One of the main components of the Brooklyn kitchen renovation I am working on is white stone countertops of some sort. In the Sheila Bridges inspiration photos, heck, all of our inspiration photos, the counters are white marble. My clients are amazing cooks – or shall we say “he” is an amazing cook – a hard working and hard wearing cook – who doesn’t always worry about spills along the way. Their current counter is a dark man-made material, so there has been no need to worry about wiping up that turmeric right away or stressing over the coffee and red wine served daily. That said, spills against a dark surface don’t show so you don’t feel as prompted to wipe them up immediately. The “she” of the household is a wonderful baker and marble counters are perfect for rolling out dough. So while we love the look of white marble countertops, and know they are great for baking, we worry whether they are actually functional for cooking? Won’t they stain, etch, show every little imperfection? Don’t they demand slavish care?
In the home decorating world these questions rank up there with other biggies like “What is the meaning of life?”
As a result, many have addressed this topic already and addressed it very well. The folks over at Apartment Therapy have wrestled with it numerous times and have hundreds of pro and con comments on their site. A low-key looking site called The Garden Web is an outstanding source of information with numerous threads on the topic (for instance here,). Searching the web I found amazing posts such as the one from Greg at The Petch House (he’s restoring an 1895 Victorian) in which he tests a piece of marble, both sealed and unsealed, with the its classic nemeses – red wine, acidic fruit and tomato sauce. Two years later, he reports that his counters have held up extremely well without a lot of special care.
So while white marble has a bad rap as being hard to care for, my instincts tell me that while this can be true, it can’t be the whole truth. Marble has been used for centuries for counters, tables and floors and held up extremely well during that time. Personally, a little patina makes everything better in my book. Research around the web, particularly the many first hand accounts in this vein on Garden Web…
“You need to do a search on Marble threads in this forum – there are MANY of us who have marble countertops (mostly honed) and LOVE them and have no staining issues at all.”
…make me optimistic about considering a white marble. Marble is simply calcium carbonate, just like chalk, but in a compressed and crystallized form. It’s the calcium in it that makes it easily etched by acid. But it does seem that sealants have come a long way in the last few years in preventing etching and staining. Honing the counter which is the matte finish I prefer, rather than polishing it to a shine, also helps in the battle against marks.
In terms of choosing what type of marble, trust Joni at Cote de Texas to have covered the choices pretty exhaustively in her post on the subject. She chose Calacutta Ora for her remodel.
But before we rush into the choice, it’s a big enough decision that full research is necessary. As I am not a geologist, it has taken me a while to understand the differences between marble, granite, quartzite and manmade quartz materials such as Silestone, Cambria and Caesarstone. Granite is the hardest of the stones and the most resistant to staining and etching. But it doesn’t come in a true white and tends to be very busy and speckled, as opposed to veined. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock formed from sandstone and tends to be white and greys. It is more stain resistant than marble, but has been known to etch if calcium is present and it is unsealed. That said, when sealed it looks to be a very good option. The different brands of engineered quartz all seem good and hold up to the staining and etching tests, but they look artificial to my eye, certainly in a more traditional kitchen. Cate at Girl Cooks World has done a fantastic (and very recent) post comparing many of the stone and stone like options currently available out there, but we will need to go see them all in person ourselves.
Even after choosing the material we want, in the end, the choice will come down to seeing the exact slab for this kitchen. The variations in the marbles and quartz are so extreme that samples are only indicative, not conclusive. One Garden Web forum poster chose to use Bianco Macabus quartzite because of this exact slab at their stone yard. I can see why.
I’ll keep you up to date on what we discover, but I am hoping to hear from all of you too. The comments on my previous post about the sink and faucet were so helpful.
Related Posts:
Form Versus Function…A Farmhouse Sink and That Perrin & Rowe Bridge Mixer Faucet
Brownstone Kitchen Inspiration From Sheila Bridges
Our new rental has white marble kitchen countertops. The red wine and coffee wipes right up without staining so I think they are sealed. Anyway they are gorgeous and wonderful for baking. I would put them in any house I have!
Are they shiny or honed? Are you sure they aren’t a quartz composite? Please send me a photo if you have a moment!
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I built a house six years ago and agonized over the decision to use marble for the countertops (I was especially worried about how they’d hold up for a family with young kids!). In the end, I went for it and never regretted it because they are so so so so beautiful. However, I have been called the “marble-nazi” by my friends because I hover over them if they so much as *think* about not using a coaster for their glass of red. 🙂
I installed carrera marble after my supplier searched up and down the west coast for the right slab (I wanted a very white slab with only faint grey streaks). My supplier sent pics from various stone yards until we found the right slab. We installed it in the kitchen and master bathroom. We’ve only had it re-sealed once and it looks gorgeous with a soft patina. I keep a spray bottle labeled “Marble Cleaner” (it’s filled with water) so house guests and the cleaners don’t use other cleaners that could “eat” the marble.
However, having said that, we installed caesarstone in another house and I love how durable and easy it is. Plus, it looks really nice.
The marble-nazi issue is exactly what I am worried about. Have you had any problems with a red wine spill?
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It seems if I wipe any red wine spills quickly, it’s not an issue. I agree with Darcy Jo below – oil is problem for marble. I was making pesto and spilled some on the counter and even though I wiped it up immediately, it left a permanent cloudy spot (although I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who notices!). We put the marble on our kitchen island and two side counters but installed a long stainless counter on either side of the sink – if I need to make anything messy/drippy, I make it on the stainless. Here’s a link to pictures of the house on our architect’s website: http://www.scottgilbride.com/slideshow/broken_top_cottage.htm (btw, our bathroom is not canary yellow – don’t know why it looks so yellow in the photos!)
Hi Jacqueline, My closest friend who happens to be a fabulous cook and baker has marble countertops- calcutta gold. She entertains quite frequently and has loved living with them. There is definitely maintenance involved – sealed and treated about once per year, but they have held up to many parties that include red wine quite nicely. I would not be deterred if you are going for that look. Nothing really compares in my opinion.
I’d love to know what she seals and treats them with. Thanks Nancy!
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I used honed Carrara marble in my bathroom a year ago and have been thrilled with it. The only maintenance I’ve done is to wipe it regularly with a wet microfiber cloth. (I guess I ought to refresh the seal one of these days.) I will admit I’ve been careful not to put my coffee cup or wine glass down on it. The first time I got a water spot (on the counter under my soap dispenser), I thought “uh-oh”, and then I relaxed, and now the marble is slowly getting a beautiful patina. I’m planning to have marble in the kitchen too, when I can afford it.
I think that people (some of whom are near and dear to me!) who prefer to keep things absolutely pristine and as-new should probably avoid marble… why bring unnecessary worry into your life? For myself, thinking about, for example, the marble we see from ancient Rome: how much red wine and blood and filth was spilled on that over the years? And how beautiful it still is.
That is exactly my perspective and I plan to use marble when I finally renovate my kitchen. But I continue to be worried that the upkeep for these clients may be too big. We are checking out the quartz composites and quartzite to be sure, but the truth is everything has some issues one way for another.
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White white white! Black will show as much if not more on a daily basis, every hand print or greasy finger tip will show up- even when the kitchen/ cook isn’t in full swing. If the water in the area is hard one would be relentlessly cleaning the counter tops- this the voice of experience! We had to fit a very ugly but much needed water softner unit on the side of our house to reduce( note not eradicate the hard water to the side of our house) I love the white and so wish we had done the same. Will definitely be pushing it for the next kitchen or remodelling! Maintenance is a must regardless with annual re-sealing.
We installed honed, sealed carrara in our kitchen, and polished sealed carrara in our bath 4 years ago. I have to say the kitchen counters do look a bit worse for wear. We have two children and both of the adults in the family have cooked professionally. We are not a family who is “delicate” in our kitchen. What was surprising for us was that the acid etching didn’t bother us in the slightest and can hardly be seen, and the red wine/coffee staining etc. was non-existant; however the grease/oil staining is really quite noticable. Oil will leave a muddy, blotchy, smudged stain on your counter that you cannot get rid of. Also marble chips. Easily. You take a pan out of a drawer and bring it up too quickly and you’ve taken a chunk out of your counter. All this being said, do we mind? No not really. Is it still beautiful? Yes. Does it cause me to hover over people who are about to put a greasy pan down? I admit yes. Which is why in our next house we’re looking at paperstone and possibly butcherblock. I don’t want to consider my counter when cooking. At all.
As for the shower the marble tile looks as great as the day it was put in. We clean the shower with baking soda and water and rinse it down, pretty much maintenance free.
I’ve read up extensively on how to get oil stains out of marble – you make a poultice of some kind of inactive white powder and as it dries it sucks the oil up and out – there is a post about it on Remodelista right now here: http://gardenista.com/posts/my-dirty-secret-or-how-i-learned-to-live-with-a-marble-backsplash and plenty on The Garden Web. I wish you luck!
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I was all set to do white carrara marble in my new kitchen, stains be damned. but when we went to the stone yards, I couldn’t find what I wanted. All the slabs were too mottled and I really wanted a more striated pattern. I was resigning myself to an ok-ish slab, when I spied something completely different, very similar to the Bianco Macubus you posted. I chose a Brazilian quartzite they called Luce di Luna. I think it’s too modern looking for your project but there are amazing quartzites out there. It was more expensive than the marble, but it’s more durable, less stain prone, and in a smaller kitchen, the relative price increase is not too staggering.
Hi. I don’t know if you read posts on this thread anymore. I am late to the party because this is the first time I’ve found your blog. We installed six full slabs of honed carrera oro in our kitchen and butler’s pantry. We’ve had it for five years now so I think we have a pretty good idea of how it’s going to hold up now. I have to say it’s absolutely wonderful. We have 2 kids and a dog. I cook almost every day and I’m quite a mess about it too. We have had no staining issues whatsoever. I’m not exaggerating when I say I can not find any stains. I think people who have big stain problems fail to seal properly. I seal twice a year with Akemi Nanosealer. It’s super easy to use and I do the whole thing by myself (takes me less than an hour). The only issue we have, and it’s not a big one, is with etching. Acidic and oil can leave a mark. But to be honest, ours are hard to find. If you place your cheek on the counter, you might be able to discover them. We have limited some issues by the strategic placement of some glass cutting boards so the kids and their friends can pour juice etc. Over the years, the problems we have had have become less and less. I don’t know if this is because we’ve sealed so many times or the stone has “cured”. All I know is that the marble was at its most sensitive in the first year or so and has tapered off. We’ve had no chipping and I’ve really hit the edge of the sink more than a few times with heavy pots. The marble is my favorite thing about our home. If you have any questions, please let me know.
This is a fabulous comment, and yes, I do read the late ones. Thanks so much for your input – I am forwarding this on to my client!
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I wanted to add, thank you so much for your link to the poultice. It’s good to know it worked and I’ll keep it handy in case I should need it in the future. Also we used Calacutta Oro not Carrera. I don’t know if this changes anything regarding the hardness etc.
Incidentally, I just came downstairs to find that my 10yr old daughter and her best friend decided to “bake a huge chocolate cake from scratch”. Every marble countertop was covered in melted chocolate chips, cake batter, sugar, chocolate icing and cherry jello (why red jello?!!). I thought that I had finally jinxed myself with my previous post. But after two hours of cleaning, I’m happy to report that the counters are a-ok…no stains, no etching.
OMG! I would hate to have been a jinx! So happy to hear it all cleaned up!
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