I have Giallo Ornamental and occasionally I wonder if I should have chosen something more exotic. But then I go into my kitchen in the morning and I realize that it is perfect for me and it is perfect for my kitchen. I had trouble visualizing any big patterns in my kitchen which is why I went with something smaller. Only you can decide what will look great with your kitchen.

I wish I knew how to connect you to this site but if you google golden persa granite slab a link to garden web should come up which will show you some pics of a kitchen and a vanity. with the golden persa.

Here are three GW kitchens/baths with golden persa. Hope this helps you visualize it in your space.

jimcufsem's:

susie1010's:

lzrj's:

I did twice! First time was a swirly exotic granite and it felt very very busy to me when I was up close and working in the kitchen. It was a open kitchen with a big island and the family room and franky the granite was way too dominating in the room. I swore I would get something simple and subdued next time. Next time was a rental kitchen with absolute black granite. Hated it! It had chips and pits and I could not see if it was dirty or clean. My OCD self went nuts constantly wiping down and peering at eye level to make sure all the crumbs and spilled salt and what not was wiped up. Never again.

The only time I feel bad about my choice of granite-uba tuba is when someone on this forum reminds me what a poor outdated choice I made!

I did at first. My Giallo is the dark version and it was too brown for my white cabinets. Looking closely when I was shopping I thought it had more white in it. It was difficult finding a backsplash but Grazia Rixi did the trick.
I would do more research on my own and not bring DH who hates shopping along until I have narrowed down options.
I would also try to have had a vision of the backsplash. Often times this can change after the granite is instalaed, but I think I would have at least had a direction to go in.

It seems like there are some that like more quiet granite and those that like a busier granite. For me, a granite could never have too much movement - I love that Persa. Gorgeous. But it's what you like that's important.

I almost made a mistake, and honestly I may still have made a mistake. I won't know until it is installed and then it will be too late. I changed my mind from Autumn Harmony to Typhoon Bordeaux.

In my prior remodel, I ended up getting backed into accepting a granite solution for my master bath that I do not like. I'm not passionately hating it, and it is very strong and durable, but design-wise it is boring and all wrong.

cmm1 - that is funny. I actually chose that to UPDATE our kitchen, lol! But that said - honestly it's not my favorite if I just lined up a bunch and picked what I liked stone alone but with our kitchen it does work the best and for that I like it and it was the right choice!

Cmm, I LOVE Uba Tuba granite. I only have a hard time finding backsplash ideas to go with it. But I love the look. Don't let that get you down.... if everyone liked the same thing, life would be so boring.

I have Yellow River and some slabs have more movement than others. I don't like the areas that look like Santa Cecilia. I think they look boring. I think your choice is lovely and think it will look great. It seems to me that after having following this forum for about 3 to 4 years now, the biggest regret for people is how the granite was fabricated. My kitchen took 3 full slabs of granite and my husband spent 5 hours at the fabricators with our kitchen plan and tape marking out how the slabs should be cut. It made a huge difference and was time well spent as our granite bill was about $12,000.00. I suggest if you choose a piece of granite with a lot of movement, you play a big part in how it gets templated. Do not leave this up to the fabricator. I also see a lot of complaints on here regarding the seam in the sink area being noticeable and bothersome. If you go with a farmhouse sink the seam will be behind the sink and not as noticeable. Good luck !

Sparkier if you like the granite I bet it will be stunning. We just have to remember that we love what we love. As long as we are happy with the choices we make that's all that counts. I love the Typhoon Bordeaux but once I have it installed who knows?

CMM1, When my daughter and I went to look at granite she saw the Uba Tuba and it was her favorite out of all the granites! What counts is what you love! It seems like a large majority of the kitchens here are white and grey. I love, love, love the white but I have never been a fan of grey. It actually looks stunning in someone elses kitchen but I know I could not live with grey. My cabs will be maple with a wheaten stain and chocolate glaze because that is what I love. I know glazing is not in vogue but I love it so I am using it!!!

There are two aspects to granite. One is what you respond to aesthetically and one is what you want functionally. I love some of the granites with lots of movement, but I hate not being able to see crumbs and then you set something on the counter and hear the crunch. It drives me crazy. When I picked granite, I chose something that shows everything so I can clean it up and skip the crunch factor. Some people would want just the opposite.

We got quartz because we are not big movement types. And I think I second guessed everything except the sink after it was all installed. Its been several months (yes I will post!) and it took some time for me to get used to everything. I still am second guessing, but nothing is changing for the time being (or should I say, a long time) so I should just enjoy it! Your counters are beautiful. Enjoy.

My counter, rain forest green, has lots of movement and color and 17 months later I still love it. I see the crumbs, and I wipe them up. I love following the movement in the stone and thinking of rivers and trees and mountains. There is always something new to catch my eye.
Go for what you love.

I adore Uba Tuba and would have used it if it worked in my space. I have Giallo Ornamental, love, love, love it, and find that it's lively enough for me. That said, I am redoing the kitchen with quartz -- a lively one -- as a part of a downstairs makeover. But everything else will be subtle and plain. You didn't say what your cabinets are, or if you did, I missed it? And is your heart set on a particular sort of backsplash? Those choices would play big in this sort of decision. GP granite, IMHO, will be the star and everything else will probably have to be simpler, perhaps?

Oh yes, it still amazes me that I will have such a wonderful piece of nature in my kitchen. I was looking for a contained granite til my DH said " Go with something that has flow and looks like beautiful stone and not something man-made". That really opened my eyes and now I just adore granite with a lot of movement or flow. I just love that we all have different taste, it makes life so much more interesting!

Not yet! We have a stone that is ultra-"busy," but didn't want/couldn't afford to have it for all of our counters. We have it (Van Gogh) only on the 3'x5' island, and black granite everywhere else.

I never tire of looking at Van Gogh. There are swirls, spray, deposits that look like tiny silver grains, little red blooms, white quartz crystals, and rivers. And colors - deep aqua, cobalt blue, lavender, white, rust, dark red, sky blue, dark gray. And the way the movement wraps around the corners so we can see how the patterns/formations change throughout the stone (or at least for the inch and a half thickness).

The black is soothing, especially with our black sink. It's not hard to see when there are spills or crumbs, but we tend to tidy up the kitchen each night - much more than we used to, that's for sure - and just running a damp towel across the counters takes care of that.

Van Gogh shows nothing at all, but we wipe that clean every night too.

We've only had it in our kitchen for six months, but I still feel a throb of elation every morning when I go down to the kitchen and see the light pouring through it and that magical, magnificent slab. I know that for some, this stone probably shrieks at them, but for us, it is art, it is jewelry. It is perfect.

I got over granite when we got the price, and I wasn't happy that the 24" pre fab didn't match the 36" return.

So we went with a very sexy solution, and you could dance on it. Can't wait to get it installed. It is porcelain floor tile that feels like swede, looks like swede, and has so many options for backsplash, but it is harder than granite, and does not absorb germs. I'm happy with what we chose, and when it's installed, I'll do pics!

Suzi

drbeanie-that looks so good together! It creates such balance against the black. It is so lively but on the island is just enough that it doesn't look/feel busy at all. Very nice! After my uba tuba I am finding I am quite attracted to 'movement' now.

We used New Venetian Gold, which is what EVERYONE in our area uses now (I went to a local home show and EVERY house - at least 12 homes - in the home show had NVG in the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room!!!!!

Do I regret using NVG? No - our fabricator gave us some lovely pieces with good uniformity in pattern and color.

drbeanie2000 - I love your island slab! Gorgeous!

Drbeannie your Van Gogh is lovely. It would bring a smile to my face every morning too! I just love it!

Still in love but it hasn't been templated yet. This is Delicatus, with a "pure white" Barker sample door and Amendoim floor samples.
Getting ready to post our kitchen remodel saga as it unfolds.
Chances are if you loved the slab in the yard, you'll love it in your kitchen too.

{{!gwi}}

Hi Sparkier, I apologize in advance for asking on your thread, but I am in a similar dilemma - I have a deposit on granite, but am unsure of my choice. I hope you don't mind if I ask the group some questions and upload a couple of photos? I need help! :-/

Drbeanie, I love your Van Gogh! I completely 'get' loving the movement and art of granite, and having that gorgeous piece greet you every morning.

My problem is that I set out looking for the uniformity of light quartz because of my color scheme, and ended up choosing granite based on price. We chose Splendor Gold, because it seemed unusual, has warm browns, and gold mica and minerals in it. It reflects light and is, well...different.

So for the past 6 weeks or so, I have been trying to reconcile this 'busy' granite with my décor, and lighting choices, and I don't know if it's going to work! I'm considering switching to quartz in neutral Buttermilk! Yet part of me wants to keep the natural and wild factor of granite. I don't know what to do. I'm not sure I would like a plainer granite.

I'm trying to keep this short, but to give you a visual of where this granite will reside, my décor is this: oak natural floors, ivory walls, beige seating, maple cabinets (coming), and then my pops of solid colors...dining table is blue art glass and beech, same blue in velvet drapes, counter stools in 5 colors (leather, GrandinRoad), and other accents in the same colors. I have FiestaWare dishes in many colors, and pottery in different colors. They are no patterns in the decor except for 1 Persian rug, which has all of the used the colors in it. With all of this color...how can I possibly incorporate this Splendor Gold granite?? Will it work?? The wood on the colored stools is brown, and so that picks up the brown in the granite. And the wood island top will work. But what about all of my dishes? And the blue glass table nearby?

I have chosen 3 small glass pendants to hang over the wood island...in 3 colors, lime, violet, and aqua. Again, these colors are in the stools and other objects around the room. So the colors are tying together, but what about this granite? I need a decorator!

The dining table and sideboard have taken center stage due to their uniqueness. They are nearby and visible from the kitchen area. l don't want the granite to compete.

Advice anyone? I appreciate your input!

I did choose solid wood for the island top, so the whole kitchen would not be granite.

I'm going to upload photos

One of my Splendor Gold slabs

My blue glass dining table and sideboard. This is a 2008 photo. Walls are now ivory, drapes blue velvet same color as table, and table and sideboard are in different location. Visible from kitchen, 'one open room' concept, so Splendor Gold granite will be nearby.

edit

Here is a link that might be useful: Splendor Gold on youtube

This post was edited by mominator61 on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 18:55

@mominator - Ok, I hope you won't take this as coming across mean, but based on your description plus your two pictures, you've got way too much going on to go with that granite. I would definitely go with a much more low-key quartz.

Hi dash, no I don't think your comment is mean, I appreciate your honest input!

DH prefers the 'naturalness' of granite, despite quartz being a mostly 'natural' product.

IDK if a neutral-enough granite exists to coordinate with what I have going on. Choosing counter top is a huge, expensive, and long term decision, and I want to get it right.

I do have the color pops going on, but have kept all the backgrounds neutral. Obviously color is my 'thing.' When I got married 27 years ago, the bridesmaids each had a different colored dress - solid color jewel tones, like the stained glass in the cathedral. It's the ONE thing I have been consistent about in my life!

Thanks for your comments.

I feel a little guilty about using granite because digging it out is so destructive to the environment.

It's been a little over a year but I still love my granite. I was drawn to it the minute I saw it, but of course kept shopping....only to go back to "the one." Kind of like a wedding dress--you'll know when it's the one! Busy or not--if you love it, you love it and will be happy with it in your space.

Joaniepoanie, thx for that! I did keep going back to this one...and so did my husband. For whatever reason, it drew us both. I love that granite is art, and each piece is unique.

I feel the way you expressed...busy or not, I seem to love it. If I end up using it, I do think I will be happy with it in my space.

Decorations and dishes come and go, and are replaceable. The counter is not.

I'd prefer to use my brighter FiestaWare for summer deck dining anyway, and pick up more Ivory for the inside. There is a lot of ivory in this granite.

The colored lights (I haven't purchased them yet) will echo the stools, and the stools have no backs, and so slide neatly under the counter when not in use.

I think Crate and Barrel and GrandinRoad use the same leather manufacturer...my C&B leather coasters are a perfect match to the leather stools.

I just can't stop with one color. I spent months looking at the stools, and finally - like some others I read in reviews - ordered one of each. I'm very happy with them. I considered all brown or all tan stools at the counter, but it was just too boring of a choice for me.

As my 18 year old son says, YOLO.

Hi Donaleen,

I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't know about granite mining being destructive to the environment, but I do know it is beautiful, and if someone hadn't cut into it we wouldn't know and enjoy the beauty that exists there.

I think the destructiveness hit home when Karin said something about it. Suddenly that video of the granite quarry we saw at the granite warehouse hit home. Quarrying granite is a kind of open pit mining.

I think my granite is beautiful and very functional but, somewhere in Brazil there is an ugly scar on a hill with my name on it.

Yup, I agree with you Donaleen which is why I can only stomach the idea of using remnants instead of virgin slabs for our own projects.

Quarrying for decorative rocks does not have the lingering toxicity or ugly tailings of mining, but it does leave a big hole in the ground or a slice off a mountainside. That said, I don't judge others for opting for natural stone, even if I personally wouldn't take that route.

I'd much rather dig a hole in the ground for rocks then chop down a bunch of endangered trees, or drill an oil well through a reef... These rocks give an alternate form of economy to many small countries that would otherwise resort to worse ways to ruin their natural resources.

But I digress. My recommendation on choosing granite is to go with your gut. There should be an emotional element to your choice. You should fall for the counter you choose, either because of its beauty, simplicity, functional possibilites etc. That being said, don't settle whatever you do. You are spending a lot on this piece of rock which isn't easy to get into your house, and you should assume will stay there forever. Like your bed, you will interact with this rock every single day, so make it a good one. Look at every showroom in town, walk down every aisle. Bookmark every close contender online. What I like about granite, is its a chance to show your personality. Its sort of like choosing a breed of dog, it says a lot about you.
Granite: Orion
Dog: Pembroke Welsh Corgi

I have been living with my granite choice for 18 months now and I have not regretted it for one minute. I love granite with lots of movement in it so I was surprised when what spoke to me for my kitchen remodel was a common, ordinary,stock granite called Verde Peacock (similar to Uba Tuba). I love the blue green color in it. Too me it is a lot of depth and richness too it. It is hard to photograph but here is a pretty good representation of it.

I'd much rather dig a hole in the ground for rocks then chop down a bunch of endangered trees, or drill an oil well through a reef...

OK, OK, like I said I am not here to judge others for their choices, but really? I'm not sure that any countertops I know of are actually made from endangered trees or oil that comes from beneath coral reefs. If you'd like to justify your decisions, you'd make a stronger case if you did so in a way that is... you know... true.

I'm not trying to be mean, nor to dissuade anyone from using natural stone, but I am hoping to encourage the exchange of factual information about the use of rocks in the kitchen. That's pretty much my MO here on the forum (aside from enjoying pics of everyone's lovely kitchens, countertops, and backsplash choices).

Your slab is really pretty. The linear blue minerals are kyanite, which is reasonably rare. It's a mineral that is associated with metamorphic rocks, which yours is. Very nice!

@mominatior - no apology necessary. I'm happy to share my thread with you. My first choice was Splendor Gold, but it looked quite a bit different from yours.

I love Will2kz's take on granite choices. But I am still debating mine. I think I may have two different kitchens competing in my head that I am trying to mesh. I love the granite I selected, but it may work better in a bath where it can take center stage and compete with nothing. I am returning to the stone place to take a 3rd look. If it strikes me as "busy" with too much going on, despite it's beauty, I'm exchanging it. I need a uniform piece that reads as one color. I have already determined that the sink will be the focal point and am investing in a fine farmhouse sink and a bold faucet - the jewel of the kitchen. I don't want my counters shouting, "look at me!" to every guest that walks into my home, like a neglected sibling not content to play second fiddle.

Good luck mom, with your choice. I think you might be in the same boat as me, but what do I know. I hope you will post pictures as will I, so others can benefit from our wisdom or learn from our mistakes. Happy planning! :-)

Hi Sparkier, thanks for that! Wow, interesting that you saw and liked the Splendor Gold!

I made a trip back to the store for another look yesterday - for me it's a 5 hour round trip, but I just had to see what was 'new', and see my slabs, and get more input. It was good to see the whole slabs in person again, instead of the little chunk I've been toting around. My slabs have a lot of creamy, ivory in them, mixed with the warm browns, which is better for what I am doing. The consensus at the store was my that granite is actually more neutral than many others, and that it should be fine with what I am doing.

There are MANY BEAUTIFUL granites out there! I wish I had several houses or applications in which to use ALL of the ones I loved! Wow, I saw a navy blue slab that was STUNNING. I would love to use that somewhere! Next house, maybe??

I think I scared everyone off with my color confessions. It's actually not as bad as I made it sound. The colored stools have no backs and will slide discreetly under the counter, and with the dark brown wood looks nice near the granite.

I've been looking at lights for about 6 weeks, focusing on ivory pendants, but can't find them in the shape I want (lots of white), then stumbled across the cute, colored ones, but I've nixed those. Maybe I can find another room to use them in, they're awful cute.

Pictures, yes, I'll be wondering what you end up choosing. Hopefully we'll be done or close to done first week of June. Whenever we are done, I will post pictures!

Good luck to you, too!