I acted as a salesperson and purchaser for manmade stone and granite for a large company. Once I explained the differences and the customer saw actual slabs they would go with the granite, 95% of the time. The granite is a piece of artwork that looks great forever. It is the touch that makes a kitchen look expensive.The manufactured stones are not as durable, some of the advertising is deceiving. Just like the stone artisian says, granite is heat resistant and easy to maintain. The manmade stone manufactors say to use a trivit, yes you can put warm things on it NOT HOT, yes you can cut on it, BUT do not cut with sharp knives. Yes there are rules to follow with manmade stone. I would take hot cast iron skillets and set directly on my granite and use any knife I felt like. The new sealers for granite last along time and only take a few minutes to put on. Some granite places offer permanent sealers. The new formicas look as good as the manmade in my eyes.

Great question. Because our wood countertops are waterproof, stain resistant and food safe they are a great addition to the kitchen or even bathroom. Most of our customers choose to actually use BOTH granite or other stone in the SAME kitchen as a wood countertop. Mixing surfaces is the most popular trend we have seen in high end kitchen countertops/design recently. The key is truly in the finish used on the wood. Why It's Waterproof: http://www.craft-art.com/why-craft-art-wood-countertops-are-waterproof/ Daily maintenance of our wood tops is very similar to granite. Clean with a mixture of white vinegar & water or a mild soap/detergent that contains no bleach or ammonia (just like granite!). Every 3 to 5 years if water stops beading up on the surface then you can simply reapply one coat of Waterlox. Check out the video(s) here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxe-rC_5mg37uKLwb2DoxQ How to Clean Craft Art Butcherblock Wood Countertops: http://youtu.be/SjzDCXp-wbE For a busy household some people choose to add our Distressing option so that scratches (which can naturally will happen over time) are disguised. I’ve included photos of distressed and non Distressed below. All of our wood species fall within a range of hardness that is best suited for countertop use. For example a 10’x5’ island would be made with full 10 foot long boards so that you do not have a choppy “hard wood floor” look. Each countertop is custom made to order and the boards go from lumber to the finished product in about 14 business days. You should definitely test water, red wine, mustard etc on a sample to see in person. https://store.craft-art.com/product-category/samples/organic-tung-oil-finish-samples/ I’ve attached lots of photos with our wood tops to help inspire you! (Photo Credits: 1. Mrs. Benink - homeowner- submitted photo, Black Walnut plank style with Farm sink 2. Photo submitted by homeowner who wished to not be named Black Walnut Plank style countertop. 3. Design by Classic Cabinetry (Christy) TN - Distressed Black Walnut Plank wood island countertop with undermount sink. 4. Beech edge grain - photo and countertop by Craft Art)

So the cheapest thing to do is "nothing". Put everything back on the counter and just "make do" with what has happened. You can add some very PLAIN areas rugs that work with the colours in the counter top (linen coloured without any pattern) that can cover some of the brick flooring. That will reduce the visual as much as possible. The next cheapest thing (it isn't cheap...but it's as good as we can get) would be a different counter top. Your floors read kinda yellowy-travertine-ish. I would find something that runs more to that colour rang rather than the cool brown-gray. If you love your counters, then you will need to look at the most expensive option = remove the flooring and try again. Personally, I vote for "do nothing" and see if it grows on you. You can always fix it at a later date.

So I do a lot of design work and have looked at a lot of different options when using quartz. Caesarstone is rated number 1 and Cambria is rated number 3. I personally love Honed London Grey. I used it in my own personal pool house kitchen and absolutely love the look of it. It mimics the look of marble with slight gray undertone. I have had guests mistake it for marble it’s that beautiful.One thing to watch for is when they install it make sure they DON’T get glue on the top of the countertop. When you clean it use soap and water with a microfiber cloth and then dry with another microfiber cloth. However, I am currently working on a project and we were looking at using Neolith. This product is absolutely stunning. However, you are very limited to how the corners are cut and also this affects the type of sink you use as well. When using Neolith corners need to be more squared. If you don’t mind using stainless sinks which could be under mounted then Neolith would work. Since we need white cast iron sinks we will be using Caesarstone Honed London Grey.