Thanks, went to granite yard with Raven and the Piatra Gray from Caesarstone both looked good, though I liked the tone of Piatra gray a bit better. Wonder if there's too much movement there combined with the Sea Pearl? I want to go back with some Pental Quartz samples, since Pental is a bit less spendy. Thinking the Coastal Gray and the Cinza ( weird, I can't find any kitchen here or on Houzz that even mention the Pental Cinza??)

Hey, barncatz: Every word of consolation and support helps. I'm trying not to rush the BS decision, but I know I'll feel much better about the countertop experience once I'm not staring at these sliver add-ons. One of my very early inspirations was Majra's kitchen. She, just like pipdog, used the mosaics for a lovely effect. And this is why I spent so much time last year looking at mosaics. But the mosaics seem a bit too busy (for me) up close. The rest of my kitchen is a work in progress. Lotsa 9-1/2' walls that will need to be painted again (probably a cool white -- the next challenge!), and a ton of natural light coming in. Baseboards, pantry door and trim are all semi-gloss white, and ceiling is white. Kitchen is open to the family room: taupe walls with a white fireplace/mantel -- white trim throughout the entire house. pippiep: Matching grout it is, then! One decision down. :) I've marked out the areas that will require BS tile. As you can see, it's not very expansive, and each one not very large. So, I need to find the correct scale/dimension tile that will look right in these spaces. I think using larger (3x6) tiles in a herringbone pattern will leave me with a bunch of chopped up squares in the bartop and cutout window areas. At least with the newest elongated hex pattern, most of the hexes will be retained.

I have fantasy brown and I also like dolce vita quartzite. [dolce vita slab[(https://www.houzz.com/products/dolce-vita-quartzite-prvw-vr~5056980) [dolce vita quartzite[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/dolce-vita-quartzite-phbr0lbl-bl~l_43655)

I had Caesarstone Honed Pebble installed in my kitchen (and a bathroom too) over three years ago and I love it. I did not want a polished counter in my kitchen, it was too shiny for me. The matte is so soft and calm looking imo. I also love how my counters feel. The matte finish is so silky and smooth compared to the polished. I did a lot of research before I got them, like alerievay1, and my advice would be to read the info from your specific manufacturer as to how to clean your counters, since it will likely differ from their polished counter recommendation. And get samples to test. Big ones if possible. It's so much easier to clean a larger sample than a smaller one. I was able to borrow some large samples from a nearby counter shop and the ease of cleaning of these samples compared to the smaller ones I had already gotten was surprising to me. I'd get samples of both honed and polished in the color you like, along with samples of other colors you're not interested in but can use to compare in general. I do see fingerprints and smudges, but not that often. Mainly on one side of my island where people tend to lean on it a lot. Those easily wipe away with a wet sponge or dishrag. They aren't glaringly obvious though. They are subtle and only noticeable at certain angles or when the light is just right. I do not have an issue with water spots. I have CS raven (polished) in one of my bathrooms and water spots show a lot more than on the honed pebble. As for staining, I have no real issues with stains. I was concerned at first since I'd read how honed quartz stained so much more than polished quartz, but relaxed pretty quickly once I realized my counters were super easy to care for. To clarify the staining, I should say that on occasion I've had "stains" not come off right away. We cook a lot of Indian food and sometimes turmeric stains the counters and leaves a bit of color behind. I'll wipe the counters down and all the color doesn't come off right then. It'll be subtle but still there. But by the next day it's gone or goes away the next time I wipe the counters. So I now know not to worry, all "stains" are not permanent. I've seen this a few times w/red wine too but it's rare. And again, the "stain" is never permanent. And I don't use some fancy cleaning method. Usually just a wet sponge. On occasion I spray method cleaner on my sponge or dishrag and wipe with that too. Here's an older picture of my kitchen. Still looks the same :-)