We have leathered Silgranite in Yellow Nile color for our periphery medium cherry cabinets. This is a photo of our cleanup sink, followed by a closeup of the counter.

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Ours is Zodiaq Papyrus. It isn't a startk white, but the ewuivalent of oneor two shades down the color chip. I'd describe it as a putty, without getting brown. Our house is modern, but organic. So the starker whites wouldn't work. This worked great.

I tried just now to take some new photos against a paper towel so you could compare the color, but my camera batteries appear to have died. Here are some older photos (ignore the earrings!):

Here is a link that might be useful: Zodiaq Papyrus

We just put in Ceasarstone quartz called reflections...the sparkle you see is the recycled material.

Sorry, forgot to mention we have maple cabinets stained a very dark burgundy and maple hardwood floors that are toffee colored.

we have madre perola quartzite - white, grey and taupe

The island top is honed calacatta gold marble.
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**Laurainlincoln, have you posted your finished kitchen yet? I'm dying to see the rest! It's GORGEOUS!

I'm the Formica queen. I have lots of things on my to do list. Keeping house isn't one of them. Formica is easy and forgiving and I will never have anything else.

Thank you so much for posting your photos...they are all so wonderful. Love the fact that there are so many options and variations...and yet that is exactly what is making this decision so difficult:( I know, what a good problem to have, right?

KA - beautiful granite. Will have to go check out some more slabs to see what I can find.

doonie - I assume you mean "Silestone" in Yellow Nile? Looks perfect in your kitchen but it may be a wee bit too yellow to go with our other items. I will check sample in showroom.

jakabedy - Have not really seen Zodiaq in stores near me. I will have to hunt it down and check out that great looking papyrus.

sammiecanada - love the sparkles! Kids love it even more:)If you have a long run of it, are the sparkles overpowering or subtle enough to just enjoy?

laurainlincoln - ahhh quartzite! I have had a hard time finding true quartzite slabs lately but think a place about 45 minutes away may have just gotten some in...will follow up.

rookie 2010 - Absolutely love the calacatta gold marble!! Just not sure I can bite the bullet on it with small kids, husband who works from home, etc. Too concerned I would always be too concerned, you know what I mean?

pinch me - had not even looked into Formica...one more option to look at, oh my!

Keep the posts coming please! Very helpful!

I don't have finished countertops but I do have pics of my Imperial White granite slabs...at the yard.

Would you like to see them?

Pepper

laurainlincoln -

is your counter top polished or honed? Beautiful!!!

hi shermp - so nice, thanks! It is polished and I totally love it. It has been super easy to take care of and no issues at all yet. I like that it has taupe and grey (and white) as we have a small attached family room that is now browns/creams but I could see it going grey in the next few years -- I wanted a counter that could roll with my constantly changing "color-love" :-)

Hi
Ours are called "White Pearl" and are quartzite.

The backsplash isn't in yet, but it will be white carrara marble.

Another member of the white laminate family.

I want to change these out, but after thinking about it a LOT I think we are going to change out the appliances first. However, if you were to ask me about this tomorrow, I will probably change my mind and want to change the countertops first.

Our laminate is Nevamar White Phantasy. It's hard to tell from the photos and their web site, but it's white with a very, very light blue/grey pattern.

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Ours is honed and textured Colonial Gold granite.

I spent a few hours at that slab yard the other day. Nothing grabbed me...I was hoping to fall in love with something, but nope, not that easy I guess:(

Will I know it when I see it or is my assumption wrong?

What are you thinking about for the backsplash? Maybe the tile needs to drive the decision. I am not a person who gets excited about countertops actually. My first counter was Icestone (it got pulled for a variety of reasons). I was excited about it, but even so, I wished I'd made a decision about tile first. Tile is what makes my heart skip a beat!

So, if you're not getting excited, maybe you need to change your attention to the backsplash, fall in love and then just find the counter that works with the tile. Forgive me if you've already discussed your thoughts on tile and this is all irrelevant! :-)

YES, you will know it when you see it. We searched for months, finally deciding to settle on the "best" of what we had found. On the way to purchase we felt we had to look just one more time at a couple yards we'd been to a dozen times. Walked in and the angels sang - they had just received a shipment - we were in love. Bought it right then and there and never looked back. We hope it is installed by the end of the month!

We knew it when we saw it also. We actually started with the tile because we were much more interested in the backsplash, but when we saw our slab, that was it - nothing else would do, so we had to change our whole backsplash concept (from dark slate to white marble).

Find one thing you love - either the backsplash or countertop material and just build around it.

amysrq - what happened with the icestone? That is one of the materials I am considering...what should I know??

Guess I just need to keep going and I will find "it"...just keep looking, just keep looking, just keep looking:)

Pinch_me: I thought I was the only person left in the world who loves formica! That stuff is just plain great.

That said, I will likely put in stone because I don't think I can pass up the opportunity to gaze daily on an assemblage of fossils. Anyone ever used "Belgium Truffles"?

BTW, those 'geological terms' for stones are decidedly *not*. It is ultra-confusing for a geologist to be looking at, say, a quartzite and be told it's a marble. Those terms are, best I can tell, essentially hardness-labels that bear a loose resemblance to the geological nomenclature, but not always. I gave up trying to predict and just decided they were unrelated names that ranked predicted maintenance. Weird. But I have to say, strolling through giant slab warehouses with dh was one of the very best days I have ever spent in my life. Also, while we're on the subject -- there are some slabs being sold out there that I would never let into my house without first passing them by a geiger counter. Speaking of weird ... why is there no regulation of this? Especially if you have a super-insulated home, I would be wary of this.

Aliris19, I have been concerned about this issue. Can you give us more information about what slabs you think might be hazardous?

I'm just loving looking at all your beautiful light stones!

Contempo
Did you find anything yet?

If not here are a few more ideas... Hope they help you.
~boxer

White Quartz by Iconstonetile

Specchio Quartz

Giallo Granite by Dimensional stone

Brazilian arabescato

Aurora Snow quartz

White River granite

Bianco Romano
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White Quartz

Marble look alike

I know this is probably not what you were thinking about, but your situation reminds me so much of mine. I tried and tried to find the right material before ending up w/ stainless - and stainless was the LAST thing I would ever have considered! But after heavy research, I went with it because it sort of becomes a non-color and can be very light if it gets light. And because with a heavy gauge (won't dent) and lots of scratches resulting in a nice, polishable patina, It just reflects whatever light is around it. Mine will soon have under-cab lighting helping with the light, too. The flange you see in the back will be hidden by marble subway tile. I used a farm sink and gooseneck faucet to downplay its typical modern appearance and by the time the pendant light above the sink is in and all the hardware's in place and the upper cabs are also painted, etc., I think the fact that it's a metal will just sort of disappear. Just putting it out there, stretching the boundaries of imagination. ;) I realize it's a big no-no for most people, for several reasons - but man is it durable - and kinda different!

Here's one with some of the hardware in...getting closer. You can see how artificial light overhead gives an orange glow in some places. That countertop however, in the second picture, is a different countertop. It's nice enough, but they'd made an overhang mistake on the first counter (a big mistake) and had to make a second one. The second countertop's surface isn't as shiny (though most wouldn't notice) so it's a slightly darker countertop. Barely though! I think it would be great with dark cabinets, too. Most people think of it as cold but honestly, it isn't, with the right surroundings.

UPDATE - I wound up having a few extra weeks to decide on a counter material since the window we ordered took longer than expected to get here. Our counter goes right into the window so we can't template until the new window is installed (which will be on Monday!!)

I looked and I looked and I looked some more. Thank you to everyone for all of your great photos and suggestions. Some of the fabulous materials you suggested were absolutely beautiful, but none seemed just right with the cocoa-stained mahogany cabs we have. Many of them had more greyish-white tones to them than I was wanting with our cabs.

So, I think we have selected the winner...but it is BRAND NEW and not much out there about it yet. We like it enough that we are probably willing to be the "guinea pigs" (although hopefully not to many issues!).

Let me know what you think: Glass2 in Ash White

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass 2 Website

Contemporganic: good to hear you have finally reached a decision-it's hard isn't it! Will be waiting to see the photos of when it is installed. I don't think I have ever seen what you are putting in-good for you to be "guinea pigs"!!

I never did get back to you on our "sparkly" countertops (quartz ceasarstone reflections) On the long counter it is not over-powering at all, very subtle...I love it as when the light shines it just sparkles like tiny stars! The colors are more greyish than white which is fine for us too.

Keep us informed of when you get your counters in with photos and how you love it...I'm sure you will love it!

That will be a beautiful counter! I've never heard of Glass2; can't wait to see your counters and find out how you like it. It's sooo pretty!

Boy, that new top is beautiful stuff and a great concept! How does it compare price-wise with other materials?

Really beautiful choice. Can it be back-lit and are you planning to do that?

Wishing you the best of luck....from one guinea pig to another. ;-)

Very beautiful stuff.

Wow, that's gorgeous, and I love that it's recycled! Please keep us posted on your experience with this material, and good luck!

My current counter choice is Caesarstone blizzard but I'm a couple of hours away from the CT location of Glass2 and I may just have to take a trip to see the Ash White myself..

I did a remodel on my small walnut kitchen, it was done with White River Granite countertops and Walker Zanger Mini Brick Cashew Glass Tiles for the backsplash. Now the best part of all this is I bartered a deal with a small cabinets shop in Miami, I gave the guy a used 1997 BMW Convertible and he gave me a new kitchen (only in America) not including the countertops backsplash and appliances

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/ash4889/Kitchen/IMG_2520.jpg
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/ash4889/Kitchen/IMG_2519.jpg
http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/ash4889/Kitchen/IMG_2521.jpg http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp164/ash4889/Kitchen/IMG_2523.jpg

Slight hijack: Theresse, I love your kitchen! You're right; stainless can seem warm when you 'dress' it like that. :) Can't wait to see it all finished!

Here are the pictures

I was very confused as well between all he different white options but what I learned is that Quartz is a man made product and honestly it looks to me like Corian. Quartzite is a natural made real stone and very different because its apparently a kind of more durable marble and its so beautiful it looks like sparkly crushed glass. Yes quartz is sparkly but again quartz is not in any way quartzite but people use the two names interchangeably when they are as different as night and day. Quartz its not nearly as desirable or expensive or rare or unique.Quartz is ore durable and has no maintenance at all so thats good but for me i wouldn't put something inn that looks like fake stone. I ended up getting Carerra marble because I wanted something very classic however I am being careful by having it sealed regularly and not putting things down without a coaster and always trying to protect it. Its worth it to me. Also look at Calcutta marble in my opinion its so gorgeous but my husband was afraid id get tired of it like I'm tired of my ugly green granite I put in 8 years ago and now am changing in my kitchen, Don't get quartz get quartzite or marble it will make your counters beautiful and chic and trendy and perfect. Good Luck!!!!!