Forget Granite: Erin Napier's Stylish Countertop Alternative Gives Kitchens A Luxe Look

Granite has long held royal status in the kingdom of kitchen countertops, but it's hardly the only natural stone for creating an elegant, posh aesthetic in your domain. When "Home Town" star Erin Napier was designing a kitchen to feel especially refined, she reached for something lighter and more distinctive. Her choice was White Pearl quartzite, a pale natural stone that brings plenty of visual panache without overpowering the room.

In an episode of "Home Town" from Season 9, White Pearl quartzite was used as part of a larger plan to give the homeowners a kitchen that felt polished without looking overly trendy. Having indicated they liked greens and blues, Napier explained how she wanted to build a color palette around those preferences that would feel "sophisticated and timeless." She then specified White Pearl quartzite for the countertops and described the ambitious finished kitchen as "max level, finest of everything."

Napier also gave the stone a starring role instead of incorporating it subtly alongside other materials. She designed a 10-by-3-foot quartzite kitchen island with an overhang for bar stools, providing plenty of meal-prep space as well as a gathering spot for drinks, conversation, or doing homework or projects, as the case may be. Napier noted the homeowner's renovation dream of using quartzite, and proudly noted its presence in the finished-kitchen reveal. The beauty of White Pearl quartzite is unmistakable, but it's not the only really reason for choosing this natural stone — which is very different from the similarly named quartz countertops. 

In spite of having similar names, quartzite and quartz are two very different countertop materials. The engineered material used for quartz countertops consists of quartz particles, resins, and pigments;  quartzite is instead a completely natural stone. It starts out as quartz-rich sandstone that's subjected to intense heat and pressure underground for potentially millions of years, eventually forming super-hard metamorphic rock. That legacy is what you're hosting when bringing White Pearl quartzite into your kitchen design. For a deeper dive into the nuances, here's a detailed look at the actual difference between quart and quartzite countertops. 

White Pearl, heavily quarried in Brazil and other countries, typically presents with a soft ivory-gray base, often streaked by charcoal, gray, or taupe veining. Some compare its appearance to marble but with a more solid, harder structure, and a soft sheen that resembles natural pearls. More than a gorgeous showstopper, the stone is exceptionally durable and scratch-resistant, standing up well to acidic cooking ingredients and cleaning agents such as lemon juice and vinegar.  

Some quartzite (White Pearl or otherwise) can be porous, so it's recommended to seal slabs as a bulwark against staining and etching. Routine cleaning is easy when done on a regular basis — a small amount of simple mild dish soap and warm water does the trick, followed by fully drying with a clean microfiber cloth. For more kitchen design tips from Erin Napier, check out her cozy backsplash alternative and budget-friendly DIY trick for kitchen cabinets.