If you love it, go for it, and care for it. Quartz that looks like marble is an oxymoron. It may eventually mimic nature but, like wood pattern laminate, it's not the same thing. Quartzite is not quartz. It's a natural and very beautiful stone that is becoming very popular. Check it out.

I have had and used Formica, butcher block, granite, marble, and stainless steel. It is stainless steel all the way for me. I really cook and bake and had a large family at home for many years. I also had a resturant range with 2 ovens, 6 burners and 24 inch griddle. my counter tops had to look good and function exceptionally well. different materials for different levels of food prep.

I went with honed marble for the island and soapstone for the perimeter cabinets. Thus far I've been very pleased.

Yes, I think that marble lends a classic look and will go with any decor!

I was thinking about this last night as I was staying in a high-end hotel room with gorgeous Calacatta marble countertops in the bathroom. Nothing was brand-new, but there were VERY few etched spots on the marble, and no stains that I could find. This made me really sad that I didn't find a big enough slab of marble to work for my island. It was shocking at how well this marble was holding up. It was polished, BTW...So my vote is yes, marble.

Pros and cons of marble:

Pros:

- It has extreme resistance to heat, meaning that you don't have to be too cautious of setting a hot pan down while cooking

- Different colors and patterns of marble are available making it easy to match the aesthetics of your kitchen

- It's beautiful

Cons:

- Marble is porous, making it susceptible to staining. Liquids can seep inside and be very difficult to get rid of

- The price of a good marble slab is going to be pricier than many other countertop options

- Marble is also fairly vulnerable to chips and cracks

It's true that marble is porous, just the same as any natural stone. However, if it is sealed properly with a high quality sealer (beware - there are plenty of poor ones on the market!) then it shouldn't stain. But, it can be etched by acidic liquids such as lemon juice. The easy way round this is to use a honed marble (smooth but Matt, not glossy polished). Then the etch marks are a lot less obvious. Don't be put off by stories of it staining. That isn't a problem provided you use a good sealer and apply it properly. (Have a look at Fila MP90 or Lithofin Stainstop - these should do the job.)

I have marble counter tops in my kitchen and two bathrooms. I love them and they look so nice. However being a cook they have etched. Even when you cleanup the spills immediately, the damage is done. After the first few u have to ignore it. They have been professionally sealed too. I don't have any stains. I would install marble counters again.

Marble counter tops are beautiful but should be considered a living counter top. They will over time show the life of the household as they age and yes stain. I make sure my clients understand the pros and cons about any of their counter top selections as there is often no perfect choice.

Marble countertops are timeless and beautiful, but they are hard to keep in a kitchen. Marble can stain and etch with time. Try looking in to Quartz countertops made to look like marble. Quartz is man-made and very hard, and you may find this a better option for your kitchen!

100% YES!! We thought long and hard about the debate of "beauty vs. functionality" of honed carrera and I have to say it's not one or the other- you get both! We are big time cooks & host gatherings quite often. Of course we were hesitant at first but we decided to dive right in a week after install by prepping a meal for 20. Broke it in and never looked back or had any regrets!

Since we are sharing...here is my beloved marble! We agonized for months...a true battle of the heart and mind. Sealer is advanced enough to prevent staining. If the marble does etch, it's easy to have the top layer removed and refreshed like new! In our opinion Quartz never had the beauty of marble. Either too modern, dotted, or "wormy" looking. We love our marble!

Marble countertops are beautiful if you don't mind the maintenance. There are also many quartz products on the market which do a beautiful job of mimicking marble if upkeep is an issue.

What "maintenance" do you refer to? I have marble and all I do is wipe it down with a mild soap, Murphy's oil soap, or Sprayway cleaner. Nothing more than I would do to formica, quartz, or granite.

It's interesting to see that all of the negative comments about marble are from homeowners who don't have it. All of the marble owners are very happy with their choice of marble and say it doesn't require any extra work.

Diana, I am talking about the potential for staining and etching that occurs with marble. The maintenance of sealing and just being aware surface etching that occurs with citrus acids and other types of food prep. Having said that, I do have marble countertops in my kitchen and yes, there are surface areas that are more honed from use. I knew this going in and I am at peace with the the result. If the homeowner wants to keep the new look of polished tops and doesn't want to worry about staining there are some options in quartz. It is a personal choice.

Marble is beautiful used in the proper space & properly maintained.Diana states it well. It is not a yes or no question. If marble is the look you want without the marble maintenance see #Cambria. A different maintenance is required. Don't forget it can be used on walls, hearth surrounds & floors as well as counter tops.

Of course it's a personal choice, that's the reason for the discussion. But Treefrog, I still feel that there's no more maintenance with marble than any other surface... You CLEAN it! I don't reseal it or have it rehoned or any other special treatment. The "upkeep" comes when you try to keep the stone from doing what it naturally wants to do. Which of course is a fool's errand.

Too high maintenance for me. Now, after saying that, if, in my dream kitchen, I had my baking station that was out of the flow I would consider a piece built-in too my butcher block for rolling out dough.

Diana, marble as a work surface will etch. As long as the client understands this all is good. Anyone interested in marble countertops can perform their own test on a marble tile. Squeeze some lemon or vinegar on it and see what happens.

I prefer function over form in this case.

Plus marble really isn't my style

We have had marble in our bathroom for eight years and love it! Yes, it does etch, but that barely shows on honed marble. No stains at all with the sealer. Absolutely beautiful!

All marble kitchens we produce are in honed finish as a company policy, the honed finish doesn't show the etching like a polished finish will. On the rare occasion someone insists on a polished finish in the kitchen they sign a hold harmless waiver as we don't want to be held responsible for an end user's lack of insight. Normally when we place that waiver in front of them, they change their mind rather quickly.

Update: We are still loving our marble. We did the best of both worlds - absolute black granite on the perimeter and marble as the showpiece on the island. We use the perimeter for prep and the island for baking (sans staining products such as olive oil). We take extra steps such as resealing every month - really not a complicated thing to do. Also We bought some mean mama-jama accessories for in/around our sink to protect it. It's a little extra but not that disruptive.

Beautiful arrangement you made. What make is the sink & acoutrements?

The sink is Koehler Whitehaven 36" and acoutrements (accessories) were from Amazon.

It's a personal choice. I still feel that there's no more maintenance with marble than any other surface if you properly seal it and deliver it to the clients in a good professional fashion.

Our kitchen was recently completely remodeled and we chose honed Carrara countertops after much research. We've been using the kitchen and the tops for a couple of weeks now. I cook every night and spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the day also. So far we've spilled: coffee (daily, and it's usually unnoticed until the next day!), tomato sauce, pineapple juice, chicken broth...a juicy peeled tangerine bounced across it. So far, no stains and no etches. I've carefully examined after each spill out of curiosity and haven't found anything. They're new so my opinion could change but as of right now, hubby and I both said we'd pick the same counters again in our next house. They're freaking gorgeous.

Not worth the price and maintenance. today's quartz surfaces are much more durable and 95% of our guests wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways

Quartz was actually at least $10-20/sqft MORE than the marble we got...even at Home Depot!

Yes marble is so sleek and looks elegant and beautiful for a kitchen counter

Marble is love... it is very versatile in design application and fits every design style imaginable. However it is prone to staining so careful usage is paramount to keep it in pristine condition.

Seems like honed marble is a great choice for the "third" kitchen: the one you get when your kids have moved out and it's just two adults who go easy on the finishes! I love our marble (honed). It has a timeless quality and it also throws light around the room, which would be a bit darker with a wood or darker surface. Also I think it goes well with almost any color painted cabinetry, so if you want to repaint you're not worrying about color clash

I commented back in March and I'm here to comment again and reiterate that we LOVE our marble. We've now gotten two etches. Only one is noticeable. Both are due to pineapple juice that sat unnoticed. I'm attaching photos of the biggest etch from two angles to show how utterly invisible it is from all but ONE angle. We've been using them - hard - for 7 months (I cook 6-7 nights a week and we've had plenty of people over and even had a couple of big parties...we have a 4 year old who's been told not to leave fruit directly on the counter and she has been totally cooperative) and would still 100% install them again in a new house. In fact, we hesitate to move because we love it so much and feel like it'll be hard to find another slab this gorgeous for the price we paid. They do scratch more easily than some other material

My phone isn't cooperating and I hit submit too soon. Long story short: marble is love. Both pics of the etch are attached now. :)

Marble is a beautiful surface, i just tell my clients that it is a living surface and will reflect your life in your home. Just consider how a wonderful old french baking table is and the wonderful stories it holds in the worn surface holds. A kitchen holds the stores of our lives from when it is brand new and as it ages.

Stingrae, your marble is absolutely beautiful! Enjoy it and don't worry about the etches and wear marks. They are evidence of the good times and love that you experience in your kitchen!

Thank you Diana! We are super obsessed with it, "evidence" and all! Still can't believe it was priced like regular Carrara...we feel like we got away with something!

No marble for me, thanks. All I've ever read and heard about marble is that it stains easily.

As a geologist, no. Just no.

More months have gone by since my last comment. No new etched. A few small scratches but nothing else. I wanted to update to add...I left an oozing bottle of grape seed oil on the counter and it was all over the counter. Left a dark mark. I washed it with mild dish soap and there is zero sign it ever happened. I have a watermelon colored kitchen aid mixer and one night after making something, I tipped the whole unit back and slid it across the countertop...left a huge pink paint mark that didn’t wash off. I got out the baking soda, wet a paper towel and in less than 2 mins it was completely gone. I’ve gotten so much stuff on this marble and I have yet to find a single thing that hasn’t come off with a little baking soda or dish soap. We’ve had it for a year now, used it super hard...I’ve even rolled out buttery dough several times directly ON MY ISLAND...and it’s still gorgeous. The same people who “can’t tell” that quartz isn’t marble probably wouldn’t notice any of the tiny imperfections that have happened because they’re less obvious to the eye than the fakeness of quartz pretending to be actual marble. Just sayin. (I’m not anti-quartz, just anti-“stone imposter” quartz. If I wanted a solid color counter, I’d totally get quartz.)

We struggled to decide between real white cararra marble or white quartz for months before we decided on quartz. I love my white quartz and don't feel like I missed out. We were too afraid of the staining & delicate nature of the beautiful marble.

Marble looks beautiful but the durability isn't quite good enough for our everyday life. We recently decided on quartz and we love them!

I would not trade my Corian for all the marble and quartz in the world.

Going Quartz all the way now. Never going back!

I have honed Carrara in the kitchen and i really love it - because i love real marble. It's softness and natural veining is hard to match with quartz - but if you aren't a stickler about it then quartz is definitely less worry. staining is not an issue for me with the sealer on, but etching WILL occur, and as someone mentioned, it's pretty easy for your or someone else to just polish it and re-seal and it's gone.

They don't hold up. Staining, etching, etc.

I inherited a marble countertop and haven't sealed it once in 10 years and it looks great. Yes, I wipe up spills as I go, but I cook every day and I'm definitely not a neat freak. The edges have gotten a little chipped and there's one small etch spot but you can't see it, only feel it. It's a Carrera with a lot of veining and movement , so maybe the pattern helps hide stains . . ? I don't know, maybe its a very fancy piece of marble or something, but as far as I can tell, it's easy to care for. I keep hearing about how marble is a hassle and that hasn't been my experience at all.

It's definitely better-wearing and easier to maintain than my butcher block countertop!

Jordan, you really hit the nail on the head! Most of the time the negative comments are from homeowners who don't have marble. For those of us who do, we take the good with the bad, but don't overstate the bad. The comment that always gets me is "too much upkeep." Yes that's true if you go overboard to baby it and keep it from etching. Then you are a slave to it. If you just use it, and don't abuse it, it is no more work than any other counter top material.

Marble is natural stone ,so it is more resistant to scratching. It has been used as a building material for a long time.