You are looking at fake stone what do youexpect . IMO go look a t some white granites a much better choice for counters IMO . Get polished it is close to bullet proof too. This is river white

What a lovely kitchen renovation that youre helping your Mom with & I’m loving the cabinet color choice & backsplash design too! So many pretty quality quartz slabs to choose from out there- continue on your journey to find the perfect slab to complete your Moms fabulous kitchen. would love to see a pic of the finished kitchen!

Yes I hate fake plastic stone in a kitchen what is the point of a counter that cannot handle a hot pot . This materila costs as much as real stone and has limitations that re not IMO acceptable in a kitchen. BTW there are 100s of white GRANITES that are neither marble or quartzite which IMO either are better than quartz. I have done 100s of kitchens in my life as a kitchen designer and not one of them has a quartz counter for exactly the reasons I stated. Of course not pure white that would not occur in real stone only in fake.

@patricia colwell consulting

Patricia you just don't get it. You may not like quartz but many people do and in high end kitchens. Granite can crack from a hot pot also. Use of a trivit is easy. My quartz is a work horse in my kitchen, is 8 years old and looks like new. You can of course always explain in respectful terms what it is you prefer about granite. However you always come across as patronizing and disrespectful in your comments calling it plastic. Time to change your tune, a least try to be respectful of other peoples views/choices.

I've never put hot pots on the corian, granite or quartzite kitchen counters I have owned in the last 23 years, so that is a useless argument to try to use against quartz!

I do prefer a natural stone in my kitchen, but have used quartz in all my bathrooms.

@Lauren, unfortunately none of the quartz manufacturers have come up with a good quartz version of Calacatta Gold marble, which porcelain has been able to perfect in the last few years.

With having had both lovely granite & currently quartz kitchen countertop- I‘ve ’always used a hot pad underneath any dishes fresh out of the oven or stove top; to prevent any possible staining, cracking or burn marks to my countertops

Hello

I just had LG viatera quartz in Etude installed. It has both light gray and gold long thin veins in a criss-cross pattern. It is really subtle and I love it. Here are some pics, I tried to capture the color variation.

Some people cant stand plastic countertops but constantly sing the praises of plastic floors, go figure. Theres an application for every material and as a person who ”designs” she should acknowledge that, but wont. Take up a fundraiser and do the porcelain lol. It is by far the most realistic version of ”marble” you will find, its really beautiful. We would have done it but we needed a seam and the fabricator steered us away. We ended up with a quartzite/dolomite mix that I think is beautiful and while it will etch if you leave an acid on there for a prolonged time, we are wipers, lol, nothing stays on there for long. Did you see the daltile version of calacatta gold porcelain ? Its ridiculously beautiful.

@Lauren, I have helped many family members with selections for their homes and I have learned that although I am there to assist, it is ultimately not my home and I have to understand that while I may have preferences, those likes and dislikes are secondary to what they want/like/dislike.

Keep in mind that the only one who needs to be happy with the choice is your mom. The fact that it looks "fake" to you it largely irrelevant.

Your mom most likely grew up with sheet vinyl flooring and Formica countertops and even today, there really isn't anything wrong with these choices. I know plenty of people who have Formica countertops and are happy with their kitchens.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting - I understand your preference for "Real Stone", just like some posters prefer "Real Wood" flooring over engineered wood or LVP flooring, but a personal preference doesn't make it the only choice or even the right choice for everyone.

I recently helped someone who had old harvest gold Formica countertops in their kitchen. They couldn't afford to replace the countertop and were planning on painting the countertop. Instead we got white Formica sheets, sanded her old countertop and glued the new Formica over the old. We replaced the backsplash with a mosaic tile that was easy for her to install herself.

I understood that this young woman was a single mom who was completely on her own to raise her kids (ex is dead, and dead people don't make support payments). I sometimes read your posts and think of some of the people like this young woman that come to me for help. I can't imagine how your harsh statements may impact someone who is simply trying to do the best that they can with what they have.

I'm also not sure that granite would have looked good in her 100 year old cape cod with it's 8x8 kitchen. I honestly think it may have looked too modern and out of place with all the older finishes in the home. (original hardwood floors, glass door knobs, white painted cabinets and lace curtains)

River Blue

Cambria Ella has relatively subtle graining. Or Silestone Eternal Calacata Gold, or Corian Calacatta Natura. Not like your original material but may work

Patricia, you hate manmade quartz, plastic, blah blah, but sing the praises of vinyl flooring that looks like real wood! I mean, come on. pick a side.

Lauren, I would check around w/some other fabricators. even quartz and granite get mitered, so I don't know what this guy is talking about that it would take an addtional 2500 bucks!

Youre in that field and you can't find anyone to give you a 'good deal'?

these are porcelain slabs from one of my stone/tile places. the cost was $2300, and prob another 2K for fabrication

I actually had to take a serious look at this because I thought it was real marble

Since you have the pale sage cabinets, have you considered SeaPearl quartzite? it is a real quartzite and not marble

honed:

Or, look into Danby marble. it's beautiful but not as fragile as a carrara. a lot heartier.

White Lux is another option

The slabs arent the problem with porcelain, the fabrication from someone experienced with that material is what costs. The only other issue with the porcelain is that chips for the most part are irreparable. It really is the closest thing you can find to marble tho.

MRiz, I think paying double for fabrication of a quartz material is way overcharging.

installation is diff than a regular countertop. If she is paying 2500 for the slab, 5000K to fabricate is ridiculous.

as for chipping, so does quartz. I chipped mine in two diff spots when I brought up my iron skillet from beneath the countertop. my granite never chipped. I'm sure the porcelain would have also chipped. It's just the way it is. each surface has it's pros and cons.

I think its much easier to fix a chip in quartz if you wanted to. The color goes all the way through the slab. Porcelain slabs are a ”picture” on the slab and if it chips its much harder to repair. @Joseph Corlett, LLC has talked about repairing those slabs .

I generally don't express this opinion because I am in the clear minority and unlike Patricia Colwell I don't feel a need to convince anyone that I'm right. And right off the bat I will have offended the many people who have chosen marble-look quartz for their kitchens. It's not personal. Your kitchens are lovely. Bear with me, though, because I'm going somewhere with this.

I don't care for marble-look quartz, and I have yet to see any that I thought looked convincing (note to Lauren--I'm interested to know what products you thought looked convincing, not saying they aren't out there, just that I haven't seen them). The porcelain products look convincing. You know what else does a pretty good job of faking the pattern of marble? Laminate. It won't pass Patricia's hot pot test, and it won't pass for real marble because the edges of laminate counters always look like laminate no matter how good the pattern looks. But they create the pattern by taking a picture of real marble, so the patterns are actually quite good. Maybe laminate is too low-brow for your mom. Maybe her kitchen is so big that the pattern would have to repeat, which would undermine the effect. But maybe it will suit her needs.

Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln I thought was the most likely fit (below) but you could also look at Wilsonart Drama Marble and Anzio marble and maybe Formica Calacatta Cava.

Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln close-up

Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln full sheet view

I love quartz, and I have had every type of countertop under the sun — save for porcelain. Noooo thanks on that one. Have you looked at Lusso by Silestone? In pictures, it doesn’t look like much. But IRL it is gorgeous. Not exactly marble-like. But every time I see it on display, I love it. It does have the colors, I think, that you are looking for. I really do not understand why quartz manufacturers cannot get this color scheme right. Good luck.

Hey Lauren, Nice design for kitchen. May I ask what app or software would you use to make the kittchen layout. I am currently looking for marble looking quartz too so I understand your dilemma. Good luck with your find. If I find the similar design in quartz, i will post it here. Thank you.

This is Cambria Colton. The veining is not too extreme, and definitely gray and gold/brown. It is a warmer white.

Has anyone ever used Pompeii quartz thinking of remodeling our kitchen we already have a beige tile pictures don’t show well it is beige, gray and little bits of white. Thinking of white cabinets and quartz white background with slight veining pictures attached, open to any and all suggestions. Also need help with paint color and tile backsplash or should I continue with quartz?

Existing kitchen

Cindy, this is someone else's post. you won't get help for yours because people will only see the original title.

Please start your own post under Design Dilemma. you'll get way more info. (BTW, that's a whole lot of white. you need some contrast or color. if you start your own, I can help w/pictures)