Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
petra_gw

Need Countertop Advice

petra_gw
12 years ago

We'd originally picked Cinnamon Spice, but it is just not going to work for our small, darkish kitchen, especially since I want a full height backsplash from the same material. But I am just not sure about the color, I've seen pics where I hate it, and pics where I like it, but none where I love it. Saw it in person on a display island at the store, it looks nice, but again, I don't love it. Here's everything all together, sample cabinet door, floor tile, and Zodiaq Cappuccino sample. Would love opinions, but please be gentle. :o)

Comments (40)

  • Fori
    12 years ago

    Nope. Keep looking.

    I love the door color and the floor tile though.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Okay, what color do you think?? I have absolutely no idea!!

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    Petra -
    The floor tile is a greyish beige and the Zodiac has a pinkish undertone. The undertones clash.

    The tile has a smooth swirled effect, the Zodiac is spotted. The patterns also clash.

    Look for something more on the taupe and grey-beige side, and with a less obvious spotting.

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Hi Petra, it's really hard to look at colors as they are online/monitor but do you have samples of the Okite Crema Botticino or Antique Pearl? Do you want to stick with Zodiac or are their other choices?

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Lazygardens, I think you are right about the undertone, the pinkish Zodiaq (no typo by the way, they actually spell it with a "q" :o) undertone is something I am not too fond of. The spotted effect seems to be in all Zodiaqs and that doesn't bother me too much, cause they are fairly small spots. But I just can't warm up to the color, especially since we are planning to do a full height backsplash.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    jterrilynn, we pretty much have to stick with Zodiaq, we live in the boondocks and don't have lots of choices. We have Lowe's and Home Depot and a couple flooring places, but no countertop places except one where they specialize in ceramic tile counters, which I don't want. I've looked at some granite and did not really like any of it, plus I love that quartz surfaces are so easy to maintain and durable. I am hoping to find a different color because I am already tired of the cappuccino after looking at it for a few days, ugh.

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Here's my fav in Zodiac, the "Antique Pearl" I mentioned above.

    http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=antiquepearl.jpg"; target="_blank">{{!gwi}}

  • ironcook
    12 years ago

    hi petra...

    i don't have an actual sample of this, so i'm just going by monitor colors. have you tried "Autumn Light"?

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Wow, that's very pretty. I am definitely going to look at that when we go back Sunday. It looks like it has a grayish tone?

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Oops, Ironcook, I didn't see your post, the above was for Jterrilynn re. the Antique Pearl.
    Anyway, Autumn Light also looks very nice, and not pinkish. I really don't think they had either of these colors in the display, I am going to ask when we go back.

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Hi Petra, I have not seen this in person but it does look like it has a grey undertone on the monitor. I really like the understated prettiness of it. I think it would be easy to get along with because you could go from contemporary to traditional and most any color on your accessories. Maybe you have to special order it where you live?

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I think we have to special-order everything around here, ha. It is so difficult to pick out a color without samples (and even WITH samples), I sure hope they'll have something better than photos to go by.

  • ironcook
    12 years ago

    oh, and i do have a sample of jterrilynn's suggestion, "Antique Pearl". i second that will look nice, too.

    here's a closeup of "Antique Pearl" with a cab color like yours:

    {{!gwi}}

  • ironcook
    12 years ago

    it's definitely beige/gray/taupe/neutral. no hint of pink. you do need to check it out in the light of your own home, though.

    from the DuPont site:

    Antique Pearl = "Light neutral taupe monochromatic tone-on-tone texture (Most neutral of beiges)."

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Petra, where are you? For some reason I keep thinking Spain.

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Oh lol! I just clicked your name and you are a U.S person. Don't know why I was thinking Spain.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Ironcook, thanks for the pic!! It does look like the exact cabinet color. It looks very nice together, and I love the edge. And the description sounds like it would match just about anything. :o)
    Jterri, nope, unfortunately not Spain, but Texas. :o)

  • sumbrm
    12 years ago

    Can you share what your floor tile is?

    Thank you!

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    sumbrm, it's Ragno Boardwalk AJ4C. They are also available in a reddish color, and a beige. Plus, they are made in the USA and contain 21% recycled materials.

  • chocolatebunny
    12 years ago

    Please don't go with Cappuccino. My Lowes has a whole display of this in person and it definately looks very pink in person. I had considered that color at one point until I saw the display in person. I really, really would have regretted going with it...so glad I was able to see it in person first!

    The Antique Pearl is really nice. I have seen a whole counter of this in person too and there are no pink undertones to it. More taupe in person than the pics on the web site. Plus, it is one of the less expensive colors. It is second on my list of Zodiaq colors after Flax, but Flax (price level E - the highest) is so far out of my price range that I am considering the Antique Pearl and a similar color from Hanstone, but has more white.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Chocolatebunny, what color are your cabinets? Hmm, it looked like our Lowe's just had a single price for all colors, I guess I'd better check. I didn't know there were price differences!!

  • jgs7691
    12 years ago

    We are getting cherry cabinets of a very similar color, and are considering Toasted Almond. I have a larger sample here, and it looks very nice with the cherry -- definitely a more neutral (not peachy) overtone in a larger piece. Here's a picture I found showing Toasted Almond with cherry cabinets (albeit darker than yours). I don't think the light is great in the picture, but it might help.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, JGS, I am writing it down to look at as well. What color are your floor tiles?

  • jgs7691
    12 years ago

    That's not my kitchen (I got the pic from a counter fabricator's site) but we'll have natural red oak floors after our reno.

  • petra66_gw
    12 years ago

    @ jterrilynn You must have been thinking of me ;-))
    also a petra, and yes in Spain! How nice that it stuck in your memory.

  • jterrilynn
    12 years ago

    Petra66, thank goodness! I'm so grateful that I'm not as close as I thought I was to being committed to a nursing home lol. Hey I'm going to Spain next summer, maybe Majorca as husband seems to want to recapture his wild youth days. Not sure that's were I want to go though because I'm not as much interested in touristy places. I tease my husband and tell him I want to go places I can feel the grass beneath my feet... really feel the land. I did go to Madrid last year but the stay was brief. I do know I love your country!

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hi, fellow Petra. :o)

    jgs, your floors sound great. I wish we could go with wood, but we have lots of critters and tile is safer.

  • chocolatebunny
    12 years ago

    Petra - my cabinets are similar in color to yours, probably a little darker brown.

    According to the Zodiaq web site, Antique Pearl is price level B and most of the colors with the recycled materials are price level E. Cappuccino is price level C.

    Sometimes Lowes and Home Depot run specials where you can get a D color for the C color price and the C for the B price. Unfortunately it seems the E colors never go on sale!

  • cplover
    12 years ago

    Petra- Have you looked at Zodiaq "Savory"? If I remember correctly it is similar to cappuccino but without the pink undertones

  • brianadarnell
    12 years ago

    Petra- Zodiaq Antique Pearl is BEAUTIFUL! My parents have it in their kitchen and it is so elegant and understated. It is gorgeous. If I could afford the quartz, I would do it in a second. Its a warm taupe color with beautiful flecks that I think would look beautiful in your kitchen with those cabs.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Chocolatebunny, I am really glad you mentioned the price differences, we had no idea. That would have been quite a surprise to count on $49 a sq. foot and then get a much higher estimate and have to pick out something else the last minute. Thanks!! Do you think you'll go with the Antique Pearl?

    Newbieremodeler, yes, they did have savory and there was some sort of color clash in person, I think maybe it was too beige to go with the tile. It seems to be a beautiful color though, and I wish they had large displays of everything instead of tiny samples which are really difficult to go by.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    briandarnell, I didn't see your post 'til now!! Thanks for the Antique Pearl endorsement, we are going to drag the cab door and tile sample to the store tomorrow and check it out. If it has the same color tone in person as it has in pics, we might have a new countertop color. :o)

  • boxerpups
    12 years ago

    Hi Petra,
    I love your cabs, the rich warm cherry tone is lovely.
    I do not have the names of every one of these quartz but
    I wanted you to see how pretty Quartz can look with your
    cherry cabs. You might like Ivory Coast and Pearl. I think
    they were mentioned above.
    Hope these can help you.
    ~boxerpups

    Ivory Coast

    Ivory Coast


    HI Mac
    {{!gwi}}

    Diana Pearl

    Diana Pearl

    Capri Limestone

    Caesarstone not sure which one
    {{!gwi}}

    Caesar Stone
    {{!gwi}}

    Cream Marfil
    {{!gwi}}

    Cream Marfil



    A quartz but I don't know which one.


    Quartz ??? unsure which one

    Geneva Hi Mac

    Victoria Cambria

    Victoria Quartz

    Victoria again

    This wood is lighter than your cherry but the white
    quartz called Specchio could be nice with your cabs and
    floor.

    Bamboo Silestone ( I think these cabs are more of a brown
    and less of a golden orange cherry) This tone might not
    work but I wanted to share it anyway.

    Caesar Stone


    LG Hi Mac not sure which one (If you want to pull more gray
    from the floor this might work too)

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hi Boxerpups, thanks so much for posting all of those photos!! So much to choose from. I'll have tons of colors to check tomorrow. I like your suggestion of picking up the grey tone in the tile. I wonder if a bluish grey would work for the walls. They have to match the tile because we are going paint both kitchen and dining room (which are only divided by an island) the same color.

    By the way, I love your name. We lost our Boxer girl 3 years ago, and still miss her.

  • boxerpups
    12 years ago

    Petra,
    sorry to hear you lost your boxerbaby. I have two.
    They are members of my family.
    :*(
    Keep those wonderful memories of your boxer. And know
    that you have had the true joy of being a part of a
    boxer's life. This is the greatest gift one could ever
    have from God. I think they are here for such a short
    life to remind us to treasure every second we can.
    ~boxerpups

  • sas95
    12 years ago

    From what I see you might also want to look at Zodiaq Crema Botticino. It's a very subtle, "unbusy" pattern, and we just used it for a bathroom vanity with a floor that looks similar in color to yours. Check it out in person when you go. The samples of it on the Zodiaq web site on my monitor are not all that close to what it looks like in person.

  • chocolatebunny
    12 years ago

    Wow! $49 a sq ft is a great price. By me the Antique Pearl runs $57 a sq ft, Cappuccino is $65, Creama Botticino(price level D) is $70, and Flax/Savory is $75. And these are IKEA prices - Lowes and HD are higher.

    I liked the Savory too. Flax is a lot lighter so I prefered the contrast better with my cabinets.

    I don't know for sure what we are doing yet. This debate has been going on since last summer! I like the Antique Pearl but I like a color from Hanstone a bit more. It is similar to AP but the background is whiter. I have to compare prices again. We cannot afford to do the whole kitchen in quartz so I am debating between just the island vs the perimeter only; obviously just the island is a lot cheaper!

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Boxerpups, I wish for you that your two live to be the oldest boxers ever. :o)

    SAS, I am writing it down! Thanks!! That's the trouble with looking online, you just can't get a good idea of undertones, etc.

    Chocolatebunny, I don't know if the Antique Pearl is $49, we originally priced out the Cinnamon Spice and that is what it cost. Like I wrote above, I had no idea they come in different classes and prices!! I know granite prices vary greatly because it's a natural stone and varies in quality, but with manufactured, I just thought it's all the same, except different colors, ugh. I'll check today and ask them for a price-list, if they have it.

    Thanks to all you wonderful people we'll have lots of new color ideas to look at. Am going to have to pick out some paint samples too, I think the paint will need to be matched to the tile as we are painting the adjacent dining room the same color as the kitchen. I really admire people who can match things without a problem. It must be so great to be able to put everything together and have it come out looking fantastic.

  • chocolatebunny
    12 years ago

    If you go to the DuPont web site. I believe there is a section where you can put in your cabinet color (or something close) and then the countertop color, and then paint color for walls. I think the site uses Sherwin Williams colors, but if you google the specific color, there are sites that will tell you a comporable Benjamin Moore color.

    Cinnamon Spice is price level B, so it is the same price level as the Antique Pearl.

  • petra_gw
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Yes, that's the Dupont Designer tool, I've spent many hours on it, ha. It does give a general idea of which colors work together. By the way, I checked the Antique Pearl price, and you are right, same as cinnamon spice. They also had a price level D listed, but no prices to go along with it.