Your floors are lovely! Are the paint chips the color of the walls? I like the darkest blue one. I agree with the white countertops, but I think I would get a bit of reddish brown in the veining. Or a gold. Very light veining. I would need to see the grey you are talking about next to the flooring, but I feel a reddish brown or gold would bring out the red in the oak.

I liek the idea f using a gold type of vein in the white countertop. My local coffee shop has gold veins with a slightly beige countertop to complement the natural oak floor and walls. I might still stay white with gold or so.

One of my clients a year or two ago got white shaker cabinets in her vintage 1930s house with a galley kitchen. She went with MSI "Calacatta Mirragio Gold" and Daltile white subway tile with a beigy/gold grout. Hardware was an antiqued version of brass which she purchased on her own...not sure of the brand/model.

The pictures of the kitchen below were taken just after the tops and tile backsplash were installed. The pics do not show the gold veining very well. But it show very nicely in real life. Also attaching a closeup of my sample.

Every few days or so someone posts on Houzz that the got white shaker cabinets and white countertops installed and the two whites look terrible together. That doesn't mean that you should not do a white countertop. But it means you should select carefully and with a lot of guidance.

If you don't have a sample door, get one made. Take it with you when you look at counter samples. Hold it vertically and look at the counter material both vertically and horizontally as you want it for backsplash and counters. And, try to look at both samples in lighting that will approximate your kitchen.

If you get something with veining do you care how the veins line up on your splash and counter?

I concur with Beverly. I have white shaker cabinets and got Corian on my sink area counter and walnut on my other counters. They look great together.

What are the blue chips - your wall colors? They look great with the floor.

thank you all. Going to a MSI showroom today.

Regarding those chips. I have to apologize; I did not have a good picture of my floor handy. So, I reused one with previous swatches of the cabinets. The floor loos true to me. But the swatches are a bit differnt. Basically it is a white (which seems more green blue) here. a light grey and dark grey. But I selected the white.

look at Calacatta laza. it's a nice quartz that would look better than plain white.

if you want plain white countertop, hold off and do a tile splash

Yes, that Calacatta laza looks very nice as well

So, I am just back from the MSI place in Elk Grove. In the store we liked Calacata Elysio and Calacata Mirragio Gold.

I need to look at different lighting. The one on the right seems now a bit grey?

what type of lighting do you have? LED's? make sure they're 3500-4000K temp. anything below that and you will get yellow hues. so try switching out your bulbs first. small samples can become discolored w/time and may not give you the right look.

MSI should have the Laza. did you see it there?

can we see the actual kitchen where this is going? a full pic?

Make sure that you know what a large slab of the stone will look like. It's difficult to tell from a small sample. Usually the company's website will show what a large slab looks like. The one you show on the right looks like very wide veining which could be very prominent. You may or may not like that effect.

@Beth H.: Yes, I have some good old halogens.... The kitchen doesn't exist yet. Demo of old will start next week. I might go back to MSI. Pretty sure they had Laza. Just not remembering now.

@Diana: yes, at MSI we were able to see full slabs. Still, can be challenging seeing that many choices next to each other with not much reference points from home. It seems a bit of a triangulation process.

And then there is the hole availability topic that I did not expect. i.e. I was told those colors that I picked are only stocked in 3cm at MSI. I was thinking to go only 2cm as I need to use portions form slab for backsplash and also I have skinny shaker cabinets

I took a new picture with daylight only. Which one would you pick?

Left! Calacatta Mirragio Gold!

I agree with Kitchen Place--if it's between those two, the MIrragio Gold is more subtle and realistic looking.

Everyone’s monitor shows colors differently, so becomes an issue with letting Houzzers choose color for you.

BTW.

This is my current coffee table in the living room area. This is why I thought at first to use a grey vein white countertop. But I like the idea of gold/brown contrast with the floor as suggested here.

Whatever you do, do NOT use quartz behind your range. It is not heat resistant, and will scorch.

^,,,,it depends what type of range/stove is being used. if the burner isn't right up next to the back splash, it should be fine.

like this. plenty of space

this range would also work.

they used a 2cm quartz for this application. check it out

https://www.thegritandpolish.com/blog/designing-and-fabricating-a-quartz-backsplash-for-poplar

BTW. For fun I went to HomeDepot. They are selling Silestone that has some of the same pattern names as MSI. Who/where are MSI sheets made?

MSI is a knockoff company. They copy everyone else. Their stuff is made all over the place. Silestone is made in Spain, on Breton machinery. They are one of the OGs.

I'm one of the latest who has tried to match "whites" in the kitchen. Even after reading Houzz for more than 20 years and every other advice source available, I am a bit unhappy with my countertop/cabinet colors. It will be better when the kitchen is finished and styled, I know.

A bit of advice from my experience: It is going to be almost impossible to compare, no matter how well you prepare. It is either good luck or using a tried and true combo of whites/creams under non-extreme lighting.

A big factor is one of scale: there is more than one cabinet door in your kitchen. The bulk of them (upper and/or lower) is different visually than one door (but take it anyway). The slab is necessarily vertical, when it will live in your house horizontally. Holding up a vertical door to a vertical slab is not how they will relate IRL.

Natural lighting is a big problem for me. I get intense east morning sun and intense west afternoon sun in the kitchen. In the morning, my cabs and counter match. in the evening, the cabs are yellow and the counter a cool white. I will have overhead LED and LED undercab lighting, both color tunable, to minimize the variation.

For reference, my cabs are SW Shoji White (an off-white with a bit of warmth) and the countertop is MSI Calacatta Valentin quartz (beautiful when installed; warm gold and grayish thin veining that doesn't give unpleasant flow when turning 2 right angles in the U-shaped kitchen; white turns cool like marble in the strong afternoon sun, but warmer in the morning.)

On a different note for the OP: I was going to have the quartz countertop material used as a backsplash.

NOTE: It is fine to use quartz as a backsplash. Most of the horror stories you see/hear are using a low-grade quartz with a higher proportion of resin that will scorch more easily and give the horrible messes you see in pictures. And it is much less likely to cause a problem with electric or induction cooktops.

I then found out when the slide-in Bosch 30" range was delivered that the backsplash would be a problem.

The quartz would only be milled down to 3/4". The slide-in range is supposed to go against the wall. There is a very small vertical rise on the back that is the oven vent. The quartz 3/4" should not overhang the vent (and would not look good in any case). And if the quartz goes below the vent, then the range has to be pulled out 3/4". That 3/4" is more than I want in my narrow U-shaped kitchen (and for which I bought a true counter depth built-in fridge because of depth concerns), because these ranges may have a counter-depth top, but the knobs and/or oven area sticks out more. And because my range has a glass induction top, the 3/4" means the glass corners will be protruding in front of my counters and lower cabs - the contractor nixed it.

So..... I'm looking at alternatives.

There are an equal number of threads regarding trouble matching whites, and trouble getting the veining in countertop/backsplash slabs to line up.

@ShadyWillowFaem: when you say matching white. Trying to get the same white in cabinet and the countertop? I don't mind having some contrast. That is why I still consider the Calacatta Elysio

I have no idea why fake plastic stone is ever a choice in a space where hot pots are the norm. Go to a good stone yard and look at some real stone there are 1000s and no problem with using them behind a range either . If you want plastic go Corian it does not try to be anything but what is is.

BTW. What price by installed sqft should I expect on MSI quartz in Chicago area? Any recommendation for place?

• Calacatta Elysio

• Calacatta Miraggio Gold

I have about 58 sqft in counters (island, small side and a main counter)

We are also thinking about a backsplash which would increase all together to 75 sqft

I believe it would require two sheets.

Regarding price on counter tops, you need to get the price from the fabricator. Square foot pricing is just an estimate. The total cost will depend on a variety of factors, including how much material you need, the pattern of the veining, the edge profile you want, and how many cuts and turns you need, basically the layout. And really, the total cost including installation is the most important number, unless you're cutting and installing it yourself.

Hu 28308,,,, What diana said.

There are too many varibles to give you a price. If you cut out the middleman, you could possibly save money. Sometimes your contractor can get a better price if he deals w/the same shop or fabricator.

Usually the cost to fabricate is about 2X the price of the Slab. give or take. (2-4K to fabricate a granite/marble or quartz slab.

for example, I purchased this Silestone Eternal suede slab. the price was $2300. I think I got it for 2K. price to fabrcate, another 2K

. I had a simple L-shape with a 5' desk top.

I chose to go w/a marble tile backsplash. (to go w/the marble island)

If you're dealing w/something more exotic or difficult veining, or have a more extensive installation, it could be more) .

Another example,,,this is a quartz, calacatta black. look at the veining.

If you had an L-shape countertop, care would need to be taken so that the veining is properly lined up when it changes direction. If you wanted to take it up as a backsplash, they'd have be careful where they cut and how it goes up on the wall. you want to continue the flow of the veins. If that makes sense.

Not sure what the names of these are,

But the person who posted it liked the way it looked in this finished picture

Is this what you had in mine? Any open shelving? The vertical planks are a good idea to eat up the higher wall space

Another one is this Quartz, 2CM, with a smaller backsplash. This was from a local spot in Seattle, the quartz is called Victorian White, and they actually cut it themselves

MSI Calacatta miraggio gold. This one looks pretty good at the transition seam:

calacatta Laza. also pretty good

beautiful match-up on the waterfall. Calacatta Classique:

Brittanica, not so good. Look at the seam above the stove top. both sides. doesn't match up AT ALL.

These are 3 diff pieces used for backsplash.They should have used a whole slab piece.

This is a good Brittanica matchup. see the diff?

check out the Brittanica Gold backsplash behind the range, and over near the faucet/window. Believe it or not, there are SIX seams in this backsplash.

very difficult to tell where they are.

https://www.rocktopskc.com/the-truth-about-seams-in-countertops/

This is the diff between an excellent fabricator/installer, and a cheap one who doesn't care.

This isn't great either. you see the diff tones on the backsplash? right side is darker.

You'll see this more w/natural stone, but quartz could also do this if you had slabs from two diff dye lots. make sure both slabs are made together, same lot.

Another option, plain white on the countertop, patterned slab for the entire backsplash

Beth H - I thought you had stopped posting! Apparently, I’ve just been reading the wrong posts! So happy to see that you’re still here - after all, you are the tile/backsplash/countertop guru + have a great eye for many other parts of design!

lol. hi dani. Haven't been posting as much. Have been busy elsewhere. hope all is well w/you!

I was worried that you had been lured over to a design group over on FB! I actually wasn’t on here for a few months due to various other things going on in life. Glad to know that you’re still around - I think I need to hire you for my kitchen/powder room!

Does anyone know EKO Stone and Linnstone brands? One fabricator steered me into that direction from MSI for lower cost options.