another nougat photo:

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Nougat! It ties in beautifully with the marble and the white tile. That type of floor should the showpiece of the room IMO. What color are your sinks going to be? A white undermount sink with the Minera countertop would have a high contrast which I'm not a fan of in the bathroom.

The sink will be white undermount and rectangular. You are right, the sink will be high contrast and obvious with Minera, no contrast and will disappear with Nougat.

I think the Nougat is better. I just don't care for the Minera. It reminds me too much of asphalt.

If you are truly stuck between the 2, I'd try to see if you could find something a little darker than the Nougat... It could be in the gray or beige family, but not as dark as the Minera.

If you do go with the Nougat, I'd do a nice deep tone for the walls.

I vote Minera. Everywhere I do my sample people were so drawn to it and loved it. I did have a fear like the first commenter that I would get sick of it after a while but everyone loved it so much we had to go with it. I have only had mine since wed so i cant say whether i will infact be sick of it or not but when I walked through the door after it had been installed I was AMAZED. It looked stunning and even my husband was thrilled with how it came out. I also think the contrast with the white is nicer. I am not a fan of those plastic white ones which is why on my perimeter counters I went with a white quartzite.

Nougat.
I love the look of white on white (so clean and elegant) and you can accent it with chrome, pewter, gold etc. fixtures and or go with any type of contrasting using towels, cups/holders, soap dish/pump dispenser throw carpeting/rug etc.

I love more of a simple contrast not bold so it depends on how you view things or how you like to view things.
Do you like HUGE statements to be seen or subtle nudges/hints of contrast?

To be honest, I'm not crazy about either one with your marble, but if I had to pick one it would be the Nougat. The Minera cheapens the look of your other selections, IMO.

Fore sure the walls will be very light, probably a white. The room is 4 ft wide. Right now there is a pastel wallpaper on the wall and it feels claustrophobic. I don't want to imagine how I would feel with dark walls.

Thank you to everyone who has voted so far and I am still interested in your opinion if you have not voted. Definitely many things pointed out to me that I have not considered and I am digesting the info.

I considered the Minerva for our bath redo (starting after labor day) I loved it but felt it was too sparkly for our
taste. The Nougat was a bit dull. I ended up with Cambrian Castell. We are doing a white floor with veining from Dal Tile and wanted some contrast. Still of the 2 for your application I'd go with the Minerva. It really is spectacular! Good Luck!

I bet those chunks of blue in the Castell are pretty. The Nougat is a bit dull actually, but that can be a plus since I don't think I can get sick of looking at it. It's several years old, but nothing really compares with the current Cambria for depth.

I thought I had posted on this but I don't see it now! I vote for the nougat. I think it will stay classic and not get as dated as the other color will. I am sure both would be beautiful and I say go with your heart/first impression choice! I love the white on white on white kitchens!

The little bits of blue in the castell are not really chunky - I almost wish there were more! - I wish I had the nerve to use the Minerva. I just played it safe - I had DH to get past with the minerva - he is a bit conservative!- I loved it though - I may be sorry I didn't fight harder - Go for what you love!

I know you didn't ask this question but if you haven't done your plumbing yet, you might consider wall-mounted sink faucets. That can help you make the most of your 18" depth and alleviate the issue of being able to clean behind the faucets. I had a narrow countertop with my last bath and it was always a bit difficult to get to the back of the faucets to clean the countertop.

Thanks for the tips and for the votes. If you haven't voted, I'm still interested and still digesting the tips and comments.

I vote for the nougat for several reasons- 1. As others have said - I also a clean crisp look in the bathroom 2. It is neutral enough to change wall paint, etc. 3. It blends with the sink 4. It allows the floor to be the star. If the floor were not the star - I would opt for marble on the counter to let it be the star.

I like the darker one. I don't care for the white one much at all. Good luck!

That's very true about the paint.

I vote for Nougat too though the minerva slab is more striking. They way I think of it is long piece of dark countertop is going to emphasize the length of the room. If you go with Nougat, I would paint the room in the grey/brown chip color not white as it will be too monotonous. Good Luck!

I plan on the wall paint being a coordinating version of white.

I think the dark countertop might shrink the room, but I could be wrong about that.

i would definitely go with the minerva... i like contrast and think that the minerva would help complement the marble floor and actually help it stand out...
i personally don't think the nougat counter will help your floor appear more 'dramatic' and i also don't think that the white counter will really make your room feel much bigger---

I am not really a fan of eiither with the floors, but would choose nougat. Minera is to dark and I think nougat looks a little dated, just my opinion, sorry!

Have you looked at organic white? It might look great with the tile? Just a thought.

Good luck

is nougat more greyish in real over beigy? if so, I'd go with that.

Riverrocks, if you're going with the Naxo, please consider something like Caesarstone Lagos Blue for your counters or similar. The marble is the star of the bath. The tile is so elegant, and the speckled Nouget just says standard suburban bath to me and the Naxos says Italian design in a 3 mill penthouse. The other just fights with it. The speckled tile is a whole other look than the Naxos which is clean and sleek.

I would break up that long expanse of counter with a center storage pillar, a lower height makeup area with a stool under it, or another means.

desertsteph, Most people would say Nougat is white. Neutral white like white cabinet white. One designer pointed out there is slight creaminess. The chunks have a slight grey tinge.

Blondelle, Nougat reminds me of Sarah Richardson, since she used it in her houses (even with marble floor). The chunks do fight the marble, I agree. I did consider Caesarstone Lagos Blue, but googling it there were many complaints on the internet. My cabinet has arrived and it has a vanity area for a stool underneath.

The room seems small and the vanity seems small, even though it isn't. Kind of an optical illusion.

I saw an installation of a mostly deep gray veined calacatta and they had mixed it with strips of blue pearl granite. They looked beautiful together. Antique brown granite would look nice with the Naxos and pick up the warmer tones. Maybe a real counter would make the porcelain tile look more real too :-).

I saw a new countertop line by Silestone today, called Nebula. There's a color like Lagos blue and one is very much like white marble with very soft, diffuse areas of pale gray veining. I think it was the Cygnus. It doesn't look as dark in person and looks like the other white marble shown. The sample pieces I saw looked stunning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silestone Nebula

I would go w/the the darker top. I would not want everything light because you will depend on your accessories to balance out everything. The darker you can go either way w/the decorating!

Hmmm...it seems like a 50/50 split so far.

Not sure more voting will clear up the issue. :)

That said, if it was MY bath I'd go with Nougat.

But then I'm planning to redo a small hall bath and thinking white white white.

FWIW, I do NOT go for the all white kitchen look. Too big a room.
There I prefer contrasting counters. A tiny bath is different, IMO.

Does it have to be engineered? For my small piece planning to go to a granite yard and look through leftovers.
Anything mostly white with gray that catches my eye. :)

It does seem 50-50. I'm kind of surprised by that.

My cabinets:

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I vote for Minera. I think you need some contrast.

Another minera photo.

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It is hard to take a photo of Minera because you can see into the clear chunks so the camera won't focus. This is about as good a photo as I have seen. Minera isn't really grey, it's more of a taupe and slightly warm.

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Another photo of Minera.
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Another.

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I can't believe I haven't decided. I am going to look at the large samples in the showroom again.

I checked out large samples of both and I'm going to live with them for a couple of days.

In the actual lighting:

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I was just in to confirm my order for castell and checked out the 2 samples you are considering. I still love the minera but after seeing the nugat I'm thinking that with great accessories you will have a fabulous bath if you go that way.
Please let us know what you decide! I still have a small (3 X 3) sample of the minera here and although I've ordered the castell I'm second guessing myself - I understand your problem!

tikatoo, I actually don't understand what you mean by accessories. Either way the accessories will be the same.

I'm trying to think of a way to hide the Sonicare toothbrushes inside a cabinet or something to charge (so that there will be no clutter on the countertop).

There will probably be a white linen shade, white towels, white bathtub curtain, white mat draped on the white bathtub when not in use, white sink, white soap dispenser on countertop, white toilet.

The room is only 4 ft plus one or 2 inches wide. Tight. Claustrophobic.

The color will be provided by the marble. And possibly the countertop if I use Minera.

Trying to decide if a medium color countertop is too claustrophobic or actually a better choice.

Trying to decide if putting marble on the walls in addition to the floors would be too busy and too claustrophobic or actually a better choice.

"Safe" choices I think for such a narrow room are white countertop instead of medium; white paint on walls instead of marble.

Large samples.

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still much prefer the minera!!!

More Minera installed.

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I vote minera to provide contrast. Does this darker color pick up the darker veining in your marble? I think that would be very pretty. I also like the minera and the nougat together in your photo. I see that it is hard to photograph the minera. It also looks like a soft dark color and not harsh. I definitely don't like the photo above this post with the dark modern cabinets.

But do you want contrast if your room is only about 4 ft wide?

Sometimes you can get crazy over the 'look' 'size' of a room! Try not not over analyze it. I think the contrast will give the room some character and that the 'all white' look will dull the senses quickly. You will loose all personality. I still think the minera would give you a quality look and not be too white. Take a chance.

This isn't too boring, though.

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More photos of Minera.

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More photos of nougat.

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I know this is a super old discussion, but what did you end up with?? I’d love to see pics!