I think granite is a good choice for you if you love the look and you know what to expect. I don't think it's necessarily "upscale" these days, because I see granite going into a lot of inexpensive condos around here. It is, however, very functional and if you're not too picky about the color you want, it doesn't have to be super expensive. I've never heard or read anywhere that spills have to be wiped up immediately. Maybe you can find out from other GWers which types are the most low maintenance. Would it be possible for you to get some samples to abuse to set your mind at ease?

Please don't worry about asking too many questions and seeking reassurance. We've all needed that along the way in our projects! =)

Granite has become so popular you can find it everywhere. If YOU want it, get it!

That kitchen doesn't look "downscale" to me with its generous proportions and fancypants ceiling :)(it's just a little dated), and if it adjoins a formal dining room, granite it up!

Granite isn't really elegant, anyway. It's just rock. Even polished up it will be as rustic or as dressy as its surroundings. Hone it and it's even easier to fit into rustic style. Get one of those edges that are totally unfinished and look like someone just chiseled the edge out and, well, you may have gone too far.

Get it. The other stuff is just as expensive, but will be less suitable for a semi-rustic country kitchen. They're unnatural!

My friend rented a small, normal-ammenities apartment that was probably in the upper-middle catagory ONLY because of the location, but really was just your average apartment, nothing special at all about it, and even it had granite in it - in it's 9' long galley kitchen.

When you have granite in apartment complexes, I think it can no longer be considered exclusively "upscale".

I think Granite would look very nice in your space and would look really nice with the rustic alder. I just looked at rustic alder cabinets with granite counters and they looked great.

Get what you like, and what fits your budget. I've been really surprised that the cost of granite has come way down and is a much more affordable option than it used to be. Don't dismiss it without pricing it and comparing it with other counters if you like it.

(I have a very tiny space and I'm doing a moderate remodel, and I'm probably getting granite.)

I think your kitchen sounds lovely and is not tiny at all. I've seen tiny... you have a great space and I love a galley layout. Go with whatever material you love and feel will give you the best function. Get samples of whatever you're considering and test them with things that reflect how you live/cook. It's gonna be great!

I think picking a granite you like would add very nicely to the overall design. Bet you'll love it after it's in. I think I know what you are feeling especially with having white laminate in my kitchen now as well. It is hard to visualize what it will look like after with some pretty granite because the plain whiteness of the counters overall seem to look right as is. It is not so much upscale as it is the perception because of the polish and and difference in material -- plain vs dressed up kind of. The right granite will set off those rustic alder cabs nicely.

I say get what you like. I would definitely suggest getting a sample of whatever you are considering, seal it (if it's the kind that needs sealing) and then test it with whatever you might have concerns about (oil, lemon juice, hot pans, etc.)

Your kitchen is really nice. I like the ceiling!

Seriously, if you want granite, get granite. We've looked at Silestone, Corian, quartz, etc., and honestly, often there is not that much difference in price per square foot. Call around and get estimates. Your counters are not enormous, so you are not dealing with huge amounts of sqaure footage.

We are getting granite, less than 30 square feet including a bar area.

Thank you all for the kind words about my little space, and the votes of confidence. :) I think that granite will actually come in the same or lower than the quartz and solid surface.

I'd not considered honed, but it sounds like it may look good. They just don't polish it, or they take the polished slabs and remove the polishing? I'm not adverse to sealing it once every 6 months or so.
As for the maintenance, I just noticed all these tiny pits in the Santa Cecelia and thought - ooh chicken juice getting in there wouldn't be so nice!
What do you clean yours with?

I just installed honed Jet Mist and I love it. To me it seems more country, less fancy, but still really really nice. But...granite is more porous when honed and therefore needs a sealer or enhancer. I will be having an enhancer applied, which will darken it and also help prevent oil stains.

I say get what you like. I would definitely suggest getting a sample of whatever you are considering, seal it (if it's the kind that needs sealing) and then test it with whatever you might have concerns about (oil, lemon juice, hot pans, etc.)

Excellent point. We just did exactly that, except for the sealing part. We accepted the fabricator's word that it was already sealed.

We then did our best to stain it. We spilled red wine on it and let it sit, let hot tea leaves sit on it for hours, and dosed it with olive oil.

All of these stained it. Then we tried to get the stains out. We were 100% successful. We got every stain out using either OxyClean or hydrogen peroxide. There wasn't a trace of stain left.

We went from not wanting granite to wouldn't have anything else. The only problem is the variety we wanted, indigo, seems to no longer be available from any of the slab houses in this area, and the fabricator doesn't have enough left to do our kitchen.

But that's just one more hurdle to overcome.

I think you have a great kitchen and I concur with others about the ceilings being a great feature. I would love to have vaulted ceilings! I don't think granite is too elegant for your kitchen, either. Go for it. I think you have a lot of room in the galley, it's wide and spacious. I'm partial to the lighter granites, too, as you well know. I'm sure everyone is sick of my thread now. I like Santa Cecelia a lot, too, because of the garnets, but I prefer the lighter Santa Cecelia.

I don't think your kitchen is tiny; it's bigger than mine! I am looking at granite because I want an undermount sink and that means solid surface countertops; I am not willing to attempt an undermount in laminate.

P.S. Look at Apartment Therapy website for tiny kitchens. It might make you feel like your kitchen space is generous.

You might also look at the "leathered" or "antiqued" finish that granite fabricators are increasingly starting to offer. It definitely has a more casual and rustic feel than polished!! Honed is sort of in between. Still smooth but with a sort of satin sheen, not polished and glossy like the majority of granite counters.

Different stones come different ways. A lot of fabricators around here don't want to mess with honing it themselves (removing the polished part) so they will only sell what they can get from the distributor already honed or leathered. I found it fairly difficult to figure out what was actually available. The local fabricators did not have samples of the newer honed and leathered stuff, for the most part, and had to call their various distributors to find out. It was confusing and took a while. I finally drove directly to the warehouses to see for myself.

karena, your thread has been very educational! I keep going back to it, dying to find out what you'll decide.

stacyneil thanks for the tip on leathered or antiqued. I'm visiting some yards tomorrow and will ask about that.

So, okay now I'm convinced that I can do granite if I choose to. I feel better, thanks to you all! :)

I can't see the picture (don't know why, my husband keeps changing our security settings I guess), but once I saw a rustic-looking wooden cabinet with honed granite countertop in a granite shop. It was beautiful granite..a mix of browns, speckly and swirly at once. I couldn't stop starting at the beautiful honed finish...I am not a polished granite person, and thought the honed granite looked so right with that rustic cabinet. It looked peaceful, natural, and beautiful all at once. If you can find a nice granite that you feel comfortable will not stain or be a maintenance issue w/ fingerprints, then go for it! I think the honed finish will accentuate the stone's natural beauty and look great w/ your cabs.

That's not a tiny kitchen - you can take a photo that encompasses both sides at once! Now *my* kitchen - they don't make wide-angle lenses that wide! LOL!

If you like granite, go for it! I don't think granite has to be "elegant"-looking - as someone said, it's just rock. It may just be a matter of finding the right granite. (I *love* the idea of the honed surface with your rustic cabinets, actually.)

Since you want a light color, you could also consider quartz, if you're concerned about care. The more bullet-proof granite are the dark ones. I got quartz in my kitchen (Zodiaq), and I love it! If I miss a spill till the next morning, I don't have to fret about it, nor worry about etching or any of the other things.

It is a hard surface, like granite. That's the only thing you might not like about either. (I don't mind it - I actually kind of like it. :-))

southernstitcher: glad my thread is of help to you ;-).

I would love to have the extra wide aisle in my kitchen. I had to go with a counter depth refrigerator and it's still very tight in there. It's hard to have more than one cook in my kitchen and we have three cooks here at home :-(. It is what it is, though, and I'm incredibly fortunate and I must count my blessings to have been able to re-do my kitchen.

I am looking forward to what you decide, too :-).

The good thing about my wide aisle is that when we rip out the wall oven and desk area, we'll have room to bring the pantry out to the depth of the fridge hinges for a built in look. I just hope it won't look too awkward poking out at the front of the kitchen like that.
Thanks to the folks here who made me realize that a range would be the way to get the most countertop. I would have never considered that. DD is upset about that cause she loves a wall oven. So do I so I'll miss that, but not the smallness of the one I have now!

Here's a picture of our rustic bar, which is much smaller than your "little kitchen." It has knotty alder cabinets and a dark granite countertop. I love the edge, but it may be more rustic than what you want to do in your kitchen. I thought this might help you with your decisions. Good luck!

crazyhouse, thank you for posting that picture. That whole bar area is so nice. I love the granite in the gray tone. I think it sets off the wood so nicely. I would consider that in a heartbeat if my floor wouldn't clash. BTW your floors are beautiful too.

So it looks like the acrylic LG HiMacs is out of the running for good. DH made that decision today. So it'll be quartz or granite for sure now. Tomorrow should be fun. I'll go to a couple of granite yards. The bummer is that you have to write the numbers down and then call the fabricator with the info and then you get a quote. They won't tell you one thing about the price at the yard. This came from a fabricator. He said many people are heartbroken when they pick something out and then get the quote only to have to go back again. It's because the slab yard doesn't sell to the public. Oh well, it should still be fun.

Since you hate them, why not replace the tile floor with wood while you ponder countertops?

I don't know if you are still trying to decide but I'll cast my vote for quartz. I chose Silestone Ivory Coast for my new kitchen and I couldn't be any happier with it. No worries about cleaning, sealing or staining. I'm just not into the movement of the granites and wanted something that would not "hit you in the face". I wanted my cabinets and other assorted decorations to be the focal points and not the countertop. The shine gives it an elegant quality but the softness of the color keeps it casual at the same time, which is exactly what I was looking for in my kitchen.

riverspots, because we just put them in a year ago! No way am I removing them now.
We did choose the granite after all. I have another thread on that. Once we went to the granite yards, we decided for good. I do like quartz though - but the granite is the same price, and around here it's king.

crazyhouse6 - I know you must be busy, my cousin is installing newels up against the wall and maybe eventually I can get someone else to put one on the bottom tread so I can have railing on the bottom 3 steps. But now I have to finish staining the stairs!

Can you tell me if your treads (at least the ends showing past carpet, where iron balusters are) are the same wood species as your side piece (stringer)? They look the same as your baseboard too. At least the color and finish look the same - can't tell about grain. Can't see your risers b/c of carpet. Please reply back on Decorating forum - thanks!

Sorry for hijacking, I posted this on Decorating forum looking for her but this is the most recent post I've seen from crazyhouse6.

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