I have white Caesarstone perimeters and honed Danby marble on my island. I'm obviously biased, but I think it looks great! I'm also very happy with the functionality of both the quartz and the marble surfaces. My BS is polished calacatta mosaic tiles. Both marbles in my kitchen have the same warmish white undertone as the Caesastone "Blizzard" color that I chose. The other CS whites ("pure white" and "organic white") I thought clashed a little with my specific marble slab, if I recall. There is some etching on the marble counter, as expected, but there is enough veining that it's difficult to find and I don't mind it at all. my GW post is here, but the other link below has some better pictures of teh CS and marble together: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0300101117213.html?30 Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen-scroll down to

@Tr8acee This is my update on UGMC in case you or anyone else is interested. I had my template done on Oct 19th and I still don't have my counter top yet. Currently, the installation is set on Nov 27th, so I would have to wait over 5 weeks just for the counter top. UGMC failed at coordinating various aspects of the job (ordering/receiving/fabrication) and now I am part of the holiday rush crowd that all want to get their countertop done before Thanksgiving. Here are the two emails I wrote to Pacific Sales customer service and I am still waiting for some kind of resolution. "Hello, I ordered the Caesarstone countertop in wild rice from Pacific Sales for my kitchen renovation. The template was done on October 19th and I was informed that the installation will be Nov 2nd. Later, I learned that the installation date had been pushed back to Nov 8th because Caesarstone slab will not be delivered until Oct 31st. On Nov 2nd, I was told another story about Caesarstone slab being stuck at the custom but it should clear the custom within a week, and a week later, on Nov 9th, I was still being told that the Caesarstone slab should be here soon and within a couple of day. There seemed to be an indefinite wait and the phrase "soon" and "any days now" aren't really true to their meaning. My kitchen renovation had been on a stand still for the past 3 weeks due to the countertop delays. This was not disclosed to me before the purchase as I was told that the installation would happen 1 week to 10 days after template." 2 days later: "Hello, when I purchase the countertop, I was under the impression that since UGMC does high volume sales, the slab would already be in stock since the point of the deposit was to purchase the slabs, and the fabrication would take 1 week to 10 days. I kept in touch with UGMC throughout the process and informed them 1 week ahead of time that I will need template on Oct 19th. I don't understand why the slabs weren't ordered before the template. If the typical way of doing business at UGMC is to order the slabs only after the template is done, then I was not aware of it, nor was I told about this process when I asked about the wait period. Furthermore, I just received an email from UGMC stating that they received the Caesarstone and set the installation on Nov 27th. That's 15 days away, so not only was the receiving process delayed for over 3 weeks, the fabrication process will also take over 2 weeks. All in all, I would have to wait over 5 weeks from template to installation. I feel that to make things right for me, the fabrication/installation needs to at least stay on schedule. I have gotten quotes from other subcontractors and these quotes are going to expire before Nov 27th. I also had to return a dishwasher to Bestbuy and will purchase it at a later date because I want to stay within the 30 days return period in case the dishwasher is dead out of the box. This is causing a lot of headache on my side due to the countertop delay."

I think that what I think is ultimately pointless. What do YOU think of it? Does it make your heart sing like the carrara you had envisioned? It IS a very pretty slab BUT, ultimately, you are the one paying all the money, you are the one who has to look at it daily long after the KD, fabricators and GW members are gone, what do YOU think? My honest opinion is that this isn't what you truly want but you are feeling pressured into accepting it and are looking for confirmation that it won't be a mistake. I personally feel that you should stick to your guns and get what you ACTUALLY want.

Thank you Sina. Although I dislike grout or cleaning it, I’m hesitant to go with the LG full slab because, although it is the more practical route for me, it feels like a very safe (and boring ??) route. I’m not trying to be super trendy but a part of me feels it should have a little more pizzaz by adding that herringbone pattern......ahhhh. Bouncing back and forth. It doesn’t help that I haven’t seen many pictures of people using LG as a backsplash...maybe it’s not a popular decision for a reason?!?? Sorry! I’m just thinking out loud.....