I would go with the same backsplash.

Looks good.

Hi Beth! Thank you for your feedback. I can't change the white dove. It's tying into ceiling beams and a whole room of white dove woodwork. Would that slab still work? In honed? I actually don't love the warmer taj, and I know I'm a little all over the place. Does that slab not look right to you?

oh, well if you like the cooler tones, then yes, I like it.

w/some white oak shelving or vent hood accents, along w/some wood cutting boards/accessories, I think it would look very nice

I'd also bring in some contrast w/any of these charcoal tones.

I did wrought Iron on my own island w/marble. white oak floors and gold hardware

I also like this zellige tile backsplash (shown w/the white oak I mentioned and a charcoal island for contrast

Thanks Beth! I have a chrome faucet, but I like the idea of brass hardware on cabinets. Would that still work? If I do brass hardware on the cabinets should I match the pendants in brass? The room is open to the dining area and living space and I was thinking of doing a darker bronze and glass light fixture there.

You can mix metals. I don't know about the chrome faucet though. are you doing a ss sink? ( I hate ss) You could do a graphite sink or a white enamel sink.

here's brass and nickel and some chrome w/a taj look alike

this is what yours resembles. shown w/matte black, gold and Zia Zellige tile

if you did that, you could mix black and gold. otherwise, I'd just stick w/the chrome for your metal. maybe do some black pendants.

these should work w/yoru stone

But if you want the brass elsewhere, think about switching out the faucet. they aren't that much.

I did a matte black delta for less than 300

my island is wrought iron, and I have walnut accents (along w/the brass)

https://juleptile.com/blog3-kitchen-color-schemes-with-taj-mahal-quartzite

Here are some of the other items that will be open to the same space.

The sink is a white farmhouse sink.

The ONLY way to tell if you love a slab, is to take a cabinet sample, or a drawer face to the slab. To the actual stone shop With that ? You take a sample of your flooring. You take a layout, the 2d cabinet plan flat on paper. ....not that pretty little elevated drawing.

Are you building, remodeling, or just replacing some cabinets and tops in a refresh.The MORE you show and tell? The better the replies and the help.

Why? Because a lot of stuff looks pretty on the internet.........enough said.

One More: Virtually every cabinet maker has a "Dove White" in their repertoire. Taj Mahal comes from the earth, and for a couple years the earth has dished up more gray taj......than the creamy tones with soft whites gray and BEIGE veins.

So. Due your due diligence, and do NOT pick a backsplash now. It is unnecessary, it's a rush road better not taken. Especially an "off white subway" road. It can not be installed until tops are in place, so that is when you select it. Avoid the too soon selection that can lead to regrets.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6341748/backsplash-advice-help-me-love-this-tile-there-s-no-going-back#28279774

Kitchens are an in person/ on site process, A local process. The internet is 'Inspiration" , no different than models in Vogue. It takes work and planning, lighting, air brushing, cropping, and more to look like that : )

Thanks Jan! I will take that advice and not pick out the backsplash. We are building a very small new house. The kitchen, living room and dinning room are all one space. It is still being built so I can't make decisions by seeing things in the space they will eventually be in. The cabinets are already done and they are bejamine more white dove. There are a ton of windows but what's left in the space will be white dove. I have purchased the couch, dining table, and bar stools. I am going with Taj Mahal because of its reliability as a good stone. But I had a vision for the kitchen and I don't know if I can make it work with this stone. I am open to any light fixtures and different finishes on the cabinet pulls and lighting.

This is my layout:

My hood is wood and my cabinets will be glass on both sides of the hood like in the picture below. I wanted to add oak wood shelves like the bottom picture. But if I do this, do you think I can still use the taj mahal slab I have on hold?

I think the wood hood is plenty. All someone did in your inspo? Buy white oak shelves to replace what came inside a cabinet. Certainly something you can always do. Would I do float shelves? No. What is your island? White Dove? What is your flooring? Get a piece of that / a sample.

Paint a scrap of plywood in two coats satin Ben Moore White Dove. Go to the slab.........

Then? Don't worry on hardware for the moment, NOR that backslash. Just go look at those other important elements together.They'll even take a slab outside for you, usually.

( Beth and I are crossing lol )

I'm sorry, I meant my hood was also painted BM white dove. I was going to buy the white oak shelves like in the picture. My floors are also white oak and I wasn't planning on staining them. My island is also going to be painted white dove, but I might have time to change that. It all sounds a little boring but I like that simple look.

Here's white oak and your chairs. wrap the bottom portion of your hood w/the same white oak.

Thanks Beth. I did miss that. I like a few of those pics alot.

"if you did that, you could mix black and gold. otherwise, I'd just stick w/the chrome for your metal. maybe do some black pendants." I might try this in a few of my mock ups. I love a chrome faucet. I am certain of so few things lol, but that is one of them! Thank you for those pics! They make me feel like it might all work together.

Went and looked through my ideabooks ... this kitchen is supposed to be TM counters with White Dove cabinets.

Elegance and Form in Clarendon Hills · More Info

Another ...

Grandview · More Info

Thanks for doing that Chispa! I like both of those kitchens but I think my slab is much more grey. Maybe it's more common now for Taj Mahal to lean towards the grey coloring? And I hope my white dove will look have the brightness like the first photo!!

Did you have them take the TM slab outside, to see in natural light? You need to do that before you buy it. I've never had a slab yard refuse to do that.

They had a very big garage door open next to it, so I thought that was good. This is a picture I took while standing outside but the slab was still inside. I think I will take another trip and ask them to bring it outside.

I think the slab looks beautiful! We have Taj that looks similar with white dove cabinets. I do recommend to wait till everything is done to pick the backsplash tile. The tile I originally chose was too white and made the cabinets look more yellow, so we went with one that blended more with the cabinet color.

Thanks jlemail3. I would love to see pictures of your space if you have the chance.

Just snapped a pic but it’s hard to tell as everything looks different in different light. Also we first tried the 4000k lights and hated them…too cold. We ended up with 3000 but even liked the 2700.

It actually looks much brighter & whiter in person.

Different light…turned on under cabinet ones and took up close

ljw,,,that's a nice looking slab. Out of curiousity, what is the price of that honed slab? two years back at my stone/tile place, they had a polished slab of taj and I believe it was $3300?

They even had a Pre-fab taj piece (2x9) this one was $1800

jemail3, is your tile a 3x9 or 3x12? which one is it? Artisan frost?

Horgeouakikiyfhrn!!!!

My tile is AlysEdwards Tongue in chic series, color Bisque. It’s an odd size something like 2 3/4 X 10.5. They had another similar color a bit more grey that went better with the Taj but this one went better with the cabinets. Jan Moyer recommended the tile.
I bought 2 slabs just over 2 years ago at $3300 apiece. We went to every yard in the LA area.

That is gorgeous and my favorite stone. Goes with most anything too!

Yikes I got a total price of 14k. They didn't quote me per slab just a total price. I think I need about 1.5 slabs. So maybe that is the price of 2 slabs.

jlemail3. thanks for the pics! Gorgeous kitchen!

Beth, what do you mean by a pre fab slab?

Beth is in LA. It's a completely different world of stone as it comes to counter tops. Rare ANYWHERE else is "pre fab "

It's laser template , cut, polish, install. In that order: ) Even if you are using a generously sized remnant in that stone yard.

If you're buying 2 slabs and using 1.5 you may be able to use the remainder as your backsplash. Quality look in some configurations. This is best done with careful layout for cuts and how the counter to backsplash blends. It can be dramatic. Your slab appears to be a good candidate.

Loving this Taj Mahal Quartzite countertop & full backsplash! | By Great Rock Granite & Marble | Facebook

Hey Laides :) I don't mean to hijack your thread! But I just had to comment on the Taj Mahal! We are custom building and breaking ground in March. And I hope that it's ok that I'm going to save all of these pictures. We are doing rif cut white oak cabinets (hubby want's to go ALL wood, I want to make the island and hood black). Anyway, I got a quote for my kitchen that has a 10x5ft island, two slabs left and right of the stove that are each about 4', a bar area that is about 5', and a pantry that was about 5x7 L shape and it was $27K. I had to start looking at granite... But seeing all these beautiful pictures and hearing the prices you all were quoted makes me want to go back and look at the taj mahal to see if I can find a slab somewhere else for a better price. I will say the one stone place I've been workng with lately says they cannot gaurantee the stain resistant coating on quartzite like they can on Marble and Granite. But I love that taj mahal! ha! For eye candy, here is the slab I had quoted:

ljw,,,,

Yikes I got a total price of 14k. They didn't quote me per slab just a total price. I think I need about 1.5 slabs. So maybe that is the price of 2 slabs.

you need to find out the price for each slab. 14K ?? my island slab is calacatta from italy, with a special sealer. it was 4300. w/fabrication it came to 6200 give or take. That would make your slabs about 4-5K each, with 4-5K for fabrication? Taj is expensive, but I'd still check around and get some prices. The honing process isn't as labor intensive as the polishing process. I mean, you shouldn't be paying more for polishing. leathering, yes.

And please, don't forget, you own the remenant. make sure they give them to you.

you should also see how they're going to cut it

when they sent me a picture of mine, they asked where I wanted it cut. I drew on the phtoto to show which part of the stone I wanted. they made sure it was ok'ed before starting the fabrication

The leftovers? I used one for my coffee bar and another for a small console by the back door

And, I still have another piece of the marble sitting on the side of my house.

don't let them keep it!

What is 'pre-fab' ?

Pre-fab is prefabricated slabs that are cut into countertop sizes. Usually sold in 6,8,9' X 24" sizes. The cost is usually between $400-700, w/exoitcs being more.

You purchase them like this, and a fabrciator will come to your house to cut them to fit your specs.

These are from a local tile/stone place that use in Anaheim. (and if you watch Flip or Flop, it's the same one they use too)

These also come in island sizes. 4x6, 3x5 I believe.

I can't believe the rest of the country doesn't have access to these. Jan? really?

I recommend these for lower-end remodels where someone may have a simple L shape kitchen, or a galley kitchen. The fabricator coming to your house for a simple L shape might charge 1K for the work. so for 1500 or so, you can have brand new countertops. I've used this manner on quite a few flips or simple remodels.

I don't know what the fuss is w/this. 4K or 1500? hmmm, lemme think.

People often write into houzz asking how they can upgrade their oak cabs and countrtops for cheap. Whilte this may not be everyones cup of tea, painting the oak cabs themselves and getting some new countertops can be the only thing some people can afford.

This is a perfect kitchen countertop and island for pre-fabs. Someone might not be able to afford 4k-6K for a huge slab of granite/quartz/marble, but they could handle 1500 or even 2K for these. A lot of times they will paint the cabs themselves, saving another 5-9K.

It's an option. that's why I always mention it.

These come in from China, which is prob why the west coast has these all over the place. I suppose if you're in upstate NY, :) , they prob aren't a common thing one sees.

People who can't spend more than 5K upgrading their older oak kitchen cabinets, I pass this along to them. There is nothing wrong w/this stone. It's the exact same stuff one buys in the slab format. These are cut overseas in bulk, and shipped to tile/stone places. marble, quarz, granite, quartzite,,,all is avail and the prices are much better than buying a full slab and sending it off to a fabricator. They even have pre-fab island pieces.

(now of course, if you have a large kitchen or more difficult cuts to fit your countertop, this isn't something you'd want to use)

Your kitchen like this?

Or like this? Absolutely, pre-fabs are an option for people on a budget.

This was a rental we have. 12 years ago we used pre-fab granite for the island and perimeter countertops. you can see it's a pretty good size. total cost was 1800, including all fabrication.

If we'd had used normal slabs, the cost would have been 4-5K. easy. ( I think I bought two-8' pieces and the one island piece for 900 or so? I offered cash so I was able to get a few hundred taken off. again, this was 12 yrs ago, so prices were a tad cheaper.)

I often mention pre-fabs because they are an excellent option for people on a strict budget, but who still want to redo their countertops.

I don't know if it's a saving in the midwest, or the northeast. I'm guessing anywhere close to ports that get shipping containers from china, you'd have access to these. Doesn't hurt to check!

(also too, people, if you purchase an entire slab and your countertops only use up 1/2 of it, you are entitled to the rest of the slab! I've noticed a lot of fabricators will only give you your countertop, and then take YOUR remnant and sell it again to someone else. Always have your fabricator show you how your countertop is being cut from your slab so you can see what's leftover)

Hey Everyone, high end fabricator here.

Our group installs a dozen or so Taj Leathered slabs a month, and its one of my favorite materials to work with. Pricing on it has gone up substantially over the past couple years due to the rise in ocean freight, and we sell it at a very reasonable $135/ft installed. Most fabricators arent buying it direct, and if you have to go through a distributor then you can expect to pay between $3500-$4500 per slab depending on the; Cut, Color, Clarity, and Finish of the stone.

Many people dont realize that slabs are sold in the same mannor as Diamonds, with the different grades of the stone drastically effecting the pricing. I have bought 50 slabs of “trash grade” calcutta marble from Italy for $50,000, and have also bought 5 slabs of Premium Delicatus Gold wave for $10,000 per slab. So take it all for face value, and understand the exotic stone business is as much a shell game as the diamond industry.

That being said; no matter what you do, just make sure you purchase from a reputable fabricator, and if you can find one that owns thier one inventory ( usually only your larger CNC shops) you will get a much better product at a much more resonable price point. If anyone has any questions im happy to help out.

Josh Pickard

Operations Manager

Mtn. Empire Stoneworks

Wow. Thank you Beth and Josh. I feel so much more educated about the slab process! Such good information.

Yeah, also as far as previous comments about being entitled to your full slab and this that and the other. I am %100 happy to give anyone their remainder off a slab that they purchase (which is why I try to not even entertain customers paying per slab becauee it becomes a contest over who owns what) but regardless, after waste trimmings and natural fissures you might have 10-15ish usable sqare ft left even if you use half a slab. (Each slab has a 15-20% waste factor depending in the marerial) Keep in mind the stuff weighs 20ish+lbs per sqaure foot so even if you get that material what are you going to do with it?

The only reason we dont throw that stuff in the dupster is because if we have multiple slabs of the same lot we might be able to make some splash out of it for another job, but if its a one off job we just assume trash it unless its big enough to make a future vanity out if.

Also, prefab material has all but gone away. With the cost of ocean freight its not even reasonable to entertain (outside of a commecial installation), and most reputable install companies dont even deal in it anymore due to lack quality, and anyone handcutting your material by hand in your backyard out of prefabbed blanks from China has never installed a legetimate job in their life.

When we redid our kitchen last year, we were shocked by the prices of TM in our area…..I had seen so many people on Houzz mention much, much lower prices. We did learn (through a pro on Houzz) that premium slabs cost premium cash, and we were after the lighter, creamier slabs, which are now much less common than the dark gray ones, therefore “premium” $$. We went through a couple of local fabricators, none of which have slabs of TM lying around due to the high prices. One fabricator handles sales this way: you go to a distributor, pick your slabs but you pay the fabricator, incl. total slabs and fabrication….they charge fabrication by sf, and you own the entire slabs. This shop (overworked, I guess, like many places) became difficult to deal with (as in the contact person there barely responded to texts or emails), so we went to the other big fabricator near us; they handle things very differently. While we still went to a distributor to choose our slabs, this fabricator charges an all inclusive price per sf, only for the actual sf needed for your job, meaning the remnants are not owned by the client, but by the shop, so they are free to sell them. We paid $200/sf. We used up pretty much one slab completely, and maybe 1/3 of the second slab (we did our island in walnut, which ended up costing almost exactly as much as the TM), which came to about $12500, I think…..just for the sf we used. For all countertop materials we paid close to $20 K. (Our kitchen is roughly 265 sf, not including the walk-in pantry, which has no cabinets, just thick, wooden shelves, and it is U- shaped with one side being short, plus island.) We have windows lining the 2 exterior walls, so we originally wanted to do the 4” between counters and windows in TM, but they wanted another $2600 for that, so we went with tile instead. None of the slab yards we visited had pre-fab pieces like Beth showed. This is just for reference for those who are going through this process now, and the prices are from a year ago.

Josh, I have bought 50 slabs of “trash grade” calcutta marble from Italy

sorry, but is Calacatta marble. calcutta was an old city in India.(Kolkata actually)

I'm surprised you wouldn't know this if you bought '50 slabs from Italy. The only quarry that has genuine calacatta marble is in Carrara Italy.

Maybe that's why you were getting 'trash grade'. It wasn't from that quarry. (and 50 slabs for 50K is very poor quality. Genuine Calacatta marble is expensive and controlled)

Many places sell carrara and calacatta marble, but they weren't mined in the Carrara quarry. (they just steal the name)

How much is Calacatta?:

approximately $180 per square footCalacatta. Known as the most expensive marble for countertops, Calacatta marble sells for approximately $180 per square foot. Calacatta marble makes beautiful white marble countertops and has a bright white background with gold and gray veins. Some varieties have more gold or a soft pink undertone.

Hey Beth, thanks for correcting my Windows 11 auto correct. Have you ever been there, because I have. Anytime you would like to buy some wholesale let me know, ill hook you up.

Heres a really pretty shower we just did.

snide comment?

how does Windows auto correct a word that doesn't exist?

I wasn't doing it to be an ass.

I just hate the term 'calcutta' for marble. Many people in the business use it unknowingly. Why? I have no idea. people aren't aware that genuine marble w/Calacatta or carrara should come from the one quarry.

I have no idea where you bought your 'trashy slabs', so that's why I wrote what I wrote.

My calacatta slab actually came from Antolini in Italy, so I'm hoping it was quarried from Carrara. It's not the least bit 'trashy' though

Very pretty shower job.

Antolini is incredible, way overpriced but incredible. You can buy container loads of Calacatta and Carerra marbles way cheaper if you import directly from distributors in Tuscany. When I say (Trash Grade) I mean a slab that might be off color, or missing a corner, fissures, etc etc. Places like Antolini wont even buy these, or if they buy an entire block, they will sort these slabs out and sell them for a 75% discount. Wholesellers in Italy put together entire containers and sell them as ”seconds” which is usually a really good buy, you just have to buy an entire container. That shower I showed a picture of was considered C grade because the whole bundle had a fissure across the bottom. It was from an A grade seam, so the color and pattern was a 10 but the fissure cut about 20% of the slab. Was able to buy 50 slabs for $28 a ft, and made lots of beautiful jobs out of that container.

wow, then I'd say you got a great deal.

My slab was 4200, if I remember correctly. and it had that antolini sealer applied. I will say, it has worked for the stains, not so much for the etching.

As a fabricator, just FYI,,,if you ever get one of their slabs w/that sealer, you can't use any tainted water to cut it.

Here in Calif we use recycled water. Whatever was in that water reacted w/the sealer during fabrication. can you see the irridescence? it wouldn't wash away either. completely ruined the slab.

Antolini rep came out to inspect it and said it was the fabricators fault. (even though no warning or advice was given along w/the slab for instructions on fabrication)

The fabricators had to eat the cost and get a new slab to cut. with fresh, running water.

Where are you located in case I want a new slab? lol

So we are in NE Tennessee, (Knoxville, Tri-Cities- Asheville NC) and service about a 200 mile radius daily. There arent really any higher end CNC shops locally to us, so its a good home base. We travel nationwide for larger jobs over $50,000, but stay locally for the most part.

Also, marble like that is terrible to haze over, and you are correct that water based sealers can react weirdly with the finish on some marbles depending on the pores and haze them over once you put water on them. It looks like they were getting ready to miter that edge and it absorbed something. We have had to refinish some tops before with that issue; but typically the best thing to do in salvaging is to hone the tops, and then hit them with some (Tenax color enhancing Ager). It will change the complexity of the stone, but it will be vibrant and beautiful. Actually learned that trick from an old Antolini rep. Hah. (Tip of the day, buy some of this and you will be happy.)

https://www.amazon.com/Tenax-Enhancing-Granite-Sealer-Marble/dp/B08H57FPQW/ref=asc_df_B08H57FPQW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475771788366&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=482372913780282562&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013312&hvtargid=pla-1053660534645&psc=1

We did prefabs in our master bathroom remodel
They look great!!! Will do the same thing firourvkiychrn Ehen ervgetbyomo

Gorheous

Hi Beth H. :

In these two photos you shared, are the sinks Kohler white (or something else) and what finish color are the faucets?

Thank you!