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Hi Jodes, I have seen lots of kitchens with different colour stone benchtops, say on island and peninsula. Looks great and can break up the sometimes clinical feel of all white kitchens. I guess the stones need to match. Are you sold on the white stone pictured? The vein is very prominent and I wonder if a more subtle veining, day like a Carrara, might blend in more with a different colour stone. What will be the feature? Just a thought.....

I agree with Zaffas comments. A more subtle stone would work better. I have to different stones and they work, however they are away from each other and are to separate zones - kitchen has Smartstone Carrara and butlers pantry and wine bar have Silestone Kensho.

Or if your heart is set on the heavy veining, perhaps a lighter rear bench to match the vein colour?

Thanks for your replies.

We are reasonably set on the Grande Statuario Quartz (White with veining) as the white is lovely and crisp and we love the contrast of the dark veining. The whiteness is the closest match to the white cupboards which will be underneath. Every other brand seems to clash with the crispness. The tops end up looking really warm and yellow nec to the cupboards (they are Lexicon 1/4). Neither of us want marble or speckled looking tops.

The house has a lot of contrasts, crisp white walls (Lexicon 1/4) with bluestone feature and timber floors. Dark charcoal carpets in bedrooms.

The little chip is the overheads colour. It goes really well with the veining and the dark stone. In real life to me they go well. We could look at something lighter.

The kitchen is a feature in the house. But I like the idea of the island being the hero.

One stonemason has mentioned he isn’t confident about being able to match the veining. Online it says they are book matched, so ‘should’ line up. The other stonemason hasn’t mentioned any issues with joining them. Our island is almost 3.2mt long. The slabs are 3040mm so will require a join. The carcasses are already built so cannot change the size.

I’m feeling a bit stressed about this. We are owner builders so don’t really have anyone to help us with colours etc. We’ve already been to stonemasons twice to look at various brands/colours. They’ve done 3 quotes for us. I don’t want to keep wasting their time.

I’ve posted a couple of pics of the look I’m trying to achieve with the Grande in some of them.

Thankyou

Apologies for one big paragraph.

I’m on my phone so it seems to ignore all spacing that I put in!!

I would love to have just a plain crisp white top along the back benches but I can’t find one that is crisp enough.

They all look good on Pinterest but when you put the samples together it doesn’t seem to work.

Have you seen absolute Blanc by Smartstone. Or Caesarstone pure white?

Have you had a look at the Stone Ambassador range? They have similar stone with veining that is 3.2 long. This would save you a join which would be my preference


https://www.stoneambassador.com.au/ranges/trinity/
https://www.stoneambassador.com.au/ranges/statuario-signature/
https://www.stoneambassador.com.au/ranges/sierra-leone/

Another one https://www.stoneambassador.com.au/ranges/calacatta-kapak/

Thanks Zaffa. Hadn’t seen them although one of the stonemasons mentioned the brand. He said the warranty wasn’t quite as good.

We had chosen Absolut Blanc initially but when put next to the white paint it looked terrible. Our walls and cupboards are just too crisp.

It’s too late to change the white as the kitchen has been painted as well as the house.

It’s a 10 year warranty. I have a mix of Caesarstone Smartstone and stone ambassador in my place and the quality is the same. A friend of mine has lexicon for her kitchen and walls and her stone is pure white, Caesarstone. It’s so hard matching whites and even harder (I think) as an owner builder. We have just come out of a 3.5 year owner build and never again!!

Also remember that when the stone is horizontal it will attract more light and look whiter compared to the vertical cupboards

Zaffa would your friend be happy to show a pic of their kitchen?

I’ll check out Stone Ambassador.

I just contacted her and my mistake. Her cabinets are Wilsonart Parbry vinyl doors in Frosty white Matt and her stone benchtops are Alaska from CDK Stone in Richmond

Jodes I do think you should seriously consider having a larger size slab to avoid the join. I agree with your stonemason that it will be hard to match the veining to look natural. You always have a fine white join line that will be obvious next to the veining. And it will be hard to work out where to put the join. You will also need to buy 2 slabs at a minimum and possibly more if you want the waterfall ends to also match where they meet at the mitre. So more expensive too. In my opinion bookmatching a stone benchtop does not look like the veining has a natural flow. Just my opinion.... hard decisions to make.....

Quantum Quartz do an Ultra White. Have just received the sample and it’s lovely and crisp...

It looks good next to the wall colour (also cabinet colour) but it’s on the $$$$$ range.

Stonemason is coming to the house this arvo. Will have a chat.

Well I think we'll go the Ultra White.

Looks good next to the white cabinetry. It should look seamless.

I'm a bit disappointed we can't do the veining over the island but I don't think we would be able to find a slab big enough so there's no join.

Photos of the kitchen carcasses. Cupboards under bench are lexicon 1/4. Overheads are the charcoal timber grain.

Looking at the island with window behind, it will be the dark charcoal underneath.

Good choice Jodes. Did you not like the Stone Ambassador Slabs as they are large enough for your island??

Hi Zaffa
No, they were too grey and marble looking for our liking.
Hopefully it comes up how we picture it and isn’t too stark!!
So many decision!!

I’d still have to have a join with the Ultra White! The slab isn’t big enough for our island ☹️
Our island is about 3110mm long. Back to the drawing board!!!!

Have you considered Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC) bench tops ?

They can be coloured from white, through various shades of grey to black and should be easily able to cover your island length without any joins.

We had ours done last year in GFRC and the manufacturer was able to mould the island top and waterfall as one piece so no join for the waterfall.

Elizabeth that is stunning!!

What did you use can I ask? I think I have finally gotten to the point of deciding on Aurea Stone. Either Spirals or Sequence and using it on all benches. The slabs are 3200mm long so I won’t need a join on the island.

Now I’m back to wondering about that back bench being a contrast. It might be too much though as our overheads are quite a dark colour.

Thank you - we love it. We used Quantum Quartz porcelain for the long bench and splash back. We managed to get the splash back from the second piece. On the other benches is also Quantum Quartz stone in a Cement. It’s got a very small fleck through it. What I love about both is that the matte finish is so easy - doesn’t show finger marks etc like high gloss and don’t need to dry it after wiping down.

Quantum Quartz Grande Statuario is our favourite but the slab is a tad too short so I’d have to have a join on the island. I’d rather avoid this so that’s why I’ve leaning towards the Aurea Stone products. They come in a silk finish which is just beautiful. But the Grande is still my pick but I think the join would become noticeable as time went on with dirt.

The Quantum Quartz porcelain was 3200 long but our bench was 4 metres. Nothing that long so we didn’t have a choice about join

Could you take a photo of the join so I can see it?

Here it is. Would prefer not to have one. Probably more obvious on the marble due to the various colours

Yes, a solid colour would be easier to hide I imagine.

Elizabeth did you use one of their 6 or 12mm porcelain sheets rather than the stone? I saw them on their website last night. No pics as being used for benchtops but the sheets are long enough I wouldn’t require a join if they’re strong enough.

Have to use 12mm for benchtops - 6mm not strong enough. We were going to use 6mm for splashback but saved some money by using the excess of the second sheet which fitted nicely. You may have already done so but if not, suggest you visit them so you can see full sheets - that was what finally decided us.

Hi,
I’m an interior designer and kitchen specialist,
I would never design with a join in an island. It’s a shame the cabinetry has been made. Designers will design to slab sizes for this reason it looks better and will save you money. Choose a larger slab. The join won’t look good.
If you do have a join be very careful of the stone company you go with and make sure you see their work. Some companies leave up to 4mm joins and don’t colour match the join properly. Not all stonemasons are the same.

Yes, I wouldn’t design a kitchen bench with a join either but we inherited a kitchen layout and didn’t change it to save money. The join is only noticeable in our bench if you are looking for it.

This is what I’ve decided on. Aurea Stone in Spirals in a silk finish for the island and splash backs with Quantum Quartz Ultra White on the back benches. In most lights the stones match well. I will have to have a join on one back bench but this is unavoidable due to the length of the bench, I have avoided a join on the island which was my main concern.
We designed the kitchen ourselves. We’ll know for future if we ever build again!

It will look beautiful. I think kitchens are very personal and you should have what you love

I can't see the other comments for some reason but I have seen heaps of kitchen photos on Houzz featuring a white island bench and dark benches. They look good - just search modern kitchens.

I wouldn't go those dark laminate kitchen cupboards. I have the exact same and I absolutely loathe them now. I use to love the darker colours but now I wish I had just done them white, light gray or even the dark blue (although dark blue worries me a little too!). That dark laminate brown is such an absolute pain to keep clean. They show up every mark. I like your stone bench tops though but would look at other options to create the look you're hoping for with the joins and waterfall benches etc. Goodluck with it all!

Hi, I know this is an old post but do you mind letting me know where you sourced Aurea stone from? I’m in Sydney so hoping someone here supplies it... also do you know how it compares in price to say smartstone or quantum quartz? Thank :-)

Our Aurea Stone went in today and I LOVE it! We contacted Caroline at Zen Stone in Melbourne. She might be able to help with suppliers.

We contacted our local supplier after we found the Aurea Stone. I put them in contact with Caroline.

Well done Jodes. It looks amazing. Yes, lots of decisions, but I bet you are pleased. Wow.

Your kitchen looks great! All your effort in putting it together has been worthwhile!