I love those counters! But I'm clueless about the zinc health issue - and when I heard you had pewter, it brought to my mind a health issue related to the lead content of pewter. (Sorry!) FWIW, I was planning on zinc counters surrounding my sink in an area where I would expect it to have some contact with food (including acidic ingredients), though not be the prime prep space. What am I missing, or rather, what health issue will I face? Thank goodness for the collective wisdom of the GW KF! L

Thanks so much for the replies. For those interested this is a new construction so there's not much for photos. The kitchen will be L shaped with a 4x7.5' island. I'm not sure on my budget for the stone but I believe I can go up a bit in price if need be. Right now I'd say mid range is my price point. I appreciate the photos poohpup and the input gr8day and herbflavor. I was considering something leathered with not a lot of movement for the perimeter and maybe something wilder on the island. Any more pics that anyone has to share would be greatly appreciated.

bumping this back up because we have opted to go with granite- originally, we were going to get what we thought was a quartzite, but we think it is actually marble and the fabricator was selling it as "qualtcite" trying to pass it off. We tested the sample and it etched almost immediately. We looked at quartz options, and both of us like the patterns, but they are all very dull and lifeless and flat to us. Which led us to going with granite because that is most affordable. However, the granite I chose is, of course, one of the most expensive ones out there... Pitaya White. Husband wants me to consider Colonial White Granite as it was recommended as a cheaper option by the fabricator we are now going with. There is a $1200 difference so of course the husband wants me to consider it. We are also going to likely pull the mosaic backsplash and just do a super neutral grayish white backsplash that will have a little dimension (hopefully) We went to the Triton to look at slabs and that is where we chose the Pitaya. We both LOVED it. They didn't have any colonial white at the time so we haven't seen it in person. In all of the pictures I've seen online, there is a TON of variance in all of the different slabs!! Any suggestions? Thoughts? Anyone have colonial white?

Yay! Swiss coffee should look great!! I don't know if that is a living area or dining area in the last photo, but it is a great area to put your love of vibrant color via a rug and pulling a color or two from it for accessories and art. A couple of rugs (on Houzz) with nice colors (one subdued and another vibrant). So much fun to be had. https://www.houzz.com/products/safavieh-illusion-collection-ill712-rug-blue-beige-8-x10-prvw-vr~135531471 https://www.houzz.com/products/kaleidoscope-area-rug-8-x10-prvw-vr~39086151