Calacatta Supreme Gold Kitchen Countertops and Sienna Silver Vanity for Mac Kuhl

Mac Kuhl wanted to replace the countertops and backsplash in his kitchen, then carry the update into the master bathroom with a new double-vanity top. These were two separate stages of the same project, and the materials were different for each room. We used Calacatta Supreme Gold Quartz in the kitchen and Sienna Silver for the bathroom vanity.
I recommended the Calacatta Supreme Gold because Mac's kitchen already had a lot of warm material in it. The floors are natural wood, the cabinets are white, and the room gets plenty of daylight. The quartz has a white background with soft gray and warm gold movement, so it gives the kitchen a lighter surface without looking cold against the wood. The bathroom needed something quieter. Sienna Silver worked better there with the white vanity, pale walls, brass hardware, and the wood-framed mirror.

We started on Thursday, February 19 with demolition. Mac was keeping the existing kitchen cabinets, farmhouse sink, appliances, and the basic layout. We removed the old countertops and opened the cabinet runs so we could work from the actual structure underneath.

The kitchen had several conditions that made accurate templating important. There was a long perimeter run with a 90-degree turn, a farmhouse sink built into the cabinet line, and a large central island. The drawing shows the perimeter extending approximately 144 inches along its longest section, with a countertop depth of about 25 1/2 inches. The island measured approximately 60 1/2" × 66 1/2".

I like to template after we can see exactly what we are installing onto. The cabinets may look straight when the old stone is still there, but once it comes off, you see the real corners, support points, and appliance clearances. Those are the dimensions that matter to us.

The kitchen required approximately 57.9 square feet of Calacatta Supreme Gold Quartz. We planned the project across two slabs. The slab layout included the large island, the long perimeter pieces, the sink section, and the backsplash pieces. We also marked larger unused portions to save instead of cutting them into scraps unnecessarily. The island was important because it is one of the first surfaces you see when you enter the room. It is also a large uninterrupted piece, so whatever part of the slab lands there becomes a major part of the finished kitchen.

I do not want a large island to look like it was simply cut from whatever section happened to remain. We look at where the movement in the quartz will fall before fabrication and decide how the different pieces will relate once they are installed. The Calacatta Supreme Gold pattern is subtle enough that the room still feels calm, but it has enough movement to keep a large white island from looking flat. The long countertop run could not be fabricated and installed as one practical piece, so the seam locations had to be decided before cutting. We placed one countertop seam through the sink area. The backsplash seam was positioned directly behind that countertop seam.

I prefer having those two lines relate to each other rather than putting a countertop seam in one position and then introducing another vertical break in the backsplash somewhere else. Once the kitchen is finished, the eye reads them as one planned transition. The slab layout also let us see how the veining would approach those seams. With patterned quartz, seam placement is not just a measurement issue. Two pieces can fit perfectly and still look wrong if the pattern changes abruptly at the joint.

We returned on Monday, February 23 for the main kitchen installation. The fabricated Calacatta Supreme Gold pieces went onto the existing cabinets, including the perimeter sections and the large island. We worked around Mac's sink rather than replacing it as part of the project. The island is where the difference was especially noticeable. Before installation, the cabinet structure was exposed and templated. Once the quartz went on, that same cabinet block became a clean continuous work surface more than five feet across. The perimeter countertops also had to fit around the existing farmhouse sink, range area, and cabinet corners without changing the layout Mac already had. We used a flat edge throughout. I think that was the right choice here. The kitchen already has traditional cabinet details, cup pulls, wood flooring, and shiplap walls. A decorative countertop edge would have added detail the room did not need. The flat edge keeps the stone simple and lets the material do the work.

The kitchen project also included matching quartz backsplash pieces. The countertop and backsplash came from the same Calacatta Supreme Gold material, so we planned those pieces together instead of treating the backsplash as an afterthought. This is especially important around seams. The backsplash seam behind the sink follows the countertop seam below it, which keeps the transition intentional. A backsplash is a much smaller percentage of the material than an island, but mistakes there are often easier to see because it sits vertically at eye level. I want the lengths, corners, and seam locations decided before the pieces reach the house.

We installed the vanity on Wednesday, March 18. The new top used Sienna Silver and covered approximately 17.7 square feet. The vanity measured 89 1/2 inches wide by 22 1/2 inches deep and had two rectangular sink openings. We fabricated the top with a flat edge and included matching backsplash pieces. The previous vanity had a speckled granite top. It worked, but visually it was much heavier than the rest of the bathroom. The new Sienna Silver surface is quieter and works better with the white cabinet below it.

This vanity also has a large wood-framed mirror directly above the countertop and brass plumbing fixtures. I did not want the stone competing with either one. The lighter surface gave us enough contrast to define the vanity while keeping the bathroom balanced. The new top runs the full width of the cabinet, with the two sinks positioned across the 89 1/2-inch surface. The gray movement in the Sienna Silver passes through the open areas between the sinks instead of breaking the vanity into two separate visual sections.

Mac ended up changing the two surfaces he used most without replacing either room around them. The kitchen kept its white cabinetry, farmhouse sink, wood floors, and existing layout. The Calacatta Supreme Gold changed the visual weight of the counters and gave the island a much cleaner surface. The matching backsplash tied the perimeter pieces together, and the seam layout was planned before fabrication rather than decided during installation. The master bathroom was a smaller second stage, but the same idea applied. We kept the vanity cabinet and updated the stone above it with Sienna Silver.

Mac later left us a five-star Google review:

“I used PG counter tops to replace my kitchen counters and backsplash as well as master bathroom vanity with a beautiful quartz product they recommended.  The pricing was fair and they completed the project very quickly.  It all looks fantastic.  Yuriy was excellent to work with and very responsive to all questions and requests.”

I appreciate that he mentioned the recommendation because material selection is part of the job for me. I’m not interested in selling the most dramatic slab in the warehouse if it is wrong for the house. Mac already had good cabinetry, wood floors, and a strong style in both rooms. The quartz needed to work with those things, not compete with them.

We started by taking the kitchen apart on February 19. The main kitchen work followed on February 23, and we came back for the master vanity on March 18. Different materials, different rooms, but the same goal: make the new stone feel like it was chosen for the house rather than dropped into it.