Hi Everyone - we just had our Neolith Calcacutta counters in silk finish installed in our kitchen. I DO NOT recommend going with this product unless you are okay with a number of downsides. We utilized a certified Neolith fabricator who has lot of experience in working with this material. We did the mitered edges so that they were not white as well. Not only was this by far the most expensive product, but it was disappointing as well. You can see the white edges where it was mitered and there are defects from the moment of installation from which I was told are "normal" and acceptable. My seams (only two, that is nice) are VERY obvious and not what I would have expected. The material itself marks up when ANYTHING touches it basically. Put a cookie sheet on it and you have horrible black / gray marks everywhere that do not come out. I have been told you have to be willing to scrub it for that to happen and they recommended using acetone to get them out. Um....so now i am left with counters that cost me over $13k that I am not happy with from how they look (they look great from afar) and that mark up when anything touches it and I have to use a special something to try and get them out and that is not easy. If I could do it again, I would go with quartz or quartzite. These are not worth the pain and suffering along with the high cost and disappointing outcome. I went to some friend's house over the weekend where they had their new quartz counters installed, by the same fabricators we used and they look far superior to ours and they do not have the same issues. I read the reviews on here and chose it anyway and am devastated I did. I wish I had taken these reviews to heart and not listened to the fabricator's comments that these were one off experiences.

"He told me quartz was harder and more heat resistant than granite, and maintenance free. " this is completely inaccurate. All the quartz material are approx 30% resin. The resin is very soft and much more easily scratched relative to any granite. Natural stone has DRAMATICALLY superior heat resistance when compared to quartz. In fact, EVERY single quartz manufacturer specifically excludes damage from heat in their warranty. The resin is easily damaged by heat. In a fab shop sometimes quartz materials are bent simply by heating a quartz part in a bath of boiling water. Yes, the resin matrix in quartz countertops will soften up enough to bend it just with boiling water. regarding maintenance - a typical granite should be sealed annually although many do not even need that. Sealing is no more work than a good cleaning which you should be doing anyway. There are natural stones like Marble and Limestone that are much softer and take more maintenance relative to quartz. Once the quartz manufacturers figure out how to accurately duplicate the look of these materials they'll have something. This may be unattainable as quartz tops simply will not polish to the same level as natural stone because 30% of the surface is resin (think "plastic"). On a gloss meter a typical granite or marble will give a reading of "75" while "55" is the best you'll ever see on a quartz. This difference is perceived by the eye as a difference in the "depth" of the shine. Put a tile of black quartz right next to a tile of BLack Absolute granite and the difference is obvious. The dyes used in quartz countertops are not stable in the presence of UV light. We have already replaced kitchens that faded in areas with lots of natural light. Dark colored quartz slabs will noticably fade in as little as a few weeks if left outside. FInally; regarding the long term prospects for the desirability of quartz tops consider the following: 1. the most successful colors of quartz are those that most closely mimic a naturally occurring stone. 2. quartz slabs are far more energy intensive than stone. The resin in quartz slabs is petrochemical based and the production of the slabs is quite energy intensive. Once the slabs have been cooked they have to be polished just like stone slabs. 3. somehow quartz slabs are more "green" than natural stone? this is ludicrous when you consider that the quartz is still mined and shipped across oceans just like slabs. Eventually the buying public will see past the marketing hype and realize that manufactured slabs can't possibly be more green than actual natural stone. (scrap or recycled countertops are also recycled into gravel for roads)

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos when I saw the slab here in SoCal. But, I don't think I would recommend the New Carrara. The slabs have been coming in quite gray. AZ tile will admit it. We were deciding between New Carrara and Calacatta Zeus. The 12" samples we got made us think for sure New Carrara veining but when we saw them in person, Calacatta Zeus was actually really lovely. Bigger movements of more subtle light grey veining. Carrara was a lot more activity with all over swirls. And again, very grey. We did slate colored lower cabinets and so happy we got more contrast with the white countertops. It also matches very well with our white upper cabinets. That all being said.. I don't see Calacatta Zeus on Arizona Tile's website any longer. I know there have been issues with the tariffs being put into place, but if you can grab some slabs, do it!

@thinkdesignlive I had no idea that the blues I'd picked out had red in them. I have been in touch with a Sherwin Williams color consultant, and will probably buy paints from her/ get her advice about actual paint colors when it comes to that. She'd also suggested figuring out the countertop first, in order to get it to work with the floor, before thinking about paint colors -- and she was the one who actually mentioned (an unspecified shade of) blue to go with the floor. The other half of my kitchen has a lot of bright colors, so that's another thing to keep in mind. I'd prefer not to have a totally solid color -- after all, butcher block would look nice (right?) and isn't solid. In terms of less busy stone, what about a Aspen White granite or a quartz with a more subtle veining pattern? We've seen Taj Mahal in both quartz and quartzite and though it would probably work very well, hadn't felt drawn to it. I also am liking some of the quartzes with subtle veining (see the top left four little squares in the first picture in the original post) -- would something like that be too busy, and/or are there granite or other natural stone options that are similar (if we decide to go the natural stone route)? I also found this suggestion on Houzz of a less-busy granite that might work with a slate floor - thoughts? -- I do have the beginnings of an idea book, here and on Pinterest -- here are a couple of links to ones I particularly like: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/307863324533778336/ I love the blue cabinets with the slate floor! Although we are probably going with a stainless farmhouse sink. Notice the white-is countertop: wonder what material that is? http://pinterest.com/pin/15621929927201978/ Interesting how they offset the look with a blue/butcher block island and white cabinets. We don't have the option of an island as contrast, so I wonder how this could be incorporated. Thanks, @thinkdesignlive and everyone else!