Hi practigal! I just saw your post. I will take some photos and post them tomorrow. The kitchen isn't finished, but the counters are in. So you'll have to use your imagination for the full "picture".

The maintenance is a dream so far. (Only had it two weeks) It's a million times better than the granite I had at my last house. I'm just wiping it with a damp sponge and drying it, sometimes not even drying it, and it looks perfect! I can take things directly out of the oven and set it on the counters like I could with my granite. But I've only done that once, I'm still "babying" it!

My granite (it was Uba Tuba) required granite cleaner spray, lots of wiping and leaning down to make sure I got all the streaks out. It bugged me to no end because it showed fingerprints and smudges like crazy. My Silestone, nothing! I just love the suede finish.

Warning, I'm not a good photographer! All I have is the camera on my phone right now. We sold our other house and put everything but a bed and a little love seat and a few dishes/pots pans, in storage while we do this complete, top to bottom, remodel. (On a budget so don't expect a gourmet kitchen!) :)

I feel like pointing out all the things yet to be done!

False drawer front under cook top, above two drawers, is on order. Backsplash and under cabinet lighting. Trim finished around microwave. Flooring, obviously! The light above the refrigerator will be moved so it is centered in cabinet. Oops! No one caught that. There will be lighting and glass shelves in the glass front cabinet. They sent us the solid shelving by mistake.

The island butcher block is just for now. I wasn't sure how I would like butcher block, so we bought the inexpensive large slab from Ikea and I stained it (not finished with that) darker. I now see I love the butcher block, so in a year or two, we will update it with a really nice one.

The lamp and accessories on the counters are all temporary, stuff we kept handy from other house or stuff friends have loaned us. The beam will be stained as well, but maybe a clear or a grayer finish. I'm waiting to get more things in to decide. (like flooring) Pendant lights haven't been chosen although I'm leaning toward some.

This is not my dream kitchen, or house. But it was so horrid before, I'm thrilled! I just need to get everything in place so I can really fall in love with it.

One thing I do love, is my Silestone Pulsar counters. The suede finish is wonderful. I abused the samples we had for a few weeks to see if there were any staining issues or cleaning issues. None that I found. I mean, I didn't leave red wine sitting on it for an hour, but I did put some drops on it and left it ten minutes.

Before:

Thank you Trufaholo! The changes are beautiful. The counters are wonderful to look at, and the added benefit of low maintenance... I have just started researching countertops...I really like your color selection, in these photos it looks beachy calm to me, and I really appreciate the hundreds of decisions that went into getting from the beginning to the end of the kitchen project (well almost the end, they never really do end do they?) Thank you for sharing.

Practigal, thank you for being kind. Sometimes people reply and only critique (criticize) the photos, telling the poster what they "should" have done, or what they don't like about their selections, and it is too late! This is the first time I have shared photos of my kitchen! I know my choices aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I appreciate your recognition of all the brain power I had to use to make all the decisions. And I'm Peri-menopausal, I don't have that much brain power as it is! :)

I am so happy that you noticed the beachy calm theme! I am posting one of my inspiration color palettes! You have a great eye, because I don't think I've nailed it completely yet, but I'm trying. I kept thinking I wanted "Transitional Hampton's Beach House" (on a Galveston Island budget) not too modern, not too traditional, a nice mix of both.

I love the Silestone Pulsar Quartz Countertops up close and far away! Trufaholo, I also love your cabinets and where you have he recessed lights placed to wall wash the cabinets with light. Which cabinets did you use? Which recessed light bulbs did you use and how far are they away from the cabinet doors? I need this effect in my home office and the recessed lights placed are too far from the wall right now so I may need to add a few more lights closer to the wall so I do not feel like I am sitting in a cave.

How tall are your cabinet doors as they look perfect in your kitchen? How tall is your ceiling? I also love your kitchen faucet! Please more details!

What under cabinet lighting did you use? Any pictures inside the corner cabinets as I love what you did with your renovated amazing calm pretty kitchen.

Thank you for sharing.

Hi lynn2006,

Thank you so much for your compliments. I really appreciate them.

8 Foot Ceilings
42 inch Upper Cabinets
Martha Stewart Cabinets: PureStyle/Maidstone
Color: Ocean Floor
Lights in ceiling are 4" Utilitech Pro or Sylvania 50 Watt Equivalent LED 2700K (We bought both brands at Lowe's and I can't remember which is in the kitchen!)
Faucet: Pfister Pasadena Single Handle Pull Down Sprayer with Soap Dispenser. Color is Slate (I LOVE this faucet!)

I haven't done under cabinet lighting yet, it's been wired but I haven't made the selection on that or the backsplash yet. It will be LED strip lighting, dimmable, warm white. That's all I know for sure! The vent hood and the microwave have lights so that might be what you see on. You can see the microwave light is cooler than the vent hood. I like the more golden glow than the cool blue.

The ceiling lights are, I believe, 26 inches from the wall. I will get my husband to remeasure when he gets home. We spent a lot of time deciding that, as I had read you didn't want shadows of your head on the counter if the light was too far away. But I remember the electrician suggested something that he usually does in the high end homes he typically works on (he works for a high end home builder) and I think we went with his suggestion, so until my husband measures, I can't be sure about that.

I didn't really want a lot of lights in the ceiling. I'll have the pendants over the island, the under cabinet for task and I'm more of a mood lighting person than I am for function! All my lights are on dimmers! Except closets and laundry room. I NEVER turned on my ceiling light (awful huge fluorescent box thing) in my last house. I just used the under cabinet and then the light over the sink and over the cook top if I needed more light. I do like these more than that big fluorescent fixture in the other house, so when they move the light over the fridge to center it in the cabinet, I'm going to add another over that cabinet where the coffee pot and tea kettle is. I didn't want the ceiling to look too busy.

I'll take a photo inside the corner cabinet this evening and post it. I'm still trying to organize it. I've bought some turntables and things that are helping. My pantry is going to be one half of my utility room (other half laundry area) but that's not in yet, well, one pantry cabinet is in there but I've decided to just put shelving on the entire side. We will remove that pantry cabinet and my husband will get a pretty cabinet for his garage I guess! So until we get the shelving up, and my stuff out of storage, I have things spread out in the kitchen.

Here are the photos of the inside upper corner and the lower corner.

The lights along the wall the refrigerator is on, are 27 inches out from the wall, to the edge of the light.

The lights along the wall of the cook top are 39 inches out from the wall to the edge of the rim of the light. I know lighting guidelines typically recommend to put them closer, but we stood there, with me at the counter and my husband holding up a large flashlight (while the electrician was waiting) and I couldn't see much difference as far as a shadow on the counter goes. I do see my shadow but once my under cabinet lights are in, they will sufficiently light the work area. They are called task lighting after all! I like the way the light falls on the upper cabinets and I have more than enough lighting, even without the under cabinet lights.

Trufaholo
This is one beautiful kitchen.
I was searching for "suede silestone" and found this post. I am also concerned about the maintenance of the counter tops.
It's helping me make a decision to select the suede Silestone in a grey shade.
I have looked at Neolith products which offer a matte finish but there is over $2,000 difference in cost between Neolith and suede silestone, so it makes the decision easier. Thank you for your help and the photos.

I saw a slab of suede pulsar today and I liked it much more than polished pulsar. Trying to find store in nj or ny that has it on display. I'm never sure unless I see it on counter. Are you still happy with yours

Trufaholo here. (I want both my screen names...the one from Garden Web and the one from Houzz darn it!)

I so very, very, very happy with my suede pulsar silestone! I love it so much. It is my favorite counter material I have ever had (tile, granite, formica prior to this)

More recent pics with floor and the plastic grocery bags hanging above
island are to give me an idea if I can go with three or need to only
have two fixtures. lol Still can't decide on backsplash. Quarter round
isn't in yet and under cabinet lighting and light in glass front
cabinets not selected.And more...lol This has been a very long remodel.

Ceiling lighting got repositioned and more added when we were replacing
subfloor in room above and adding soundproofing. Still need to paint
that. End of island butcher block isn't stained properly. This is a
temporary island top until I can afford the butcher block that I want.

Looks beautiful!

Thank you :)

It's hard to see the actual pattern on the latest pics. Is it possible to post some pics looking down on counter. I am still so confused as to what to get. My cabinets are a strange off white, w/a bit olive and yellow tint to it so I think its clashing with silestone lagoon suede's greyish tone and I am thinking that the white/mustard in pulsar will be a better fit.

Truuubluuu:

I love your kitchen - so beautiful. I know you mentioned in your earlier post that the little lamps on the counters are temporary, but I think they look charming :)

This post isn't too old so I'll post a question. ;) Truuubluuu your kitchen is beautiful. I love the casual but sophisticated which is a look I'm going for in the small farm house we're building. Could you tell me what flooring you used?

Hi Iowacommute, thank you for the compliment. The flooring is laminate. From Home Depot. If you are interested in a laminate, I'll go look up the name. I do remember it's 12mm thick. And we've had it down over a year now, and it's indestructible as far a scratches go. It has fooled several professional contractors who didn't know it was a laminate. And when we bought it, it was $1.88 a sq foot!!!!

Hey, my husband got the name for you. Distressed Brown Hickory. Here is the name copied from Home Depot's website.

Home Decorators Collection

Model # 34074SQ

Internet # 204068076

Store SKU # 1000005338

Distressed Brown Hickory 12 mm x 6.26 in. x 50.78 in. Laminate Flooring (15.45 sq. ft. / case)

Truuubluuu, did I read right that your cabinets are "ocean floor"? What type of paint? Martha Stewart?

Loving your kitchen too! I chose a laminate that has a lot of the same coloring and veining as yours, so I think this color would look nice on my cabinets too!

Yes, Martha Stewart, Ocean Floor. :)

Thank you so much Truuubluuu! Man laminate floors have really come a long way.

I know you've spoken to this- before, but do you still like the countertops (speaking in terms of maintenance)? Everything I read says the honed quartz's take more maintenance and quite a few people have written that they don't like them because it's hard to clean. But I really really want honed...and I really don't want to clean every single hour. In our current house we have some sort of polished quartz(don't know which brand b/c we didn't put it in), and I feel like I'm constantly wiping it up to make it shiny, get smudges and stuff out. Could it really be harder than that? I'm going to order a sample and play around but I wanted to get your opinion since you've had it for a while now. Thank you!

Hi sus182,

Yes, I am still in love with it. I can't speak to all manufacturers honed quartz, but the Silestone Suede finish I have is a dream. I had polished granite before, Uba Tuba, and I felt the same as you. I was always trying to wipe streaks and fingerprints and smudges.

Plus, I have under cabinet lighting and with the polished granite, you could see the reflection of the lights and now that I have led under cabinet, they are more...dotted..if you know what I mean. With the suede finish, you just see the lovely glow, not the actual reflection of the light itself.

They are a BREEZE to clean. I can't emphasize this enough. I don't understand any comments to the contrary! All I can think is they have a different manufacturer or supplier than I did.

Sadly, my husband has been transferred to another state, and we are going to have to sell our home. We are having contractors come in to finish the remaining (yes, still work remaining after 2.5 years!) work and we plan to list it in the next few weeks. :(

I can say, without a doubt, my next home will have the suede finish counters!

Good luck!

trying to find suede pulsar for my project can you refer me to your supplier or website? Love your project. Im in Oregon

Hi Kate.

That's so funny you are in Oregon. My house that I shared the pics of and with the Silestone Suede finish counters, was in Houston, Tx but now, we live in Oregon.

I got mine through Home Depot, they got it from a company that manufactures it, called Cosentino. They do have a location in Portland (Tualatin) if that helps. Not sure where in Oregon you are.

Cosentino Center Portland is what you will search for.

We close on a house in two weeks, and it's new construction so it came with granite, but as soon as I can justify the cost, I am removing it and replacing with the suede finish Silestone Quartz again. I loved it the short time I had it and the new owner of my home in Houston, loves it. (We've kept in touch a little!)

Best wishes!

Here are a couple of pics from the listing when we sold it.

I love everything about the way it turned out and I am so glad I followed your link to this post! I will be looking into that exact flooring now. It's exactly the color I want! Thanks

I know I am a little late to this conversation, but I'm considering Pulsar for my guest bathroom and have a question about the vein coloring. I couldn't find a sample locally, but online it looks like the vein colors are grey and dark gold, which would work perfectly for me. Or is it more gray and rust/orange? Hoping someone from upthread can answer. Thanks! :)

Yes, gray and dark gold/Dijon mustard. Not rust/orange. Maybe you can find someone who will mail a sample!

Truuubluuu, thank you for popping in to respond. This helps immensely. I plan to order samples from Silestone. I was reluctant to do so blindly learning my lesson a few years ago when I went on a sample ordering spree and none of them worked for me.

Dijon mustard veining describes it well. I am loving my pulsar countertop. Just getting into the kitchen so haven't done a dinner party or anything. My appliances are set off well with the pulsar. Truuubluuu was a great encouragement to me.

Having the pulsar installed next week in our master bath, laundry room and guest baths - very excited!

How would Pulsar look with white cabinets? Or would it go better with maple cabinets? I'm in the early stages of picking out colors for my kitchen remodel.

I was looking at Pulsar, Kember Mist and Iron Bark from Silestone. Indirect light but will be having LED lighting under cabinets.

If anyone has any pictures or seen them posted with white cabinets with Pulsar, Kembler Mist or Iron Bark, would love to see them.

My cabinets are white, the

pulsar in suede finish is excellent. I’ll send pics when I’m home.

My cabinets are white, the

pulsar in suede finish is excellent. I’ll send pics when I’m home.

I think the Pulsar would look great with white cabinets!! I can’t wait to see Kathy’s photos! We have been in our new home almost a year now, and haven’t tackled the kitchen update yet, but I cannot wait to get my Silestone suede finish countertops back! Goodbye shiny granite!

Oops, I meant Kate. Auto correct! Sorry Kate!

Kate, were you able to take pics of your kitchen? Much appreciated. I meet with contractor tomorrow to go over color choices. Thanks!

Also interested in Kate’s pics :-)

How does the Silestone compare in price to Cambria? Found a Cambria color I love but was hit with sticker shock, so now looking for a lower cost quartz.

Let’s see some pulsar pics!! I have white cabinets (Benjamin Moore white dove) and a natural cedar island so thinking that pulsar will work well. I thought I liked the polished finish- I like the shiny look, when everything else is matte- the wall paint, cabinets (semi gloss I think) and wood island .... but everyone on this thread is raving about suede finish. Hmmm. I do have 3 little kids.... hmm.....

This is a new construction....

Of my remodel choices the suede pulsar is in the top three of the best

I just picked up samples of polished Pulsar and Lusso quartz from the Constantino supplier near me. They are both beautiful, but looked so much better in the showroom. It must be the lighting. I'm looking forward to seeing it in all kinds of lighting at various times of day.

I would love to receive some Pulsar photos. :)

That is my pulsar kitchen in suede. Several years now couldn’t be happier with my choice... and it’s not just grey.