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Home Decorating

need help deciding on dark or light countertop for vanity?

11 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.

Comments (6)

elphaba_gw
Original Author
11 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
11 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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What about a piece of granite that has a lot of movement, and some burgundy tones in it? Honed finish, not polished. I know nothing about granites, but I looked under "burgundy granite" and found several that seemed interesting. Lambada was one, Maracana was another. Another alternative would be some kind of mosaic in a matte finish. Or, you could do a wood countertop. I am a big fan of zebrawood, so I could see something like that as a great accent on your pantry cabinet. Matte finish, very hard wood. Plus that is considered sustainable wood for harvesting, so eco-friendly. zebrawood counter
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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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Love it! Looks great. I know what you mean about the black surface. I love how it looks but I once stayed in a condo with black counter tops and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. I did put them in my laundry room and LOVE them there since I don't spend as much time working over them. I had Corian before the granite and I loved how it felt so soft and smooth and was basically worry free. I do love my granite too, but that soft feel of the Corian is so nice. Enjoy your new kitchen! Good luck with the paint. It's so hard getting paint right on the first try and it seems to change throughout the day too. I never seem to get it on the first try and sometimes not on the second. Frustrating... But at least that is the least expensive fix : ) This post was edited by gr8day on Tue, Jul 29, 14 at 8:33
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well, it all depends.....the pic of tile and door show similar undertones-coolish-if that is what strikes you as well, there are plenty of options with cabs and counter. Example-you could go really dark stained oak, like espresso, with some soapstone counters, or really whitish counters. or painted cabs in a white or cool green gray with any number of counters. What do you like?? Nice door and certainly a floor you could work with. The craftsman theme isn't necessary-the door is classic but could work with transitional or country or traditional styles.
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sparklebread
11 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
11 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
11 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
11 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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