the_big_bad - Take a look at old1880home's first post on this thread. The first photo is of quartz, the unsightly orange spots are pools of resin, the second photo is the granite replacement. I did a ton of searching and that photo is the best example of resin pooling I found. When I look at quartz now the pools of resin are all I see. There are a couple of pictures near the bottom of this thread: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0500211820610.html Also, I don't use the forum search, because I don't like forum search engines, I use google: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS314US314&q=resing+pooling+site:ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath&btnG=Search The search term there is: resin pooling site:ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath Which is google's version of a forum specific search. site:gardenweb.com works really well too for a full site search.

Our Cambria Windsor had to be done in two slabs on our lengthy island, and the two slabs did not match each other, as they came from different batches. One looked grey-er and one had more beige in it. In any light, you could see the seam. Both Cambria and the fabricating company were wonderful in getting replacement counters for me. The countertops on the island now match and they look seamless, but they are slightly beige-ier than the counters along the sink wall which I didn't have them replace (due to sink and stove cut-ins), but NO ONE notices any difference in color. They will not guarantee matches to the sample, though.

NervousNancy... Our pendants and DR chandelier are Murray Feiss and I purchased them at EXPO Design Center (owned by HD). There are 2 finishes...ours are in Antique Pewter. There's also a Grecian Bronze (similar to ORB, I think). The DR chandelier isn't very big b/c our DR is small. They do have larger chandeliers, if you're interested in those as well. P1095AP - 1-Light Morningside F2050/5AP - 5-Light Morningside Our faucet is the Kohler Vinnata® Kitchen Sink Faucet (K-690) in Vibrant Brushed Nickel with the handle on the right. The handle location is adjustable: it can be on the left, right, or middle...it's up to you. The nice thing about being adjustable is that if you don't have enough room behind the faucet for the handle to work properly, you just mount it in the front. We bought it at FaucetDirect.com. There are 8 finishes and it comes in 2 sizes (main sink, the one we have, and prep version (K-691), which is a couple of inches smaller). We love our location as well! Actually, we're on a 3-acre lot w/a street on the other side of the berm in the back then a horse farm/farm under agricultural preservation. We do have neighbors...across the street from the front yard and on either side of us...you just can't see them from our back windows! Plus, we planted a double row of evergreens on one side to block the NW wind that also blocks our view of that house (to the right). Our neighbors on the other side planted a row of pear trees so we didn't feel we could plant evergreens there. But, they're farther away so it's not a big deal...plus we have nice neighbors! Looking at the pictures again, I just realized that those are the pics taken before I cleaned the granite! So, it still has the granite dust on them from the work they did when installing the sink side. (The other side is not done yet, the granite is just placed on the counters, not aligned or secured. We're waiting for a replacement for the cabinet they damaged when they began the install on that wall.) Good luck on your choices & welcome!

When it comes to quartz must fabricators do not have a full line of full slabs on display. There are many reasons for this, one being cost. With any quartz material, you are purchasing it based on color and pattern consistency. I do agree that your two samples are very different. If you can find a fabricator that carries full slabs, fantastic. But if you cannot, then I would ask them for a couple more samples of the same material so you can check color. Good luck.