Kitchen Decisions

In the kitchen, I really like the look of marble on the countertops, but don't want the maintenance.  I have been researching quartz and different manufacturers are coming out with products that give the look of marble with lower maintenance.

Or so they say.

Last weekend, I went to look at some slabs of quartz.  I was really excited to see what the slabs would look like since all I have seen so far is the little 2" inch samples.  The salesperson & I were probably 50 paces from the slabs of quartz and I immediately knew that it was awful.

It looked like a large piece of shiny plastic that a toddler drew on.  Even the salesperson said to me that she thought they had missed the mark on this particular brand.  Of course, right across aisle was some gorgeous slabs of carrera marble which made the quartz seem even worse.

I left feeling disappointed.

Today, I met our designer at another place and there's a new product in porcelain that replicates marble.  From the little I know, they take photos of marble and then "print" the veins onto a piece of porcelain.  They sell the slabs in 5' and 10' pieces and seam it together in the same way as they would quartz or marble.  The sample looked intriguing, but I wasn't sure...until they sent me a larger photo of two different slabs:

I liked what I saw.  It costs about 10% more than the quartz and our designer will be getting the numbers to me tomorrow so that will inform the decision.  

I also (finally) chose the faucet today.  I like the vintage vibe; it suits the house:

I also selected a sink today (white apron-front double bowl) and hope to have the kitchen decisions wrapped up soon!