We selected Cambria Burton Brown and have been very happy with the decision. We do not have any evidence of the "resin pooling" mentioned by old1880home. It's pretty much worry free - and cleans up beautifully. Interestingly enough, the Burton Brown is not the color we were drawn to when we first looked at samples. As we progressed with other decisions on cabinets, we decided that the Burton Brown pulled in the reddish-brown tones of our cherry cabinets with the black enamel painted cabinets of the island. From Finished Kitc...

Thank you all for the ideas. They are decidedly different choices, the White Ash being more modern for sure. I'm aiming to have the kitchen appeal to a broad audience in case we want to sell the house, but want it to be beautiful until such time! If the skeleton of the house didn't scream Traditional, we would be happy to go Mod. As for waiting, location may well be an important factor. Odd experience: last week I visited a granite/quartz yard nearby, where the main guy showed me 4 orders on paper for New Quay that he expected soon (after 2-month wait). So I visited again just a few days ago and all of the slabs were in.... I suggested via email to the salesman at the affiliated store that I purchase the remnants instead of buying new, as our layout lends itself to smaller pieces. Still no response, which I'm assuming means "not interested." If that's the case, I wonder why? I'd think he'd be happy to be paid twice for each slab. And it would be great for me since I know the material is in! So really it's simply frustration that is making me look again at the Caesarstone (plus, I'd like to be DONE already).... wish I could find more photos of others' kitchens with White Ash but it seems not to be too popular. Anyway, I enjoy reading about people's varied experiences and helpful thoughts on the topic of kitchen reno's. Much appreciated!

I have no experience with quartz, so take this all as completely novice input, but it sounds like you could try removing the initial haze by buffing with increasingly fine levels of micro-grit (if you haven't already). Start with 2400 and move your way up to 8000 or so. I've had great luck polishing glass scratches with a wet/dry flexible sandpaper called MicroMesh. Rather than doing it by hand, I can highly recommend my Porter Cable 7424 electric buffer for this kind of work -- a plus if you can market it to folks in your family as a new toy for maintaining the car, too. ;-) I might also try using jeweler's rouge (tripoli). They market all sorts of compounds specially for glass and stone. You could also try dry polishing the areas with special stone polishing pads like these, although I'd probably try the wetter methods first. But definitely wait and see if one of the stone/quartz experts comes by with some experienced input. Good luck!

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.