Marble counters

[Anonymous]

Marble does not stain easily. I can guarantee you that no one who claims that actually has marble counters. We cook all the time. I have a DH who loves to cook and is a total slob, plus two messy sons. We spill- red wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce, mustard- you name it. And we drink red wine all the time too. You will not find a single stain on my marble.

My contractor tried talking me out of the marble because of the "staining." I'm so happy I ignored his advice and instead relied on the experiences of all my friends with stain-free marble. We are looking at moving and the first thing I'd do to any new house would be to tear out the granite (or quartz or whatever is in the old kitchen) and replace it with marble. It's a beautiful, easy look.

PS- Personally, I cannot stand the look of Silestone. It looks like fake marble, granite or limestone, plus it's full of triclosan, which is toxic. Just use the real thing.

And to answer your question, yes, I think marble will look great with IKEA cabinets. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What sort of cooking do you do?
I really wanted Calcutta marble, but it is impractical with the turmeric, paprika and all the other spices I use on a daily basis.

It's actually not. I have honed Calcutta and often cook Indian food using turmeric, curry, etc. Spilled spices wipe right off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marble does not stain easily. I can guarantee you that no one who claims that actually has marble counters. We cook all the time. I have a DH who loves to cook and is a total slob, plus two messy sons. We spill- red wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce, mustard- you name it. And we drink red wine all the time too. You will not find a single stain on my marble.

My contractor tried talking me out of the marble because of the "staining." I'm so happy I ignored his advice and instead relied on the experiences of all my friends with stain-free marble. We are looking at moving and the first thing I'd do to any new house would be to tear out the granite (or quartz or whatever is in the old kitchen) and replace it with marble. It's a beautiful, easy look.

PS- Personally, I cannot stand the look of Silestone. It looks like fake marble, granite or limestone, plus it's full of triclosan, which is toxic. Just use the real thing.

And to answer your question, yes, I think marble will look great with IKEA cabinets. Enjoy!

You must be visually impaired

[Anonymous]

I had white marble countertops in my last house and it did etch a few times and had a couple of stains here and there, but it was beautiful and I wouldn't hesitate to put it in my new house if I could afford it.

[Anonymous]

We were looking at bathroom counters last year and I loved marble. I wound up taking home a sample and trying out various substances and it easily etched and stained. We wound up with quartzite and I'm very happy with the decision. It behaves more like granite but has whites and grays.

[Anonymous]

I have white Carerra marble counters in my kitchen and I love them. The marble is honed, which is a little more delicate, but unless you are a complete slob, who doesn't ever wipe down your counters it shouldn't be a problem.

We cook and entertain a lot, so we have spills of red wine, and cooking spills, but as long as they are not left there for overnight it isn't a problem.

I do have 2 etched spots, one, someone was slicing lemons on the counter with out a cutting board and the juice made a small mark, another, someone was peeling basically an entire bag of grapefruit on the counter and not on a platter or anything and it made a mark. Over time though, those marks have disappeared.

We have Silestone in White Diamond at our beach house and I really like it there, it is in a kitchen with dark gray cabinets. We chose that for the beach because it seemed indestructible and we rent the place out. It doesn't look like fake marble or granite.

[Anonymous]

We did an ikea white gloss kitchen in our old house, and did white quartz counters on the walls, and carrera marble on the island. The kitchen was spectacular (and not that expensive), and we sold the house for $200k more than we paid, less than two years later - kitchen and painting being the only major upgrades. The kitchen was definitely what sold the house.

Our carrera did not stain per se, but if you looked at it from a particular angle, you would see what looked like watermark type blotches on it. Perhaps this is what people talk about when they say "staining"? We used the island as our everyday dining table, and cooked every night in there, spilled red wine etc. Marble is very nice.

Don't do granite. It is very 2002 (and was tacky then too). You only see granite in houses designed by low-end builders and/or people who just ask Home Depot or a similar level place to design their kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Go for it if you love the look. I almost went w/marble but chose soapstone for my kitchen intend and marble in the master and second bath. Love them both. I researched the pros and cons of both and I think if you really love them you should go for it. The only way I would settle for something I didn't love is if I knew I was someone who would freak out if my counter got a little ding or etching spot on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did an ikea white gloss kitchen in our old house, and did white quartz counters on the walls, and carrera marble on the island. The kitchen was spectacular (and not that expensive), and we sold the house for $200k more than we paid, less than two years later - kitchen and painting being the only major upgrades. The kitchen was definitely what sold the house.

Our carrera did not stain per se, but if you looked at it from a particular angle, you would see what looked like watermark type blotches on it. Perhaps this is what people talk about when they say "staining"? We used the island as our everyday dining table, and cooked every night in there, spilled red wine etc. Marble is very nice.

Don't do granite. It is very 2002 (and was tacky then too). You only see granite in houses designed by low-end builders and/or people who just ask Home Depot or a similar level place to design their kitchen.

Again, granite is not tacky or outdated, certain styles are, in fact it is the most durable natural stone which gives it great beauty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go for it if you love the look. I almost went w/marble but chose soapstone for my kitchen intend and marble in the master and second bath. Love them both. I researched the pros and cons of both and I think if you really love them you should go for it. The only way I would settle for something I didn't love is if I knew I was someone who would freak out if my counter got a little ding or etching spot on it.

the horror show continues here
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815275631359.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did an ikea white gloss kitchen in our old house, and did white quartz counters on the walls, and carrera marble on the island. The kitchen was spectacular (and not that expensive), and we sold the house for $200k more than we paid, less than two years later - kitchen and painting being the only major upgrades. The kitchen was definitely what sold the house.

Our carrera did not stain per se, but if you looked at it from a particular angle, you would see what looked like watermark type blotches on it. Perhaps this is what people talk about when they say "staining"? We used the island as our everyday dining table, and cooked every night in there, spilled red wine etc. Marble is very nice.

Don't do granite. It is very 2002 (and was tacky then too). You only see granite in houses designed by low-end builders and/or people who just ask Home Depot or a similar level place to design their kitchen.

Don't take advice from this moron, using cheap ikea particle board cabinets and high end countertop materials? And to think you have any type of judgement or repertoire to make claims granite is bad? Please you are ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

We have marble in our kitchen and have not had any issues with staining. And we cook A LOT and are pretty messy + 3 kids… However, there are tons of watermarks on the marble. We try not to leave a cold glass directly on it but like I said we have three kids, one who is a teenager and may not think about a coaster In any case, we love the marble look and are happy with it but the watermarks are definitely something to think about. We have not seen any staining though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marble does not stain easily. I can guarantee you that no one who claims that actually has marble counters. We cook all the time. I have a DH who loves to cook and is a total slob, plus two messy sons. We spill- red wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce, mustard- you name it. And we drink red wine all the time too. You will not find a single stain on my marble.

My contractor tried talking me out of the marble because of the "staining." I'm so happy I ignored his advice and instead relied on the experiences of all my friends with stain-free marble. We are looking at moving and the first thing I'd do to any new house would be to tear out the granite (or quartz or whatever is in the old kitchen) and replace it with marble. It's a beautiful, easy look.

PS- Personally, I cannot stand the look of Silestone. It looks like fake marble, granite or limestone, plus it's full of triclosan, which is toxic. Just use the real thing.

And to answer your question, yes, I think marble will look great with IKEA cabinets. Enjoy!

I agree with all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Marble does not stain easily. I can guarantee you that no one who claims that actually has marble counters. We cook all the time. I have a DH who loves to cook and is a total slob, plus two messy sons. We spill- red wine, balsamic vinegar, tomato sauce, soy sauce, mustard- you name it. And we drink red wine all the time too. You will not find a single stain on my marble.

My contractor tried talking me out of the marble because of the "staining." I'm so happy I ignored his advice and instead relied on the experiences of all my friends with stain-free marble. We are looking at moving and the first thing I'd do to any new house would be to tear out the granite (or quartz or whatever is in the old kitchen) and replace it with marble. It's a beautiful, easy look.

PS- Personally, I cannot stand the look of Silestone. It looks like fake marble, granite or limestone, plus it's full of triclosan, which is toxic. Just use the real thing.

And to answer your question, yes, I think marble will look great with IKEA cabinets. Enjoy!

You must be visually impaired

+1. Or you're just very good about cleaning up immediately, which is great. Any liquid that's allowed to dry on Marble will enter the pores and create a watermark/stain. We've got it in our masterbath and while it still looks great at a distance or on a glance, there are tiny little water marks all over it that are visible when the light hits them the right way.

I think marble kitchen counters are gorgeous, but they 100% require more maintenance and immediate attention ... i.e., like during the cooking, not after dinner.

[Anonymous]

There is a good amount of quartzite that does look like marble, some varieties are softer and will etch. You can get any stone sealed, but you still need to be careful. You can also get a acid wash treatment (can't remember exactly what they called it). It makes for a matte finish so even when it etches, you can't see it.

We just redid out kitchen with brown fantasy quartzite and I absolutely love it.

As far as cabinets go, I know there is a huge number of people who love the Ikea cabinets. I've seen them in houses and thought they looked great. When we went to go look at them in the showroom I thought they looked awful. I ended up going with a ready to assemble custom kitchen cabinet maker. have have been very happy with them too.