I think you'l;l be fine, but you will find that all black surfaces are not created equal. The more solid and polished the surface, the more it is likely to show streaks and every speck on it.n I had one cabinet lady tell me not to do black because she did and hated it, so I suspect that is what she had.

SOme stones honed seem to show more smudges or absorb oils -- sounds like a possible sealing issue, but I haven't' been there, so will leave that for others to comment on.

My black is only on my island, but that is our main prep surface and everything goes on there. I have Banbrian black in a brushed finish. I would call it more polished than honed, but not at all shiny. There is a bit of texture to the surface, but more important to the look. When you look carefully, there are different color crystals in the background and the whole thing is sprinkled with some bits of sparkle (what my fabricator called ice flowers). Between the two, the surface is very forgiving when working and is very easy to clean -- except that you will start off trying to wipe off some of the ice flowers. ;-)

My floors are a bit darker than the ones you have picked (had to work around the cherry island as well as the white cabinets) and I love them. Only wish we had done them from the start.

Hello,

I have the counters that so many say are awful to maintain, AB polished. I love them! I have not noticed any issues with dust, I wipe my counters daily and always have. I have not noticed any issues with fingerprints, streaks etc. I wipe them down with just water and a wet rag, then I follow that with a wipe with a microfiber cloth. That is it, they look great! Sometimes I will see water spots around the sink, I use white vinegar on a cotton ball and they are gone. I have Ayers Green granite on my island and I do not notice any additional work with my AB than I have with my Ayers Green.

I have black pearl granite. A low price point granite, I picked out my slabs and found some with a little movement of white in it. (granite guy told me most don't like the white in the black pearl, and it is considered lower quality with the white in it) looks like snow dust on it and adds some pattern. I do see dust and white hair in the mornings when the sun shines in. But also see the same dust and hair on the wood floors in the morning sun. It doesn't bother me at all part of life i guess for me. I do wipe my counters often and dust mop at least once a day. my westie is the cause of my hair in the house. : )

Just a note; I also have some painted black furniture that has the same issues of dust and hair. I do love my granite and love the way it looks in my kitchen.

I have black pearl counters and I love them. I do have to wipe them down as needed and then thoroughly at least once daily. I use a sponge and then finish with micro fiber cloth to get rid of streaks and water spots. So far I think it has been worth it. Of course I have only had them for 3 weeks so we will see. Even when there are little water spots, the over all affect still looks good. We chose slabs that have very little variation but enough that they are not solid black.

Can't help you on your question, as I haven't picked out my black counters yet, BUT, I do wonder what brand and color your wood floors are. Beautiful!

Wow! All your kitchens are lovely! Thank you for the comments. You've really given me some good ones to consider. I will check out the black pearl as I like a little movement. (I have a pet too ... but she is a fluffy black cat so if any hair it will blend right in! Haha! Yikes that sounds like I never clean :( Regardless of what counters I have they will get wiped down daily if not more!)

Laberglund - Thank you for the comment. They have not been installed yet but I am happy with my choice. They are engineered wood by Mohawk from the Santa Barbara Collection in Maple Mocha. I discovered that so many floors from the same manufacturer are distributed under different names so it took me a while to track them back to Mohawk. I used to think I wanted a really dark sleek floor but not anymore! There is a slight handscraping to these and they are more of a mid-tone brown ... not too dark nor too light! Hope that helps! Good luck with your search!

I found this picture and thought the combination of black and wood countertops, might be something you would like.
{{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen

We have Impala Black granite and I just love it. No movement but it is still interesting without being too busy. Instead of movement it has medium, dark grays and black mixed together. Easy to keep clean and never looks dirty, even when it is.

Jodi-

My antiqued Cambrian Black granite shows dust under direct light if you look at the proper angle. Standing normally, it's hard to tell it is dust and not just the honed/antiqued/leathered finish. I don't consider this a negative since it motivates me to clean the dust off and keep the counter tidy (although that probably only happens once a week.)

See in my photo where the light hits the counter on the right? That is where I might notice the dust.

{{gwi:1566992}}



RE: other issues....... my counters showed oil marks the first month or two of use. After that breaking-in period, they've been bullet proof. No more oil marks & various food items and spills have been left out for an inappropriate length of time without any issue. They all wipe up completely. Dried water marks show up on the counter (hard water + water softener creates the whitish residue) but they also clean up easily.

We're about to put leathered AB counters in. My thought is the leathered won't show streaks and water marks as much, which is key for us. The stone people agreed with that, so only time will tell. I can say that I know someone who has polished AB in her master bath and can't stand how much it shows water spots. I anticipate that bathrooms will have more water spot issues than kitchens in general, but nonetheless it was a consideration for us (plus, we aren't shiny people).

My counters are Caesarstone but look almost identical to Jodi's. They don't show anything, crumbs, dust or smudges. I almost wish they did because I like to keep a pristine counter and have to rub my hands over it to feel if it needs wiping down. I like dark counters with white cabinets and a warm wood floor.

We have Black Galaxy polished counters... it is a great dust hider. All those copper and different color specks hide everything!

We have the San Gabriel Black granite counters on our perimeter with white inset cabs. SGB is quite uniform with varying shades of silver and grey in it, so it hides any dust nicely. The main area is wiped down nightly, but the "outskirts" (think telephone, mail drop, cell phone charging station) only get wiped down once a week and you don't really see any dust. I think that's the trick with black granite--making sure there's enough silver/grey in it to camouflage any dust that may settle there. In our area, it's a Level 1 granite, so it's nicely priced as well.

soapstone here that has lots and lots of wild veining. It's super easy to clean and maintain. One of the best decisions I made in my remodel.

Jodi in So Calif - I love how your backsplash compliments the counters and really pics up the colors in your cabinets. Very pretty.

lolauren - I will add this one to my list as I have been looking at quartz product and love the Cambria line. Your photo is also helpful as I too will be doing white cabinets so it gives me a good idea. Would you mind telling me your paint color on the walls as well as the cabinet hardware you chose? Also, it looks like your backsplash is a white subway? Is the antiqued finish the same as honed? LOVE it!

linelle - Do you know the color (name) of the Caesarstone you have? Thanks!

BlackChamois, it's Smoky Ash #6140. A lot of the photos online make it look lighter than it is. It reads as charcoal, sometimes black, depending on the light.

We have polished Jet Mist counters, not much movement buf gray flecks throughout. It needs to be wiped down with microfiber rather than just cotton cloth. Otherwise, we've been very happy with it and don't clean it any more than any other counter (after use).

BlackChamois ---- my counter is a granite called "Cambrian Black" which is not the same as the quartz company called "Cambria." I wish my countertop had a different name since you aren't the first person to mix those up........ (My runner up countertop was a black Cambria quartz product, though :)) The "leathered" or "antiqued" finish is honed, but there is a lot more texture to it than regular honed.

My wall paint is Pittsburgh Paint's Moth Gray.... at 75% strength. It looks similar to BM Edgecomb Grey to me, perhaps a little less warm.

The hardware is from Rejuvenation Hardware.

The tiles are regular white subways. Nothing special.

I'm linking to my finished kitchen thread if you want other photos.... :)

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg012245393343.html

Here's a black laminate:

If you have a lot of light, I would avoid a solid black uniform stone polished. The light does show dust and fingerprints, even if you wipe it down daily. I loved my AB polished, but it wasn't something you could let go for a day or two especially under bright lighting or direct sun. We had a lot of sun coming in.
My friend got honed or leathered AB and doesn't have as much a problem with dust, but she does still see oily prints from fingers in the right light. She doesn't have as much light coming into her kitchen. The honing and/or leathering seems to be much more forgiving.