I love my boring Bianco Romano.

I didn't mean to insult bianco romano. Its really nice. But I've seen it in 100 kitchens.

I love your canisters, golddust (and they look great on your pretty bianco romano).

Saw50st8, I have soapstone. I love it--it does not need to be sealed; you can put hot pans right on it; it does not stain. If you like a lighter color, you can find varieties that are very light grey in their natural state (oiling or waxing make the stone darker, but it is not necessary to do so).

However---depending on the variety, you may have issues with the soapstone scratching easily, or dinging or chipping.....a plus is you can generally sand these scratches and dings out, but most people just chalk it up to patina and living life. There are also calm stones with very little spotting or veining, and wild stones like mine with a ton of drama.

You can check out my blog post on our soapstone install; it has a ton of photos of our stone in its lighter unoiled and darker oiled states:

Here is a link that might be useful: soapstone blog post

Marble isn't necessarily unworkable. Get a sample and abuse it--see how it holds up.

Have you seen the granite called Moon Stone? I've only seem it in one GW kitchen I can think of. I saw a slab in person yesterday. HOLY COW!! Gorgeous. Very similar in appearance to marble. If I was up for a gray top, I'd consider this. On second thought, it's probably out of my price range.

Ever thought of limestone? I've seen some pretty slabs. What about quartzite?

Keep visiting granite yards to see what's out there. I thought I'd seen most of the rocks out there until I visited the warehouse yesterday. They had some slabs I've never heard of.

BTW, I don't know anyone who has granite in their kitchen IRL, so take my advice for what it's worth.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, BUT golddust, when would your kitchen be empty and how heavy are those canisters?

What about quartzite? There are some beautiful light colored ones that look remarkably similar to marble but are harder than granites. It took us at least two months to find a slab that we loved. We considered everything -- soapstone, Virginia Mist granite, Caesarstone, Chroma, marble, etc. Just keep visiting slab yards and ask them to send you photos of slab colors that you like.

How about a big chunk of Van Gogh behind the cooktop and something subtle and cheap elsewhere?

We went with Moon Night:

www.pinkroots.blogspot.com

I like the idea of framing a piece of Van Gogh over your stove for the BS area and putting in something else for the counter tops. or use it as a piece of wall art on another wall in the kitchen.

i love van gogh!

Pinch, LOL! The canisters belonged to my DH's grandmother. They are pretty nice. The Blue Danube pieces (on the right) are part of a huge set of china we inherited from our Aunt. They have the original label and are hand thrown (plates look wavy when stacked).

Our granite dates from 2004. It is bullet proof. I've never sealed it and it has seen it all. That said, the newer Bianco Romano ganite seems to be blander.

Those granites look good to me!

Re: marble. I have carrara. Don't know how it compares to what you are contemplating, but I really don't see why people shy away from marble. My main work space is honed. I cook with a lot of citrus, tomato, turmeric, vinegar. I am a messy messy cook. there is some etching but I don't think of it as a big deal. No scratching. I have 2 little kids who are in the kitchen (helping) all the time.

My advice for someone with marble trepidations--especially if you have a lot of counterspace. Pick a main work area. Put out a large slab of butcher block. Whenever you are working with something that makes you afraid, use the butcher block.

saw50st8 - I saw go with what you love. Everything is going to have its issues - you have to decide which issues are important enough to you and weigh that with getting exactly what you want or making a compromise - is it worth it?

My friend has a slate countertop. It is beautiful, but not without its own maintenance issues and it also chips and flakes - that is the nature of slate. Soapstone and limestone are also softer stones and will also scratch.

Your marble may be okay - like fori suggested, try to get a sample of it from the stoneyard/fabricator with the finish you're looking at and test it out. That's what I did with my calacatta marble (antiqued) and I had no issues with it with Sharpies, wine, vinegar, lemon juice, tomato sauce...

Moon night is beautiful. We have considered something like that too.

The marble we liked is linked below.

Its pricey, but perfect. Its seriously the perfect stone for me. I'll ask about getting a sample.

I love the idea of a Van Gogh piece. But what counters would match that?

Here is a link that might be useful: Marble

golddust, I have never had anything willed to me..... HUGE set of china, huh?

-The canisters belonged to my DH's grandmother. They are pretty nice. The Blue Danube pieces (on the right) are part of a huge set of china we inherited from our Aunt. They have the original label and are hand thrown (plates look wavy when stacked). -

That marble is seriously GORGEOUS! WOW WOW WOW!

That mable is WOW! Definetly get a sample and see what you think. You know the risks up front, but if you can deal then go for it!

OMG, if you don't have a DH standing in the way of the marble - and that is what you want, I say go for it! I had to go with Caesarstone because hubbie doesn't like idea of marble patina - whatever...I had fits over the stupid countertop (which brought more fits because it has to coordinate with backsplash) and the joke was on me when what I settled for wasn't in stock.

Anyway, I am almost at the end and my advice is if you LOVE something, and there is no husband or $ barrier - get it and don't look back. You will smile everytime you see it in your kitchen...