided to investigate quartz colors. What do you see as the pros and cons of quartz vs Corian?

Corian is more easily repaired than quartz, and their solid colors have a richness. Quartz is probably a little more heat tolerant — but like granite, you still run a risk putting down a hot pot without protection. Some of the Chinese quartz is sketchy — check the archives. Price wise, a good quartz will likely be priced about the same as Corian. It really comes down to your choice of pattern or solid. I have quartz in the kitchen and Corian (came with the house) in a bathroom. Love both.

Are you open to darker colors for your counters?

I don't think we want to go with a darker color.

This is a very small galley kitchen that will be packed with uppers and lowers on both walls. (We just downsized from a 5 bedroom house to a NYC apartment and are stuffing the contents of our china cabinet into this kitchen!) I'm trying to keep almost everything in there as light as possible.

We want our kitchen to flow in color and decor with the rest of our apartment, which has walnut stained herringbone floors throughout except for in the kitchen. We decided to put a walnut counter on the dry side of the kitchen for continuity in color and material, and I think it will look stunning. But I was hoping to do something lighter on the wet side of the kitchen.

This is my inspiration pic (one of many) for wood on one side and solid on the other to match the cabinets. Our kitchen design process has been so piecemeal because of life factors and covid supply issues. Perhaps I just put counters on hold completely until the cabinets are installed - next week finally! And, until the walnut counter is in - who knows when that will be. It is getting so hard to imagine all of this together and I fear I'm creating a hodge podge.

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Caesarstone sells a number of different whites. Vivid White appears to be a warm white, warmer than Pure White. I know you said you wanted a solid white, but consider ordering a sample of Nougat, which looks like terrazzo and would solve the problem of trying to exactly match a white to your cabinet color. I saw Nougat installed in a galley kitchen in NYC with white cabinets and it was so pretty. (I ordered a sample but was too creamy for what I was looking for.) If I were to choose quartz, I would get polished quartz. I’ve read that “concrete” quartz can show water rings.

If you want a matte finish, do Corian (with a square or pencil round edge) or another solid surface. A couple of years ago I was able to get a few samples of Corian for free by walking into my local Home Depot. The samples were small but I could clearly see the difference between different whites.

Thanks for your pitch for Nougat. While I'm wanting something solid, I was surprised by the speckled sample I received of Cambria and that while the color wasn't warm enough, the speckles really didn't bother me. Good to know about the water rings too.

I have a collection of 2x2 corian samples. It is so hard to tell anything from a 2"x2" little chunk.

Kendrah, in the inspiration photo you posted, the countertops appear “whiter” than the cabinets, and they still look good together. Since your cabinets are being installed soon, I’d wait until you can view your countertop samples with your cabinets in your kitchen before making a decision.

Try looking into Caesarstone Eggshell?? Or LG Viatera Carrara Oro ? or MSI Q Ash gray, Hazelwood, Pebblerock?

It will be difficult to match your cabinet color. Maybe you should go with a simple warm white or slightly darker - some sort of contrast.

Good luck!

Great suggestions. Thanks.

"If you want solid go for corian." That seems to be what I am learning from this discussion. Thanks.

Corian Artista Canvas. So opulant. But too warm? Too much pattern?

This is Venaro White. Warm with very subtle cooler veins.

Designer White. Too bright?

Lastly, Rice Paper. This one is beautifully warm, but if you look closely, you will see a few little flecks in the pattern.

A few people here have gotten a little pushback from their fabricators and dealers when requesting Corian. The mindset seems to be that “everyone wants quartz now.”