The next one is called Verde Marina

The third one is kinda of the opposite of the first two; very dark with white swirly veins. It's called Blue Fantasy or Amadeus. It's much more dark blue than it looks in the pictures and very striking. I love it, but I'm a little worried that it would overwhelm the kitchen. Help!

I absolutely love all three! I share similar loves of white-based granites with lots of movement in black or gray. From the materials in the picture, my favorite is #1. That said, I do like #2 and #3. Whether #3 would overwhelm the space would, to me at least, depend on the other elements in the room. What will your floors be?

Number three is too busy for me. One and two are nice - but make sure to choose exactly where each piece will be cut - when you have movement like that in granite, you want to plan the cut pieces that you will use in each section of the kitchen. Work with the fabricator to make sure they do it exactly like you plan.

Number 2 is amazing!!

I like Number 1 & 2 also. It depends how much swirl you are looking for, but I think I like #2 best.

pricklypear, my floors are white oak (throughout the whole first floor of the house). They are light colored with an orangey cast.

I wish more people had counters like these so I could see how they would look with white cabinets. One the one hand, I don't want to do yet another OTK, but on the other hand, I don't trust myself to visualize what this will look like in the context of the whole kitchen.

Number 2 is awesome!

I like number 3 as long it's on the perimeter and your counter runs are at least average length[not short/chopped up runs].

I like all 3 slabs, but I think #2 looks best with your 2 cabinet colors.

soibean - Try more stone vendors.

The slab appearance will vary considerably from place to place in the quarry.

Anyone know of good granite places in the Boston/Eastern Mass area? These were from Granite and Marble in Westwood.

I think Piracema looks a lot like what my local yard calls "white Nepal". They get a lot of that stone in and I was stalking their yard for remnants for our bathroom vanities. I noticed some groups of slabs had more blotches and others had more long, wavy veins in them. I got one of the "veiniest" remnants they had because I likes the way it looked like flowing water.

All that said, I would look at other yards to get more veining and flowing action in the granite ... But that's because that's what I really like :). Option 2 is my fav of the 3 you posted, I'd be worried that number 3 would be too dark (even with white cabinets) because my kitchen doesn't have a lot of windows.

I like #2 with your cabinet colors. The movement is more "swirly" than the others, but that is what I like. That said, I'd continue looking at other yards until you're certain, since you had another stone in mind initially (just to be sure).

I think you should keep looking. I think there is something out there that would look nicer with your color of white cabinets. Good luck!

i like 2 and 3...again, it depends on what look you are going for. 2 is calm and serene, very pretty and 3 is dramatic and makes a statement.

what do you what your granite to "say". is it the "star" or will other elements be the star???
do you have any idea what you are doing for a backsplash??
how much light do you get in your kitchen??
just some things to think about...

i agree with another poster, both 2 and 3 will look best on long runs and not chopped up.

good luck!!

sprtphntc, I think you hit the nail on the head. I am drawn to very dramatic granites, but I generally like them better as "art" rather than as countertops. Somehow, as countertops, they can end up being a distraction. When I look at pictures of finished kitchens, the ones I like are the ones with granite that is more in harmony with the cabinets, and more serene. If I get a very bold granite, that will also really limit my backsplash choices.

I get a lot of natural light in my kitchen, so that shouldn't be an issue. And if I'm being honest with myself, I would rather that the cabinets and the backsplash draw attention, and the granite complement them.

Number 1, the Piracema, is really the look I have wanted all along. I just wish it were a little whiter. I do have large spaces for the granite - my island is 4.5'x7' and I have an "L"-shaped perimeter that is 9.5'x12.5'.

2, two, II

one and two are going to stand out a lot more. turn one's computer screen as horizontal as you can...number 3 has the greatest ability to mute/recede. one and two are way more attention pulling. Id keep looking around if i were you.

#2 is the prettiest, but with verde in the name I'm afraid it may read green and I'm not sure green is where you wanted to go.

Have you seen white spring? It has a hint of red in it which would look great with your cherry cabinet, yet it's light with a fair amount of white in it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Akdo white spring

Hi Soibean (cute name),
I just emerged from my 6 month search for the perfect stone in the Boston area - I feel your pain! I lke stones 1 and 2.

Below are the web sites of Boston area distributors:
1)Elemar, Plymouth & Lowell, MA (Lowell warehouse much larger)
elemarnorth.com
2)MS International, Norwood, MA (on the other end of University Ave from Marble & Granite)
msistone.com/location/boston.html
3) Premier Stone, Walpole, MA (small warehouse)
nepremier.com
4) Century Stone, Inc, Braintree, MA (I'm told they are more expensive but I don't know this from personal experience)
centurystoneinc.com
5) Boston Granite Exchange, W. Bridgewater & Haverhill, MA (the warehouse in haverhill is MUCH larger)
bostongraniteexchange.com
6) CBS Stones, Winchester, MA
cbsstones.com/vsit_our_warehouse.html
7) Greater Boston Granite, Lowell & Tewsbury, MA
greaterbostongranite.com
We purchased our slabs from Greter Boston Granite. We did not visit their tewksbury warehouse so I'm not sure which is larger. The stone they display on their web site labelled "Piracema White" is our stone. I think they have 1 left like it. I also posted a photo of another Piracema White they had in their warehouse ~1 month ago (may still be there).
Best of luck!!

Oh hey, if you are in eastern MA you might want to look at SelectStone in Billerica. That's the yard that I said sells a granite they call White Nepal that looks a lot like the Piracema. They have a LOT of this stuff, the woman who helped me get my bathroom vanity tops said they own a quarry that produces it, which is why they have so much of it. It's mined in Brazil (everyone there is Brazilian).

It's a smallish looking place and if you wanted something amazingly rare I wouldn't suggest them, but last time I was there they had at least 5 blocks of slabs of that (some leathered, some polished, some honed).

Until mjocean mentioned the Boston area it didn't occur to me to list their name b/c I just figured odds were that you lived at least 1000 miles away :)

Annie - thanks for the tip on White Spring. I haven't seen it before. That slab you linked to is gorgeous and looks perfect.

mjocean and EngineerChic - thanks for the tips. I definitely will check out those places.

akdo white spring looks good-less of that milky way candy bar look of one and two above. Very organic with some interesting streaks and patterns-that's nice-hope you can see that one in person.

I love white spring and white Alaska. I am linking you to a site where they brag that they have the largest selection of white stone. Of course it is not in your area but it shows all the different kinds of whites that are out there so you could see what they look like. I am sure there are many more as well! Good luck! (the white stone slabs scroll by on the site and hopefully they will keep them up for awhile).

Here is a link that might be useful: white stone

So I've scoured the Boston area for more options. Thanks for all of the links, they were extremely helpful. Saw the following granite, wondering what other think. I think it could work well.

Here it is in my mood board

Beautiful!

my initial reaction was not say it's too cool with the cherry, but after seeing your mood board, I say that I sort of like it (as long as it doesn't read blue at all??)

It definitely does read blue in some spots(at least in the warehouse light). Would that be a deal breaker with the cherry? The cherry will only be in the island (base cabinets), no uppers.

You know, I guess it's all about how it reads to you, in your mood board pics it looks good, you have lots of other "coolish" tones to balance it out. To me-a bordeaux (crema or typhoon) or something with copper mica would be a bit warmer with the cherry.

Its a bit of a personal opinion for me, I am not a blue fan, nor am I a "cool" tones fan. I am more of a warm tones girl offset with some cool.

Soibean-

This is a pic of my kitchen back when it was completed in March. as you can see mostly warm!!

I love your inspiration pics! Where did you find those drop-dead gorgeous lights? And the backsplash? You have great taste, indeed!

Thanks, berardmr. The light on the left is my favorite, and one of my splurges for the kitchen (it will hang from a vaulted ceiling over the eating area). It is the LZF Link Suspension light and it comes in a few sizes and colors. The glass pendant is WAC lighting Clarity mini pendant.

The middle row of tiles is from Porcelanosa. The bottom right is New Ravenna Oasis (starts at something like $200+/sq ft!). I forget what the one on the left is - I think it's made of same weird material like gypsum. If I could afford it, I'd get Heath dimensional tiles, but they're $77/sq ft...