We ended up going with Pristine, and it's absolutely beautiful. It's been a year, and it looks brand new, no stains or issues. I love it even more than expected. My husband is thrilled and the whole room looks elevated. We used BM Simply White for the cabinets and SuperCore oak natural for the floors. Check my profile for pics in progress (old floors, tho). We've chosen Satori venatino marble subway tiles for the backslash and all these whites are compatible-- no issues with warm/cool undertones fighting. I'll be sealing the marble on all 6 sizes via a dunk in 511 sealer. Can't wait to see it finished-- the marble could've been risky against a marble-look quartz, but it looks absolutely perfect and gorgeous together.

Go look at slabs in person. Some I thought I liked I hated in the showroom. I am not into the very large veiny quartz counters that are out now, I like simple with some small pattern within. We went with santamargherita vermont (opus stone) and are very happy with it. A subtle pattern and true white background, didn't want yellow or gray.

Then there is this article - that had me leaning toward quartzite ... http://usenaturalstone.org/definitive-guide-quartzite/ The Houzz article above has me leaning towards Quartz. : ) I am of the opinion that that are good features in both. Quartzite can take heat and you cannot set a hot pot on Quartz. Quartz does not stain as bad as Quartzite since Quartzite is a natural stone. Quartzite has to be sealed. I don't think Quartz does. I am thinking it is a toss up The one thing I am worried about is the part about the citrus and etching Quartz I have read a lot about. I use lemons a lot and we all cook around our island so I don't have full control of watching it all the time. . I would love to hear opinions from folks who have either. Have you had any issues with either choice?

@HU-915279554 your question is ”over my pay grade” & my reply was to let you know my experience. I wouldn’t be comfortable with your support set up without another professional opinion. Suggest you add topics of ”Design Dilemma” & “Remodeling” to your posting forums so this question lists there & attracts attention from Pros like Joseph Corlett for reply. ETA The bars used under your counter look like mine & it does look like they're sitting in a notch out but it's not deep enough.