Thank you everyone. I did speak to a fabricator and he echoed the issues with Super White as not being a quartzite that has the durable properties that you look for in a quartzite (did not get into whether it really is one or not - moot point) so the lack of duribility takes that out of the running. So unless I get really lucky and find a couple - possibly 3 - slabs of a durable natural stone that will hold up to our type of use, I am back to manmade quartz. I am familiar with most brands and loads of information on this site but nothing on the Antolini brand. Anyone have anything to share about it?

We are still waiting for the sink we ordered, unfortunately (one that we found thanks to the people on this forum) :-( I totally understand that the splurge comment. If we were doing everything at once we wouldn't be able to do this, but this project has been in the works for many years! I told my husband that it has to completed this year, or else, lol. You will love your beautiful piece of Fusion no matter what you decide. Bye the way, we have been living with a mix of real stone and Formica for several years, and no one has ever noticed or commented on it.

Grout complete. Went with Mapei Warm Gray. I think it ended up working out, but if I could start over again, I probably would make different choices. At least it doesn't look like a mistake. Thanks everyone!

I generally don't express this opinion because I am in the clear minority and unlike Patricia Colwell I don't feel a need to convince anyone that I'm right. And right off the bat I will have offended the many people who have chosen marble-look quartz for their kitchens. It's not personal. Your kitchens are lovely. Bear with me, though, because I'm going somewhere with this. I don't care for marble-look quartz, and I have yet to see any that I thought looked convincing (note to Lauren--I'm interested to know what products you thought looked convincing, not saying they aren't out there, just that I haven't seen them). The porcelain products look convincing. You know what else does a pretty good job of faking the pattern of marble? Laminate. It won't pass Patricia's hot pot test, and it won't pass for real marble because the edges of laminate counters always look like laminate no matter how good the pattern looks. But they create the pattern by taking a picture of real marble, so the patterns are actually quite good. Maybe laminate is too low-brow for your mom. Maybe her kitchen is so big that the pattern would have to repeat, which would undermine the effect. But maybe it will suit her needs. Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln I thought was the most likely fit (below) but you could also look at Wilsonart Drama Marble and Anzio marble and maybe Formica Calacatta Cava. Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln close-up Wilsonart Calacatta Lincoln full sheet view