Marble, granite, quartzite, and quartz all have the potential to stain and chip. If you like calacatta, I suggest you reconsider quartz. There are many threads in the kitchen forum that suggest good options for marble look quartz. I think you will find something you are pleased with. Be patient as you zoom in in the right choice.

I've had Carrera in my guest bath for about 4 years, so far so good, fingers crossed it stays just as beautiful as it is now. I absolutely love the way it looks but admit to worrying about it and wish I didn't have to. Maybe you could mix the two? Black Absolute and white marble look great together. You could put the absolute black on the most used work space where you do your chopping and most likely to stain chores and then the marble on all the other surfaces. Or you could do wood and marble or all three as my sister did in her kitchen. She had granite on most of the kitchen then marble in a baking station and a gorgeous walnut wood on her raised bar with a triple thick edge. It really looked great, she just sold her house and the kitchen is what sold it. Good luck! Hopefully someone will chime in on the long term durability/staining potential and wear of the white marbles in the kitchen. Best of luck!

Thanks guys! I should take a look at more of the Quartz options. I didn't love the caesarstone versions of marble but maybe some of the others are more believable. After browsing I gather I need to look at Neolith too. I definitely like the pairing of white marble with absolute black so if we go with black countertops that will very likely be what we do for backsplash. Hoping for something that looks like white marble though.

Gr8, do you remember how much you paid for the carrera, including fabrication and installation?

It was around $400 plus cutouts and sinks putting it up to $600+ for a bathroom top but it was only about 64" wide and about 18-20" deep. I was able to get a remnant though. It had two sink cutouts and six holes for two sets of faucets. Carrara here is about $52 square ft. installed, white cloud $48 sq. ft., white diamond $65 sq. ft.

Here is a link that might be helpful.

I have had honed, Carrara marble in my kitchen for about 8 months now and I love it! To me, it's warm, creamy and oh so beautiful. I never get tired of seeing it or running my hands over it over it as I walk through the kitchen.

It has gotten coffee stains on it, but I was able to easily get them out with a poultice. It is also etched including some glass, ring marks, but unless you are at the just the right angle they can't be seen. I've stopped trying to point them out to friends, because they never see them and think I'm just crazy. I would make the same choice for my countertops today, the only difference would be that I would do it without any hesitation this time around.

i do think i will be swayed by the look and feel of marble! gr8 and corie (and anyone else) - do you still get ring marks/water stains if you seal the marble? i understanding etching will occur regardless of sealing, but i was wondering about the water/ring stains. i can absolutely live with etching. i can even live with some light staining. i am going to be really sad though if there is chipping and cracking - anyone have any of that?

My glass rings are strictly due to etching, so they are still on my countertop. I've read that there are ways to rub them out, but they haven't bothered me so I haven't tried.

I have two chips where someone had banged something hard into it. I think the glass container that our milk comes in. But, I feel certain that any hard surface would have suffered the same fate. I just bought a kit that claims it will repair them, we will see if it works.

I'm looking at marble-looking Quartz options now. Pinterest has some great comparison photos from the different brands. Do check out Cambria Torquay which I think is lovely

We are putting in a marble-looking Quartz right now. I considered marble, but having young children, just didn't want the worry.

i have also heard that quartz can stain and chip and is sensitive to heat - does anyone have any experience with banging up their quartz countertops?

Quartz is hardly more "chippy" than natural stone. If you're hearing chip complaints, look at the edge profile. 90% of the time, that's your problem. Pencil edges at sinks are cheap and customers are reluctant to pay to have a larger radius, hence the chips.

As for heat, the MIA recommends trivet use on natural stone as do the manufacturers of quartz and solid surface rendering them all equal. The only heat proof tops are sintered (Neolith, Dekton). Solid surface doesn't stain, nor do the sintered surfaces.

I love marble (Calacatta) but between the price (over $200 a sq ft) and knowing how impractical it would be for me to have it in my kitchen, I went with Cambria Quartz.
We chose Brittanica for the countertops, and Ella for my island. Here's a pic of both.

Brittanica is on the left, Ella middle.

Only thing with Cambria is, you must see the slabs and pick them out for yourself because there is variation. Chances are the slabs will not look just like the sample.

what will you suggest as splash? gray cabinets with white quarts ( that has gray in it) black handles.

check out quartz masters- they have some really believable marble look alike quartz.