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Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

"Patina" is lovely. It even sounds nice. Czarina, ballerina, regina, patina.

But patina is the product of years of wear and tear. Preferably by someone with a lilting Provencale accent and at least one Michelin star under their toque.

If you take no special precautions, the result is not instant patina. First, your marble will have one or two flaws that you can hide under strategically placed appliances, decor, etc. Eventally it will go through an awkward teen stage, pockmarked asymmetrically.

Yes, one day it will probably have a lovely patina, hardwon. If you can see it with your bifocal before your thankless DIL rips it out as she remodels. : )

Use marble carefully and selectively and try to avoid mishaps, IMHO. I have one marble island top in my kitchen and my rule is "no food on the marble without an adult present". How silly is that! Pretty silly.

Here is a link that might be useful: patina the way we all would like it to happen

What kind of marble is on the island in the 9th photo down above?

Thank you both so much!

Are the yellow stains from water only? I see that a lot with bathroom marble. The marble counter will be used rolling out dough in my kitchen, mostly, so I don't plan on having water there. But then, I live with two boys, so who knows! :-) There will also be a nice easy maintenance quartz counter right there as well that people could put any glasses on.

We really want our house to be "gezellig," a Dutch word that means cozy, inviting and also infers a sense of timelessness, like you are enjoying each other's company so much that you lose track of all time. I guess, I say that to mean that freaking out about how family and friends treat my marble isn't fitting with that ideal. So, I just wanted to know what I should expect.

This is our house to age in place so I should have a nice 30 years or so to develop the perfect patina.

As far as I now, any kind of acid is the big killer. Water alone should not be a problem. And marble just in your baking area should be fine. I think, personally, if every surface in my kitchen were marble, I would only do takeout, and straight into the dining room.

Gezellig, I like that concept.

mtnredux, you make me sad. I want marble. I'm negotiating the hell out of 3 pieces of Calacatta right now. It's down to $90 sq/ft. The Bianco Antico is only $15/sq ftt less. I really want it. Perhaps maybe I can do the carrera on the perimeter ($45 sqft) and the Calacatta on the island.

I really want marble. My "old" installer has a new sealer they are using for stains. Really is incredible. Etching I can live with.

Sorry to hijack. but I realllly wannnnt marrrrble.....

This is what my "old" installer is using:

'Dupont's PROADVANCED Protection to your Marble and Granite countertops. It comes with a full 15 year Stain Free Granite Stone Countertop transferable warranty. After application we register your counter-tops and that is it! You can relax and stay "worry free" for 15 years."

I say you should get honed marble, seal it, don't make a pie crust out of red wine and you should be fine.
Bee- get the marble counter tops. Ask yourself this question- would prefer an etched marble over a perfect whatever else? We have marble and I love love love it. I also have a friend with a Calacatta, she treats it like formica and it is still stunning.

I have a carrara slab that we bought used--it was a dining table that we converted to an island. The PO said it was never sealed, and I haven't sealed it, although I've honed and hand-polished it. There were a few etches and scratches, and a couple of white dings. My 4yr old grandson eats most of his snacks on the corner where the white cup is:

He also uses (washable) markers, pens and crayons, and occasionally goes off the paper. I've had to poultice small ink and marker tracks a couple of times, with no lasting stains.

The fist time I used the apple peeler on the slab, I covered it with a garbage bag--after that I didn't bother:

We have large family dinners, and that end of the table is where we set up the drinks station. If I find a new etch, I use a smooth sanding-sponge to polish it out. I've read of other marble owners using a scrubby to do the same.

I should mention that the table was only a $100 investment--I might not be so cavalier if we'd put in an expensive Calacatta slab. (But I don't think so.) :)

Here is a link that might be useful: table/island coversion

Bee,

I wanted marble too. I got a gorgeous wildly overpriced slab of dolomya and love it. It has very little veining so no hiding anything.

But if I had it all over I'd be stressed. I don't like those pictures above ... and other than the first one, I think they are all etches, not stains?

Mama Goose- I've always wanted marble for my baking area (which is also my stool area) so your pictures make me feel much better! I would never get marble, unless it was a great find, like yours...but I'm still looking :)

Egads, those pics posted by GreenDesigns are horrid! :) I am the happy owner of a kitchen full of honed carrara, and a master bath vanity of polished Carrara. I have some slight etching, but I tried to see if it would show up in a photo for you, and it doesn't. I love my marble every day, it is lovely to look at and work on. To me, my honed is much prettier...it is softer and lighter in color. The polished is fancier looking, very formal. It looks right in my "fancy" bath...but I like honed in the kitchen. Don't be afraid of marble...I think with proper sealing and a modicum of care...you won't have anything like those stainy pics!

lavender, look on craigslist or in local want ads for marble-topped end tables or coffee tables. We bought a beautiful 30x30 piece of statuary marble (veining kinda between carrara and calacatta) for $30! It's the perfect size for a baking slab.

At a flea market, I found a vintage, ogee-edge, oval table-top (carrara) for $7.00. I honed and polished it, and gave it to my future DIL, for a candy slab. Keep looking!

mama-goose, I love the way you think. We did a lot of bargain hunting and repurposing finds when we were staging our house. And now we're trying to be smart about where we're buying new and where we can repurpose.

Our slab was a remnant I found when we were picking out remnants for our countertops (the granite remnants were cheaper than the cultured marble and solid surface we had planned for). If it wasn't a remnant, our marble would still be a dream.

So, the fabricator said that the standard for them is to seal polished marble. Can someone post pictures of honed v. polished marble (and describe the difference?)

The reason the fabricator said that is that it comes in polished...they have to hone it. Every granite/marble pro I have ever talked to prefers polished. Polished is smooth and glossy, like glass. It reflects light and almost sparkles. The honed is a matte finish, it has a soft, mellow look to it. I think that etching doesn't show up as much on honed, but the marble pros say that the polished finish provides better stain protection.

Here is my polished Carrara in my bath...the mirror wasn't installed when this was taken...the marble reflects beautifully in our beveled edged mirror!

Here is a shot of the honed marble in my kitchen

babushka_cat what type of marble is this? it's beautiful.

Gorgeous cat!!

I know this is about marble, but FYI from my experience I’ve found quartz to be a nightmare around sinks. It’s etching and staining easily. Need a redo!

Analee: Quartzie may etch, but engineered stone does not. Either may stain, but a properly profiled and polished sink edge will reduce that substantially.