I really love my Taj and would recommend it. Mine is honed; it feels really nice and is very low maintenance. The colors would look pretty in your space too. It's a beautiful classic kitchen, and your changes sound like they'll punch it up. For longevity, I would stay away from the heavily veined quartz. Is the Miragio Gold a bright white? I think you'll want something more off white with your wall color. Can you bring home a sample to see it in your room?

Taj all the way. It's gorgeous. And I say this as someone who was thisclose to buying quartz when three Taj slabs showed up in the warehouse on the day I went to confirm & purchase quartz slabs.

Hmmm, the depth and beauty of Taj, a real stone…compared to the flat fakeness of a manufactured product. Choice is easy…Taj, without a doubt.

Of course TM, are you kidding ;)

Taj Mahal, but not that slab, which is too stripe-y and gray-ish for your warmer colors.

Taj.

TM but look for a warmer slab - less gray.

Absolutely Taj

Why would you cheapen this space by replacing the more authentic and warm surfaces with engineered products that are a complete disconnect with the remaining surfaces? Sorry if that sounds harsh. Natural products for sure but has others have suggested, complimentarty warm tones only will work. What are the current countertops? Do you need to replace them? The backsplash replacement is an obvious and easy fix. Not sure what you're trying to achieve here? "The countertop must coordinate with the cabinets and flooring". It already does. Goals?

Taj for sure!

We did a full reno of our kitchen and when we decided to go with maple stained cabinets, we knew quartz wasn't an option. Almost every slab screamed of manufactured patterns.

Your kitchen is very nice and pretty traditional. We decided on leathered Taj Mahal and really appreciate the tactile feel of the counters' texture. Polished is gorgeous too.

Definitely look to pick your own slabs of Taj... it can range from creamy white/beige (like ours) to gray tones as well. Oh ... and it's pretty much bulletproof!

It was our big splurge moneywise and worth every penny.

Good Luck!

Gusman

Why start another post? You already have one going on this kitchen.......right? The tops, no matter what, are in the same kitchen as the other post : )

That said, I don't see quartz anything in that kitchen. Even with painted cabinetry, and not certain what was decided there. The only thing certain it seems is the replacement of a Kitchen aid fridge with a 48 inch sub zero.

As of late? You'd need a lot of shopping for Taj Mahal, as it has been coming from Mother Earth in VERY gray slabs. Don't really see it with the cabinetry.........UNLESS as Beth pointed out, you happen upon the creamy toned slabs a lot warmer than what has been the recent selections. Hard no to the quartz, sorry.

All, it's unanimous, Taj or granite over quartz. Sometimes you listen to the voice in the back of your head and sometimes you try to ignore it. Natural versus manmade product, verdict natural. It's just a question of finding it. The hunt for the white whale begins.

Beth H, Thanks for the pictures and the mock up. It helps to visualize the space. I'm getting rid of the light over the cooktop because it's a grease trap. The breakfast area, which you have not seen, gets a new chandelier.

Dragonfly, Good points about the use of natural surfaces. I've yet to see any granite that runs gold without being too busy. I'm going tomorrow to look at this particular slab. I'll keep my eyes open for other possibilities, too. I'd much rather have granite or quartzite than quartz. If it's grey in person, I'll reject it and start looking for others.

Jan Moyer, I started another thread because I wanted to address one particular issue and not go off on tangents. I accomplished this. All other decisions have been made. The verdict is natural over man-made.

All, interesting that no one likes this particular Taj Mahal slab for my application. I'm going to look at it tomorrow in person. I just don't trust pictures to convey color and movement. I'll look at other possibilities at the stone yard at the same time. I have lots of stone yards in my area. Thanks, all.

Yay! You might have to be patient to find your stone but it will be worth it. After four months of full-time searching, I found mine because a salesperson called to tell me about some that had just arrived. I went to look that day and put it on hold. There were so many slabs that had filler or weird patterns or were not warm enough. And if you want leathered or honed, those are not as numerous. But I found that I enjoyed wandering through the stone yards. Good luck, it will be beautiful!

Make friends with the people who own the stone yards so they alert you when a creamier Taj Mahal slab arrives.

The creamier TM slabs will quickly get put on hold by builders/designers for upcoming projects. That is how I got the slabs in my previous house. There was a lot of 10 good looking slabs that were all on hold for different people/companies. I told the sales person I wanted 3 slabs and would pay cash today. They asked me to give them 24 hours. They called back and said I could have 3 of the slabs. Slab yards don't make money holding slabs indefinitely without being paid, so obviously they made some calls and someone wasn't willing to put money up for a future project/client, so I got the slabs. I drove there that afternoon and paid for the slabs.

You want a slab that is more swirly. Those tend to have more white/beige in them.

On the counter it looks gray, but is a warm light beige.

^^ such a smart approach! make sure you select a very experienced fabricator - mine was a pro and he said ”quartzite always makes me sweat”

Take a look at perla venata quartzite, its from the same quarry as Taj but warmer tones. i used it with SW creamy for my master bathroom remodel and loved it.

I’d encourage you to look at an induction cooktop. Better air quality especially with the downdraft.

Here is an example of Perla Venata from a Bedrosian showroom a few years ago. I visited a lot of slab yards while doing 2 kitchens and never saw a slab of Perla Venata for sale!

I kind of like the curve of the island overhang. It marries well with the curve in the open-shelving and the table. And the turned leg and foot detail on the island are done rather nicely and not too fancy IMO and go well with the rest of the kitchen. And I wouldn't paint the island a color. I also think an induction cooktop is the way to go, especially because of the downdraft, and induction is so easy to clean in a highly-visiable area of your kitchen.

@homechef59 Be sure to take one of your cabinet doors with you so you'll know if the slab looks too cool with it. A paint sample wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Well the worm turned. Just when you think you have a decision, someone throws a curveball.

The Perla Venata or Taj Mahal was not to be. I just couldn't do it. It's in demand, there is a serious upcharge because of this demand.

I ended up with a choice between some lovely Istanbul granite or Cosmos Calacatta Sienna Gold Quartz. The wholesaler told me that he thought he could be competitive with MSI Mirragio Gold. The two quartz products were very similar. I"ll put pictures below.

We literally flipped a coin to decide. There was only $200 difference in price. We ended up with the Istanbul granite. DH liked it better, but was afraid to disappoint me. I'm happy that tails came up instead of heads. I would have liked either one.

The plan is to install the Istanbul granite countertops. We have a kitchen refresh company that is going to come in to remove some of the decorative elements that date the cabinets. The rope trim will be removed from the tops of the wall cabinets along with the fluted columns on the cabinet fronts. On the island there are some very fancy applied trim pieces that will be removed. The doors and drawer faces will be sent to their paint shop and the boxes will be painted on site.

I'll post pictures in a few months and let you see the results.

I think that granite will look terrific with your kitchen. I know a lot of people no longer love granite but it is the most durable material for counters. We used a beautiful colonial white for our beach house five years ago and our builder, kitchen designer and interior designer thought we were nuts. But it's bullet proof. The only thing I don't like, and your choice will be the same, is that it hides crumbs, drips etc. Some people love that but I'm an obsessive countertop cleaner and it seems I'm the only one! LOL Good luck with your project.

I like your new stone! It will look great with your kitchen. I like granite, and it’s not that hard to find crumbs. I still love mine.

Using a damp microfiber cloth to wipe it has kept mine shiny and new looking for 8 years.

Post photos once it’s installed!

Yeah, my designer friend isn't excited about it. She wanted me to pick the quartz. They were the same cost. From a practicality standpoint, the granite wins every time. From my personal experience, I've had quartz twice and it wasn't any different than laminate. I couldn't put a hot plate or pan on it. So, why was I using it?

I like granite as well, and my KD loves the granite I picked even though she used quartz in her own (beautiful) kitchen. I think your choice will be beautiful! FWIW even with granite I always use a hot pad or trivet under hot pans.

Not all natural stone is the same, so there is always a risk of thermal shock causing cracks in the counter. Use a trivet for 99.9% of counters. Why take the risk?

I never put a hot pan on my granite, even though one can supposedly do that. In my previous house, the granite was still shiny and in great shape 16 years after installation. We didn’t use it as a hot plate - ever.

My only regret - and suggestion - is to avoid the sharp ogee edging as that gets small cracks easily. In our current house, we did a slightly rounded edge.

Many people have fallen out of love with granite. If you’re happy, that’s all that counts.

RedRyder, I agree and I don't make a practice of putting hot pots on the counter. But, it does happen and lids can be hot, too. I'm planning on a simple eased edge with a rounded corner.

For research purposes what does the Taj cost per sq foot? I know it can be different in various parts of the US. TIA

I needed about 94 sq. ft. For the kitchen only. I would have had to buy 3 slabs. The bill after fabrication was a little over $17k. But, that would have included a lot of wasted material that I was paying for, too.

I decided against the Taj Mahal. I went with a level 3 granite, Istanbul. Because I selected the lesser expensive granite, I was able to have enough material left over to do the laundry room counters, too. That project ended up being 112 sq. ft.

Doing the math, the Taj Mahal would have cost around $180 per sq. ft. and no laundry counters. The Istanbul granite cost me $80 per sq. ft. and I got an additional 18.50 sq. ft. of laundry room, too.

Essentially, it's more than twice as much for the Taj Mahal as the Level III Istanbul. I could have purchased a MSI quartz for the same price as the Istanbul granite. I decided to try to stay within my budget and get other upgrades, such as better appliances, nicer lighting fixtures and hardware with all the extra money I saved by being flexible in my choice.

Thank you for this thread. I have a similar decision coming up and your thought process and decisions were helpful to me.