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Posted by on Sep 9, 2012 in Featured, The House | 2 comments

Sparkling Samples

After we finally sold the old house, I decided it was ok to order some quartz countertop samples I had been wanting.  I got them a few weeks ago and have had them sitting on the kitchen counter (the wood samples are laying in front of the fireplace where we can see them too).  I ordered a 12×12 sample of Cambria’s Torquay Quartz which I am considering as an alternative to marble.  As I’ve mentioned before, a lot of my favorite kitchens have marble countertops, but marble would never work for us since it etches and stains easily.  Cambria Torquay has a similar look, but is more durable than granite.  I ordered the larger sample so that we could see all the variation.  It has gray and tan veining which would go with any of my ideas for our kitchen.

Cambria Torquay

Cambria Torquay

I also ordered a 12″ sample of the quartz I fell in love with at the builder’s show this spring – Cambria Praa Sands.  It has a white background with gray to tan veining along with sea blue and midnight blue to charcoal.  It also has some sparkle which looks like diamonds or mother of pearl.  I would love to have it on the island as a focal point in the kitchen, but I’m leery about having anything permanent with color in it.  The blue is fairly subtle so it may be ok to use.  At the least, I’d like to put it in the powder room or our master bathroom.

Cambria Praa Sands

(The first 3 pictures were enhanced to show the color and sparkle – it’s not as dark or dramatic as it may look in these pictures.  As always, click on any picture to view it larger.)

Cambria Praa Sands

Cambria Praa Sands

(This last picture is more accurate to how it really looks.)

Cambria Praa Sands

The last sample is Cambria Minera.  I ordered a 3″ sample of this since it doesn’t have a lot of variation.  It is gray/taupe with a lot of sparkle.  It looks like it has silver glitter in it if you look up close.  I’m not sure where I’d use this, but it’s really neat.

Cambria Minera

Cambria Minera

 

2 Comments

  1. So happy to see your post! I am getting ready to go with the Torquay cambria in our newly remodeled kitchen and want to know what you ended up up and if you love it! I, too, love the white cabinets and marble kitchens, thus why I am looking at the Torquay.

    • We are still finishing up our final plans, so we haven’t started building yet. Right now, I am leaning towards using Cambria Praa Sands on the island and Antique Brown (Marron Cohiba) granite on the perimeter, so we probably won’t be using the Torquay. I had considered using it on the perimeter countertops, but I don’t think it will go as well with the Praa Sands island, so I decided to go with something dark and monochromatic instead. The Praa Sands is gorgeous, so I want it to be the focal point. I do like the Torquay sample I have and it would still be my top choice if I was still wanting a marble alternative. HTH 🙂

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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  2. Finalizing The Plans | Building The Hall Way - [...] using on the kitchen island.  The picture below shows it next to my top choice for the island countertop…
  3. Nashville – Take 3 | Building The Hall Way - [...] granite fabricator called me this week.  He had talked to a couple Cambria suppliers and confirmed what I already…
  4. Finding The One | Building The Hall Way - [...] I missed this countertop the first time – probably because I was still planning on using the Cambria Praa…

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