I voted for the granite for a few reasons: I think the colors will go best with your cabinets; I prefer natural stone and I don't love the pattern of the quartz (YMMV); I worry that marble would be harder to maintain. However, I'd recommend that you bring home samples to view in your own light next to the cabinets, and do some testing. Here's an articleabout testing stone.

@chicagoans It's not actually marble. It's dolomite. Not sure if that changes things. It's easier to take care of than Real marble but slightly more maintenance (sealing required) than granite. I know granite also requires sealing for proper upkeep, but most people don't and get away with it.

non of the above for the whole space.

I would choose any dramatic granite for the "Buffett" countertop, and a simple White for the kitchen area, with an interesting White textured tile backsplash for a white on white working kitchen.

@Lyn Nielson, I appreciate your opinion, but these are the options available within our budget.

Normally I love a nice quartz, but that one is not nice. I think the granite would be really nice. It has some color and movement. I do like the cloudy as well but something about the pattern is odd. Get yourself a nice backsplash tile and it will look great!

@Debbi Washburn It's not the best picture of the Apen Quartz. Google would show better samples than my photo (which has a dirty plastic film wrap). I wonder if that changes your opinion or if you don't like the look in general. It's more similar to the photo attached.

Still too white for me. Are you painting the walls or are they staying white?

I'm a color person - I like pattern and contrast.

So not fake pladtic stone so no quartz. Then the other 2 are at least real , marble has some issues for sure and IMO granite is darn close to bullet proof . I do wonder why the kitchn is where it is and for sure you need a ton more lighting since no windows.. I have used polished granite in my clinets homes for years and no sealing required for me no brainer

Think about what the space wants given the layout, narrowness, lighting, asymmetry of counters. These are the most important things to consider - not just what you like as far as a slab.

I'm not a fan of quartz, but I like the first aspen quartz you posted. The lines are in a random pattern, which I find appealing because it doesn't look like a fake marble, and the color is just beige enough that it doesn't look like you were trying to match the white cabinets but missed. Still it falls a bit flat. The other aspen pics you post are not good - they do look like faux marble and like a cabinet color mismatch.

I don't like the granites .you posted. It is one thing to look at the slab as an entire field, but once you imagine sectioning it up into rectangular pieces, it is going to look really hodgepodge where the splashes of blue and other flecks land and it doesn't do anything for your space as a whole.

I'd consider wood for your buffet and corian color matched to the counters for the rest of your kitchen. Your kitchen is a narrow galley and the uniformity of counter to cabinet will help open it up and make it look larger and brighter. Wood and corian are quite affordable options.

I'm partial though because this combo is what I have. I have a narrow galley, can afford any marble, granite, quartzite, and after relentless shopping I ended up with this combo because it is **what the space wanted**. The combo looks great and happened to be way less expensive than other options I considered.

The rest of your space seems gloriously sun filled compared to the kitchen. Do you have plans to add more lighting?