IMO raidsed bars are a dated look and no mater what you do with them it will always be dated

Can you post larger individual photos, please? I can’t offer an opinion if I can’t see it. :)

It's still, as always, a matter of personal taste. The high end residential homes I do on a regular basis are still far more granite than any of the alternates including quartz although that could be a regional preference. However, I belong to a trade association of stone fabricators and no one is complaining about not being busy, in fact quite the contrary. We are doing more single level islands than we used to and the islands are getting larger often enough that I am spending over $5000 on a larger material handling device to handle those extra jumbo islands. I often wonder how you clean an island that is so large you can't reach the middle.

I have pretty much the same set up with the raised counter. I love it because my guests can sit in the living area and not see the mess in the kitchen. I cook major dinner parties ( mostly Cajun) and there’s no neat way to do it. I would rather have happy diners than a neat kitchen. I also just replaced old Hunter green counters with Hi-Mac. So happy. Multi surface spray and they are good to go. No granite for me.

IMO raidsed bars are a dated look and no mater what you do with them it will always be dated

Until they come back in again and everyone rushes to add "risers" to their flat islands.

Seriously, homeowners should build what they like /what suits their own spaces. Trends will come and go, and unless you're willing to remodel every few years, you'll never keep up with trends.

It depends. I'd take a 50-year-old Glacier White Corian, who has never had an argument with a floor or a backsplash, over some of the bizarro "LOOK AT ME!!" granites screaming here regularly.

Like everything else, granite can be done nicely ... or poorly. I do agree that Corian is easier "to get right" because it doesn't have pattern.

"In my opinion granite countertops are an inexpensive way to add that flair to almost any kitchen. Please share your experiences."

My experience is that granite would be completely out of place in our home, stylistically as well as philosophically. I want the flair in my kitchen to come from the glorious meals I create. I can buy a heck of a lot of really high quality food for the money I saved installing bamboo counters (total cost $300 for a 12x15 L shaped kitchen with 4x7 island). Even laminate was quoted at around $2000.

Always ask yourself ... who is asking the question and why?

"Do granite countertops really make a difference?"

Of course they do, if you are a "Kitchen & Bath Remodeler"!

I had a raised bar in a kitchen I use to have and I loved it. I also have big dinner parties and cook Cajun and Creole dishes. I could care less if something is in or out of style. If it is functional and I like it it goes in my kitchen. I would rather be a trend setter than a trend follower.

I have a question that is sort of off topic. On older homes is the floor structure able to hold all of the weight of stone counter tops and large island tops? It seems to me that older homes were not built to hold all this weight. Are homes going to have sinking kitchens in the future due to all of the weight of the stone?

I have a question that is sort of off topic. On older homes is the floor structure able to hold all of the weight of stone counter tops and large island tops? It seems to me that older homes were not built to hold all this weight. Are homes going to have sinking kitchens in the future due to all of the weight of the stone?

Granite looks better than the gray laminate or Corian in your before picture. But most people seem to prefer a quartz or marble right now. I've always hated the busy look of granite. Sorry, I won't be your customer but good luck!

Do you mean "make a difference" in a good way or a bad way?

I think you want commenters to prefer the picture on the right, with the granite, but I prefer the one on the left, which I suspect is the "before". I find it quieter.

Then again, I'm not a big fan of granite. For our new house, I selected Formica "Basalt Slate" for the perimeter counters and Carrara marble for the island. Granite was never an option for me.

Granite is inexpensive?

You real friends already know how messy you are. So you're not hiding anything from them. Which is exactly the same mess at their houses. That's why they're your real friends. So forget the raised bar unless you've got plenty of counter width. Like 30" at least.

"inexpensive"?! A small kitchen you are looking at what 20 linear feet of material? That is at least $1400 material cost in my area and then labor on top of it. That is assuming the cabinets survive the removal of the old counter! Many like to get creative which is very taste specific and probably not good for the long haul as marble and quartz are the cool kids now.

I am a fan of granite and chose it for my farmhouse kitchen when I refaced it, changed the island and countertop and backsplash. My designer and I would have considered ALL surfaces, but the "heft" of granite was right for my house. I found a rare light gray/green that looks gorgeous. It's really the star of the show.

What bugs me visually about both pictures is that the backsplash doesn't go all the way up to the the higher level.

I like my raised bar. It keeps stuff from falling off. :) I also would have preferred a wall to an island but my raised bar (with outlets!) lets me pretend I still have a proper galley.

Tony Montana, before you go declare censorship, there have been issues with the site recently with posts and whole threads going missing. There are lots of double threads started, because people can't find their new thread right away and start another one. Then the first one shows up hours later. I though my comments had disappeared on another thread and it turned out the person ended up with 2 identical looking threads because of that delay and my comments were in one but not the other! Very confusing.

Well I guess another one just magically disappeared.

I like granite a lot, though personally the ones with “movement” are not at all appealing. I also prefer leathered or honed finish over the shiny polished finish. I also like wood and Corian, though, depending on the use and application. I like marble but not for counters (too much “movement” and too delicate to care for). No experience with quartz so I can’t comment. I survived Formica for 20 years and it wore well, though I was glad to get rid of it.

Counter tops began being a design statement vs a functionality must. Many surfaces will hold up to the demands of a busy kitchen better than granite. It come down to how a kitchen is USED.

It's to expensive for me ..and from what I have read here about the problems people have had ..I don't think I would ever have it ..ordinary Laminate Worktops are a lot cheaper to changes and I have never had a problem with them in all the years I have had them !

If it's a matter of appearances, then by all means, the color(s) will dictate the choice. If the owner is wanting a product that will not change in appearance and functionality for decades, then granite is the obvious choice. In all my years in the business, we have never replaced granite with Corian or like products. The biggest complaint we get with Corian is the scratches, and nobody wants to be sanding their counter tops on a regular basis. If color is the deciding factor, then quartz is a better alternative.

When the pros and cons of a product are discussed, the harshest conditions applied to the product is usually the determining factor. With that in mind, no other mainstream counter top wil withstand the test of time better than granite when used for outdoor kitchens.

"Many surfaces will hold up to the demands of a busy kitchen better than granite." - this is an inaccurate statement. Most "granites" used for countertops are extremely durable and post installation problems are very infrequent. I can say this based on the very few instances of call backs on the many thousands of jobs I've fabricated and installed in the last 17 years. Staining is uncommon and heat damage, the primary cause of quartz countertop damage, is practically unheard of with natural stone.

**"granites" - the correct geological term for many of the stones used for countertops is not "granite" but anyone of a number of other types of stone (see Karin MT threads if you want to know more)

These kinds of posts are an odd form of spam. Contractors pushing their personal preferences on an audience that tends to know its own mind already. Barking up the wrong tree on this. Granite is passee in these parts, certainly the kind with lots of movement. In my house, we have marble. If I couldn’t have that, i’d go with plain Corian or Formica, maybe wood, never busy granite. That looks cheap and hides dirt too easily. There are some great stones with movement. CPArtist’s glorious quartzite, for example.

"busy" granite is from the natural world. With a tidy kitchen which can be easily achieved in a renovation with better and more storage, improved lighting, tweaks to a layout, granite can be a star....and there are many less busy, almost muted selections. I'd rather look at beautiful movement at eyelevel counters, chosen thoughtfully ,enhanced with the correct lighting.....than any gray or white cabinet fronts. Saying that, the cold of granite and the "hard" factor, are not positives. Granite altho supposedly [losing?] favor, has many positives. Never heard the description that "busy" granite looks cheap...maybe someone didn't pick the right slab.......but cheap??

Like I said before my comment was deleted. I have corian counters that are white and they look identical to quartz. Im pretty good with stones and I thought they were actually quartz. The previous owner installed them in 2003 and they still look brand new. Many people come over and ask if I just installed them. I just chuckle and say NO. And trust me, I abuse them. For the whole package, look and practicality, corian is unmatched. You can always get them repaired or repolished just like actual stone also. Fortunately I never had to do that yet. Amazing product!

Getting my parents 50 year old home ready for sale, the original white formica counter top looks brand new (this was a very busy household). I have had black, textured formica in past home and currently green, granite look (matte finish) for 19 years that looks brand new.
My point, there is nothing wrong with formica as long as it is installed correctly, high quality, and you take good care of it.

@ schnable, I agree, formica is a great product. But a house should have something more high end. Leave the formica to apartments of townhouses and such.

"Granite is passee in these parts … There are some great stones with movement. CPArtist’s glorious quartzite, for example." You would seem to contradict yourself. Your personal preference seems to be for stone with moderate movement which is typically the case. Only infrequently do customers select stone with a great deal of movement and then it is usually complemented by another stone that is much more muted. Most often a really exotic stone goes in a high end residential job where the owners give no consideration to resale. They are also usually large rooms where a busy stone is less overwhelming. All that said, an exotic stone with a lot of color and movement can be a beautiful part of a room.

I like kitchens that scream functional. Formica is fine with me, though I can do without the boomerangs. Give me marble with patina, glacier white Corian, soapstone or a solid colored Formica and I am fine. You can keep all the quartz and most of the granite.

For the OP so long as people are dissatisfied with what they have every seven to 10 years, he'll be getting paid for installing fashion accessories. Busy granite today. Calm quartz tomorrow. Churn, churn, churn.

Just because Formica is not the "in" thing doesn't mean it should only be fit for row houses and apartments. "High end" means the most expensive, not the best product for the job. Only fools buy a product because it is "in" or "expensive". When we moved in to our current house I could have any counter top I wanted. I did a lot of research and still went with Formica. For various reason I did not like a characteristics of other counters. Formica is a work horse, looks great, doesn't need sealed, doesn't crack or chip, doesn't need sanded, easy to clean, my favorite - I can bang the heck out of a piece of meat on it, roll dough out on it, and it doesn't stain. The only think I can not do on it is put hot pots on it or cut directly on it, but that is true for a lot of other counters. It is not necessarily cheaper. Mine cost more than some granite. How are those "high end" counters going to look in 20 years? My last house the counters were 24 year old Formica and they looked as good as the day they were installed.

Agree with Rita. Churn drives the industry. That's why it's important for homeowners to get what you love.

If you need someone to tell you what you love, you might as well just keep what you have.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who prefers Formica. Mine is 22 years old and looks as good as the day it was installed, despite heavy use for cooking, school projects, etc. I like that I don't have to worry about staining or chipping. Given my neighborhood I "should" have something higher end, but pffft, give me a practical finish any day.

For every surface,

churn, churn, churn

There is a contractor,

churn, churn, churn...

The lighting is pretty different in those pictures. The cabinets look grey in the before and cream in the after. Also such small slices of the space. Can’t see the floors or anything else. Not much of a real comparison.

Since we are all talking about our counters.. Know thyself. In 5/6 homes we have owned we have chosen the counter. I do not care for the quartz or corian looks. In my dream world I would have a stainless steel counter (lived with one in a mid century kitchen and worked in a community kitchen with them) but very cost prohibitive and not every kitchen looks good with them. Last home I wanted dark black/blue and soapstone was too costly so we had impala black "granite" (gabbro). In this house we wanted a white counter and know that marble and "granite" can be tricky to live with and no to corian and quartz. So we did what my mom did back in the early 90's when she wanted the same look but not the hassle- white marble looking matte laminate. No sealing or worry about stains. I can clean it with vinegar and my beloved green scrub sponge. Love it.

"On older homes is the floor structure able to hold all of the weight of stone counter tops and large island tops? It seems to me that older homes were not built to hold all this weight. Are homes going to have sinking kitchens in the future due to all of the weight of the stone?"

Waterbeds, stone tops, refrigerators, none of them are going to affect a house built to modern standards. On another thread, I just had a structural engineer concede that a house full of Sumo wrestlers dancing to the Pointers Sisters all night long would not do any structural damage.

In my newly renovated kitchen, I'm going with a HiMacs countertop. DH and I wanted a laminated countertop with a built up Baltic birch exposed edge. I honestly looked for a laminate I liked for weeks but couldn't find one -- I've got 15 samples sitting in the kitchen right now. We debated about glacier white Corian or Ice Queen Hi Macs, but the subtle sparkle of Ice Queen sold me. I am looking forward to getting the countertops installed in a couple of weeks.

When it comes to looks yes but if you want easy care and maintenance free surface I think quartz wins out for most people these days!

Flair? it screams I slapped in granite because I saw it on HGTV. the backsplash looks silly not going all the way up and looks cheaply done... flair would have been a waterfall sides, backsplash all the way to counter, or better not ledge...

Of course granite makes all difference! Going back home and touching nature`s premium raw material: touching a stone, where all evolved on top of! Taking a shower, being thankful for the day, with the nature inside home...

Strength, sparkle, reflection of light: just few of endless attributes of granite