@Patricia Colwell Consultingwhat material do you recommend? We have had granite in many homes yet just not the look we are going for. We have also had marble (not intentionally- long story) in a kitchen which is horrific.

A trip to a stoneyard or two or three will show you the big wide world of stone choices; there's just so much to choose from nowadays, granite doesn't mean the speckled granite of days gone by. There's also soapstone and quartzite to consider; some quartzites are jaw-droppingly stunning.

@porkchop_z5b_MI thanks- we have been…all the true granite still looks the same to me. I do love quartzite but feel that is more of a risk than quartz?

(our back story is we re-did our counters with granite that turned out to be marble and they were ruined in 6 mths because we had no idea.) We want to make sure we replace with counters that do not etch/scratch, etc like we have now!

Cambria has Brittanica Gold or Warm that might work for you. Cambria is a solid product, have had it for years in my kitchen without any issues.

Cambria Portrush or Annika are both really nice too with gold undertones.

I disagree entirely with Patricia. Quartz counters are great. Look into Silestone and Dekton, both by Cosentino. They are also a more sustainable choice than using quarried natural stone.

If you like the look of Calacatta Oro marble, these choices might work for you. Here's Silestone Et Dor:

And here's Dekton Entzo:

If you use Dekton, make sure you have a fabricator certified to use it.

We have artic white cabinets with Silestone Calacutta Gold. We have very little specks of gold, but you can search for slabs that do if you if that is what you want.

Kelly, when we renovated this kitchen in our second home, as you, I wanted a different look than the granite we have up north.

Not sure why Patricia always knocks quartz when she doesn’t actually have it in her own home.

It cleans easily, doesnt stain when we miss something. It’s been two years now.

There are no 100% bulletproof choices that 100% meet your requirements for aesthetics. All counters will chip or scratch. All counters require that you use cutting boards to not ruin your knives or leave metal marks on the counter. All counters require the use of trivets to protect the counter from scorching or thermal shock. All counters will show wear and tear over time.

Your kitchen designer should be helping you to asses the least drawbacks of each material for your family, vs expense of the choice vs the aesthetics desired.

If function and value came first and were the only considerations, everyone would choose something like Uba Tuba, as it’s one of the toughest and most durable stones around. And one of the cheapest. You could replace it 5x over for the cost of some of the white quartzites. But almost no one wants dark green black counters these days. They will soon enough again though, as green and oak is the hot rising trend cycle, come around again.