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Home Decorating

need help deciding on dark or light countertop for vanity?

10 years ago

Thinking of a quartz Silestone countertop but may do granite since it seems to be cheaper these days and am struggling with budget but bottom line, I can't decide how dark to make the countertop for the 8 ft vanity. This is a hall bath which also houses the washer/dryer across the aisle from the counter.

Right now the room is very light, walls above the wainscot are a white with a very slight tinge of gray. I really love the materials and how they are combined and really don't want to screw up the elegant ambience with a bad choice for countertop. Any suggestions on what shade? how dark to go? or should I stay light and blend in closely with field tile which is the direction I'm kind of going in. (but wondering if it might look too washed out if I go with a light countertop?)

Not sure about the busyness of granite since the bathroom style seems to be fairly contemporary especially with the Ikea. Would appreciate any help.

1. Floor - Misingi Suber porcelain plank - taupe/brown/gray shown at: Here (tile seems a little darker than shown in this pic)

2. lower floating Cabinet/vanity - stained white oak (vanity is a hack/combination of various Ikea Godmorgen cabinets) - color shown at: HERE

3. upper horizontal cabinets -white Ikea with Rubrik Gass doors (metal trim) shown at: HERE

4. Backsplash/field tile - 12/24 porcelain calacatta (not doing a 4 inch high backsplash - just the tile) - picture of partial wall tile installation below. (picture doesn't show it but there is a very very slight tinge of gold in some of the striations. One reason the Godmorgon stain seems to look very good with it IMO).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will probably cross post in "home decoration" for color advice.

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Comments (6)

elphaba_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
I left off the picture of the field tile being installed.
The backsplash for the long vanity will basically be the field tile as shown in this picture.

Seems like everything is pale in the room right now. Would having a dark pop of color (maybe dark or darker gray) be too much of a contrast if that was the only dark color in the room? (the floor isn't too light but it looks like wood and has a rustic style so one could say it looks a bit "washed out".)
Annie Deighnaugh
10 years ago
Everything in there is very neutral so you could go with almost any color granite you wanted. If your budget it tight, you might want to head to your local granite guy(s) and see if they have a remnant that will work that they'll sell you for cheap. When I was working with the guy who did my kitchen, he sold me my guest bath vanity top for $1 per sq ft + labor as it was a remnant piece and he wanted to get rid of it....
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need help deciding on dark or light countertop for vantiy?
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Comments (1)
I love what you've done so far. The marble makes it very timeless, but stacking the tiles as you did introduces a contemporary feeling that appeals to me. It seems you have a warm, dark floor tile, and everything else is really primarily white. Since you have texture on the floor (the "wood" grain) and on the walls (the "marble" veining), I would think you don't want to go too busy with your countertop material. I've had trouble finding granite that is internally consistent, except for some of the very dark granites, like absolute black or black galaxy, etc. And I don't think I would like that with your other choices. Other stones with more movement will clash with your marble. I know it's more costly, but I would go with a white or gray quartz (like Caesarstone Blizzard or Pebble), the white should go with the other whites you've already chosen and the gray should match the veining in your wall tile. If you vanity is small enough, you might be able to find a remnant of the quartz, which would make it less expensive. I look forward to seeing pics of your completed bathroom. Good luck!
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Need help with counter-top and backsplash selection
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I think white would be a nice contrast. I've attached a link to a GW member's (kellienoelle) kitchen that used Delicatus granite & a classic white backsplash. Here is a link that might be useful: Kellienoelle's Dark Cherry & Delicatus Reveal This post was edited by romy718 on Fri, Mar 14, 14 at 21:46
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Have you considered antiqued Nordic Black granite? If you really like the look of soapstone, I think NB is the best substitute looks-wise. Below, I've linked a thread to jen4268's gorgeous kitchen, which displays antiqued Nordic Black with cream shaker cabinets and oak floors. Although Virginia Mist is very pretty in its own right, I can't understand why it has earned the reputation that it "looks just like soapstone" (which I've heard from several granite people). The two installations I've seen in person look nothing like any soapstone I've ever seen. Again, beautiful on its own, but soapstone-like at all. Here is a link that might be useful: Update Pics of cream traditional kitchen
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Comments (42)
for the handles, may I suggest something to pick up on the hues in the flooring? A little more copper toned. you have light cabs, light floors. I think throwing in a dark ORB w/o actual copper highlights would be too much of a contrast. IMO. cypress park Sandra, I like the porcelain one better than the other one. Does the backsplash have to be done immediately? If the tones in the porcelain tile you picked clash w/the ivory tones in the counter, it could be a problem. However, I did find some copper toned ones that should be avail. these are porcelain/SS, and treated so as not to stain or tarnish. I LOVE these for your kitchen. timeless and gorgeous. They are probably not super cheap, but it would be worth it for me. http://www.miusartmosaics.com/arabesque-lantern-beacon-copper-tile-in these would also work. the site is here: maybe they have them in stock.http://www.westsidetile.com/arabesque-tiles/ i like this one too. notice the copper faucet. beautiful w/the glass mosaic. if you got the cream countertop, this would look amazing w/your floors. this last one is a copper colored slate/quartzite.
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sparklebread
10 years ago
Have you priced silestone? We just rec'd pricing for silestone Zeus (level 4) for one of our bathrooms and it came back @ $250 sf. Vanity length is a bit over 7' -pricing came in over 4k.

This post was edited by sparklebread on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 11:13
Gracie
10 years ago
That doesn't sound right. We paid less than that for our kitchen in Caesarstone. Cambria pricing was a little higher than Caesarstone.

Unless there's something special about Zuess. Crushed diamonds for sparkle?
sparklebread
10 years ago
May- for that price it ought to be!

Our first choice is Cambria White Cliff, but it won't be in until late spring. Torquay delivery is due in Feb, but all 60 slabs are pre sold. Silestone Zeus is a level 4, whatever that means. Waiting on Caesarstone availabilty and pricing. I thought this would be the easy part!

Are you happy with your Caesarstone?
Annie Deighnaugh
10 years ago
I have Caesarstone Chocolate Truffle and I'm very happy with it from a quality point of view, and you certainly can't see any dirt on it...it hides everything....but I think I would've chosen something different now that I've seen quartzite products....

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