Quartz is man made, quartzite is a hard natural stone. Quartzite will have variations but quartz does come in solid colors. I much prefer natural stone. Easy to care for. Feels better and looks fantastic.

Ditto what Flo said.

Quartz = man made, repetitive pattern, etc.

Quartzite = natural stone, gorgeous muted movement to crazy beautiful movement. No two are alike - unless you get a book match set!

IMO = Not even comparable. I take the 'real' over the 'fake' any day.

You might want to visit one/few stone yards/stores and find what you are looking for.

Silestone: Nymbus, Royal Reef, Kensho, Niebla.

Ceasarstone: Flannel Grey, Raw Concrete.

So yes, quartz. The most sold material where I work (kitchen company in the Netherlands).

For that soft look, get a suede/velvet finish.

Limestone would give you a muted grey with an even, non busy pattern. But limestone is tricky in a kitchen and it's not for everyone.

You could also do a honed version of a fine-grained grey granite or quartzite. A lot of the black or near-black granites look grey when honed and they are gorgeous!

I agree with Karin - fine grained grey granite

We love our quartzite counters. Easy to keep clean and no staining! It has a leathered finish, lots of colors and feels like stone. Love it!

Quartzite is stone. haha! Did you mean "quartz". That looks really pretty.

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far!

Beautiful countertops @The Netherwood. The finish looks great.

I also believe it is quartz or corian.

Is quartzite low maintenance? This (random) website said you need to seal it annually and watch to avoid stains etc.

https://countertopinvestigator.com/quartzite-guide/

So maybe more work than quartz (virtually no work at all?) but less than other stone like marble?

I have Taj Mahal quartzite. I used a sealer and then use Windex and paper toweling. I have had it almost a year, and haven't resealed it. I usually use Turtle Wax paste to seal granite, so I will try it on this too at some point. That lasts for a year or more. Frankly, if you are fairly careful, sealing isn't a big deal. Only on marbles is that vital. I have had no problems at all. I do put racks on it so I never put a hot anything down on it. And use cutting boards for prep and kind of wipe any spills up within an hour or so. Never put a hot pan on any surface, I don't care what they say. Quartzite is harder than granite, so it is plenty sturdy.

Thanks Flo!

What I would suggest, is you ask the fabricator if they seal it at the fabrication center. If they seal it, you don't have to do it for a long time. If they don't make them put a protective cover on it, so the other subs don't mess it up!! You know what I mean.

Thanks Flo, for the clarification. It is quartzite and I meant the leathered finish that makes it feel like the natural stone it is, as opposed to polished. We chose five slabs at the fabricator and love the natural random pattern, color and incredible hardness.

two warnings:

1. seams are very visible unless booked

2. its really really expensive

It seems like it would be a lot easier to get a counter with "little variation/pattern" in a man-made material than in a natural stone.

To Rinq's list above, I would add

Cambria Templeton, Dunmore

The OP mentions that she is looking for a muted grey counter with little variation/pattern and not very glossy. And what does she get? With the exception of rinq and cawwaps, people are posting that they prefer natural stone and dislike "fake" quartz as it those opinions were facts.

Yet, clearly, quartz is the countertop material that the OP is looking for, as a calm grey, quiet with little to no movement is what quartz does best, better than any natural stone, as karin_mt makes clear with her post on limestone.

Add to rinq's list the Diresco brand quartz from Belgium. Look at their wide offerings of solid greys, from light to dark, and warm to cool. Not sure it's available everywhere though, we bought ours in the Chicago area and love it, as we too looked for a calm, quiet, pattern-free countertop, in light to medium grey in a honed finish. Ours is "Medium Beach" in velvet (their honed finish). When we purchased It, about 1 1/2 years ago, it was very reasonably priced.

My honed quartz takes just a little bit more effort to keep pristine than polished quartz would. But it's by no means difficult, or much extra work. First, no sealing or waxing is required, ever. For quick clean-ups, I use a wet rag with some dish-soap. If the area around the cooktop or sink is especially greasy, I use a bit of a degreaser such as Crud Cutter or some such, on the rag and wipe the surface down. Rinse with clean rag. Done. The only thing that leaves stains on our counters are blueberries. Not to worry though, the stains come off with a little bit of Scrubbing Bubbles All Surface bleach-free bathroom cleaner with lactic acid, spray some on the stain, let it sit for 10 to 20 seconds and wipe off. Repeat once if needed. That's it. By the way, I think it's best not to use scrubbies with abrasive cleaners on quartz, they tend to dull the surface.

Check out Diresco's product line, you'll see they carry plenty of calm greys, from light to dark and from warm to cool.

https://www.direscousa.com/product

https://www.houzz.com/pro/diresco/diresco

Did you miss the part where I recommended fine-grained, grey granite? :)

I don't think it's clear that the OP is looking for quartz. It's great that all kinds of options were presented - that's one of the best attributes of forums like this. The OP can pick what she prefers.

@karin_mt, are there certain granite names that fit the "fine-grained grey" variety? I'm getting spooked by the cost of quartzite lately but really want to stick with natural stone. Hubby wants a light/white counter to balance our walnut cabinets--he's pushing quartz. Help? Thanks!

Alyssa, what did you end up deciding?