Are you considering the Silestone Calacatta Gold quartz countertop for your kitchen and looking for an honest review with detailed pictures? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve had our Calacatta Gold Silestone quartz for two years now and today I’m here to share an honest review. Picking out the perfect countertops is a big (and expensive!) decision. I hope this Silestone Calacatta Gold quartz review is helpful for any of you who are looking to upgrade to some new beautiful countertops or planning a full kitchen makeover!
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Ordering our Silestone Calacatta Gold countertops
I’ve always loved the look of marble but I knew that I wanted a low maintenance countertop for our kitchen at the Hills House. Most natural materials like marble or granite would not be ideal for our family due to staining and scratching more easily and the need to be sealed. We’re a pretty busy family so eliminating the extra tasks that come with maintaining a natural stone countertop just makes sense for us. That’s why I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go with a quartz countertop!
Quartz countertops are a man-made material. They are a combination of natural quartz, minerals, chemical resins and pigments. Quartz is a non-porous surface (making them very stain resistant), close to indestructible, and low maintenance. However, it’s not as heat-resistant as marble or granite. We were never in the habit of setting down hot dishes directly onto our countertops anyway so that didn’t deter me from choosing quartz countertops.
After doing some online research and looking at samples in person we decided to go with the Silestone Calacatta Gold kitchen countertops. I ordered them from Home Depot during their 20% countertop sale.
Getting our Calacatta Gold quartz countertops installed
While I ordered our Silestone quartz countertops through Home Depot, anything after the actual ordering process was managed by a local third party contractor. The first step was them reaching out to me to schedule a measuring appointment. This was to confirm the total square footage needed and the exact measurements for each piece. After measuring our kitchen they went on to order the quartz and cut each slab. After a few weeks, they set up an appointment with us for the installation our new Silestone countertops. The total time between me ordering our countertops and getting them installed was about 6 weeks. The install took almost the whole day due to the size and amount of countertop pieces. It was really exciting to see it all come together!
Detailed pictures of Silestone Calacatta Gold
What would a review of Calacatta Gold quartz be without pictures? Let’s take a closer look at these beautiful kitchen counters!
Here’s a picture of our kitchen from a high angle. I think this is shows off the color and veining really well. Sometimes photos can mute or emphasize the veining of a countertop but this is really close to what it looks like in real life. You can see the veining but it’s not the focal point and it’s pretty subtle. In my opinion it gives the white countertop just enough movement to feel cozy and warm and not boring and sterile.
Our island is pretty massive so they had to use two slabs and connect them. I think they did an amazing job at picking the right spot to connect the two slabs and make the veining look continuous. Can you tell where the two slabs meet?
I really love how this Calacatta Gold quartz looks with our Accessible beige cabinets and white oak floors!
The company installing the countertop suggested a 4 inch backsplash along the wall. That’s what we ended up going with and I really like how it turned out!
They did a great job wrapping the veining continuously up the backsplash part:
Speaking of veining, let’s take a closer look so you can see the colors and details of the veining:
The actual color of the Silestone Calacatta Gold countertop is an off-white. The veining is mostly different shades of gray with some “gold”/brown/tan weaved into it in certain spots. There are no sparkles or glitter, so it’s not really “gold” in my opinion and truly more brown/tan. The name Calacatta Gold is interesting to me!
Note that these pictures show the contrast between the white background and the veining off more than in real life. The first picture of the whole kitchen I shared is much closer to what it actually looks like in person.
Here is the spot where the two slabs of Silestone quartz meet for our big kitchen island:
In this picture you can see the line more than you can in real life. Pictures can be tricky sometimes! Again, the first picture of the whole kitchen is the closest to what it looks like in real life.
Cleaning and maintenance of our quartz countertops
One of the main reasons why I decided to go with quartz countertops was the low maintenance and these counters have been exactly what I had hoped for!
We love that we don’t have to worry about spills and stains, that peace of mind is priceless! Whenever we spill something, we just wipe it up with a damp paper towel and it comes right off. Even things like pasta sauce, red beets or red wine! To clean our Silestone Calacatta Gold quartz I typically use either water, a glass cleaner or disinfecting wipes or spray and have had no issues!
I also feel like the Silestone Calacatta Gold pattern does a good job or hiding minor messes and dried water spots well. Sometimes when cleaning, I step away to look at the countertop from a different angle to see spots I might have missed. That tells me our countertops typically look clean even if they aren’t actually spotless.
I also love that we haven’t had to worry about any maintenance like sealing our Silestone quartz countertops. There are plenty of other things to maintain around a house. Eliminating this task by having quartz countertops is great for us!
After two years, do we still like them?
The short answer is: YES! We love our Silestone Calacatta Gold countertops and we’ve been so happy with them. They look just as good as they did on day one, and I still love the color and veining. I think they are the perfect match for our kitchen design with the Accessible Beige cabinets, our white oak floors, the Hallman range and all the brass finishes throughout. They are pretty neutral but not sterile or boring.
Quartz not being as heat resistant hasn’t ever been an issue for us. As I mentioned earlier, we’re not in the habit of putting hot dishes directly on our counters. However, I can see how someone who is used to having heat resistant counters and putting hot dishes directly on counters might need to be conscious of that when switching to quartz.
Silestone Calacatta Gold: Pros and cons
Pros
- Low maintenance (unlike some other countertop materials, quartz doesn’t need to be sealed)
- Very durable
- Scratch resistant (I still use cutting boards though)
- Stain resistant (we’ve spilled and dropped a lot of different things on our Silestone countertops including red beets and everything has cleaned up so well)
- The color and veining is perfect in my opinion! It’s bright and clean looking but not boring or sterile. The veining is just enough to break up the creamy white. However, it’s not so in-our-face that all you focus on is the veining
Cons
- Man-made product without natural veining and uniqueness
- Not as heat resistant as other materials
I really think the Silestone Calacatta Gold countertops were the perfect choice for our kitchen remodel at the Hills House. I’m so happy with their looks and quality!
There aren’t many Silestone Calacatta Gold reviews out there so I hope this Silestone Calacatta Gold review was helpful and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions!
Tina
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