Stuck on countertops

18 years ago

I'm really stuck on kitchen counter tops. Our house is being built (major problems and delays but we should be back on track next week). Our house is traditional with a farmstyle wrap around porch. The floorplan is very open, the kitchen is separated from the great room by a 10 ft span of lower cabs between two columns (this area will have a walnut counter top). In the middle of the kitchen there is a large one level island (approx 10 feet long and 5 feet wide with a farmstyle sink. There are two smaller areas on either side of the range that will have counters to match the island. The exterior cabinets will be beaded inset white. The island cabinets will be beaded inset walnut.

My dilemma... My first choice is granite for island and range wall counters due to durability. I really like the more uniform look of limestone, travertine and even marble but I know I don't want the upkeep that comes with those stones. I really like the honed, satin, brushed or antiqued finish on granite as opposed to the shiny and I seem to be drawn to more of the cream, brown, whitish granites. I've been to numerous granite yards and nothing has "jumped" out at me. As I read over this I realize I'm pretty picky. Maybe that's my problem.

Anyway, any ideas suggestions would be appreciated.

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Comments (6)

kelleg69
18 years ago
Wow, you sound like me. I went and looked at slabs today and nothing jumped out a me either. I did come home and surf the web for a while. I found a few I like, though, again, nothing that seems perfect. What about something like Colonial cream?

You might want to look at the Finished Kitchens Blog and see if something jumps out at you there. There are lots of people who have browns and creams.
clax66
18 years ago
You sound a lot like me too. I wanted marble for my walnut stained island but I think I'd be too anxious about the maintenance.

Shiny granite with a lot of colours and movement is beautiful to me, like natural art. But I'd rather see them hanging on my wall then covering my counters. So for the perimeters of my cream coloured cabs I've chosen Antique Brown. And this weekend I'm off to the quarry to look at some creamier slabs for my island.
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sweeby
18 years ago
Check out Bianco Romano -- multiple slabs of it if you don't like the first few, because there's a lot of variation. Folks here claim it's pretty bullet-proof.

There are also some brown granites that are fairly even in coloration that might appeal to you.
homey_bird
18 years ago
I think Alku used Andromeda White for her counters and it looks very nice. In fact I thought it was a marble when I first saw her pics. Check it out...
rosie
18 years ago
There are some nice newer quartzites out there with some depth, honed finish, uniform pattern, even more durable than granite, and available in a range of pale tones, plus your kids can watercolor on them.
ehoops
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions, I wrote the granite names down and will look for them. I'm going to take my husband (and kids) Sat morning to "help". :)
rosie- I've seen a couple of quartzites, I wasn't aware of where quartzite fell as far as durability. I'm happy to hear it's a good durable choice. I'll try and remember where I saw some and will drag the family to look at it tomorrow.