I love the durability of granite and really don't care if it's on trend. We've had it in our last two kitchens and most likely will have it in our next. The only other material I would consider is quartzite. All the other options are mentioned above are too high maintenance for me.

It's your forever house, please yourself. I have zero patience for soft, etchable surfaces (watch out for marble mislabeled as quartzite or "white granite"), no fondness for soapstone after a life at the lab bench, and couldn't find the right color and pattern in engineered quartz. So I have dirt cheap "steel gray" granite. Looks great for our color scheme, doesn't stain, doesn't smudge, and not crazy shiny. If the next buyers disagree... oh well, at least I didn't spend thousands extra trying to guess what would or wouldn't be trendy whenever we decide to move.
We did consider honed black granite, and it was too fingerprinty/smudgey for our tastes. Definitely test that.

Can't stand butcher clock.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:honed black granite is nice and isn't dated (it's the shiny granite that is getting a bit dated now).

+1. Soapstone and butcher block would also be great for your style house.

+1

Anonymous wrote:soap stone is easily marked up and can look ugly

granite is always in and good to except for certain styles or colors (greet granite, slots of large swirls etc...) The best is engeineered quartz, then granite.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815275631359.html

Are you the person who posts these same pics on every single thread where soapstone is mentioned? I'm the PP who actually has soapstone in our house and we've had no issues with water or other marks. Oiled it once on the day it was installed and still looks great.

OP, you should post your question over on the Gardenweb kitchens forum and see what they have to say. There are lots of people over there with honed granite and soapstone (marble too) who could help you weigh the pros and cons of each. To answer your original question, polished granite is looking dated but honed is probably still OK. I like obviously like soapstone since it's a material that would have actually been used in a 1900s farmhouse kitchen but I'm sure honed granite would look nice too if that's what you prefer.

Be very careful of hones surfaces, they show every cup mark, water stain, etc.

Granite is fairly timeless, it isn't trendy now but will hold up. The solid surfaces (caeserstone, silestone, etc.) are awesome - hard as granite, no maintenance - but are not going to be trendy picks either.

Soapstone is certainly trendy and is beautiful. It is more maintenance, and like concrete (which I personally love) will eventually go "out" of style.

Bottom line is, it's your forever house, get what you want. And feel free to mix materials - soapstone for main counters and thick teak or butcher block for another surface.

We just built a new house two years ago. We have all of these materials so I have some experience.

Wood/Butcher Block - I would say that I like the idea of our wood counter more than I like our wood counter. We have a large island in our kitchen and we did the bar side in wood and the sink side in marble. The wood wears well and we haven't had any issues but I also worry about it, move boxes off of it, constantly putting coasters under drinks, etc. I love it and someday that counter will help sell the house but I don't think it is the most practical material for a high traffic area and I wouldn't even consider it for the truly 'wet' side of the island.

Soapstone - I personally love it. I have it in our basement bathroom. Unlike the wood, it feels indestructible. It is a little bit soft and is prone to chipping. It has a wonderful dull appearance and lots of natural color variation. I think the more it gets used, the better it looks. If we were doing it again, I would probably use it in the kitchen. If I were choosing it, I would make sure I got to the stone shop and marked and took pictures of my slab. There is a lot of color variation from gray to green so if you are avoiding the green tones, the selection is even more important.

I would stay away from honed or exotic finished granite in a kitchen. Much more porous, will absorb some stains like red wine if you aren't careful. In natural stones, granite still has the most variation in color at the most reasonable price so I wouldn't rule it out - your home will not look dated. I don't see avacado appliances replacing stainless in high end kitchens, these things aren't cyclical - granite in some form is here to stay.

Polished surfaces just look dated to me and it's one of those things I would have to replace if I wanted to buy a place with it. I don't care how "nice" the granite is. Just don't like it.

I do on the other hand love honed marble. Go figure

Wood is also "in" right now. I wouldn't say granite is out of date, but look at the treatment of it. Instead of the polished, look at the leathered or other similarly-treated.

I have to say though - I absolutely love the soapstone. For an old farmhouse that is right on the money.

soap stone is easily marked up and can look ugly

granite is always in and good to except for certain styles or colors (greet granite, slots of large swirls etc...) The best is engeineered quartz, then granite.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815275631359.html

no it isn't as for butcher block i remembe rmy parents deciding on butcher block or granite in 1980 they went with butcher block and it is "back again" and granite is still around.

For an old farmhouse, I would go for soapstone with a look similar to this:



It's soft but any scratches are easily sanded out and, with a little mineral oil, it looks like new. We've had soapstone in our kitchen for 3 years now and love, love, love it.

Butcher block is also a great idea.

Anonymous wrote:honed black granite is nice and isn't dated (it's the shiny granite that is getting a bit dated now).

+1. Soapstone and butcher block would also be great for your style house.

honed black granite is nice and isn't dated (it's the shiny granite that is getting a bit dated now).

We are re-doing our kitchen (full scale overhaul and reno) in our forever home. I am reading everywhere and seeing everywhere that the hot new stone for kitchen is quartzite or something man-made (concrete or ceasarstone). Neither of these appeal to me, we live in a farmhouse (that's actually a farmhouse from the early 1900's) and we want something classic. Quartzite seems too soft, along with marble, and anything man-made seems too modern. While I agree with a lot of designers that certain types of granite are dated, the durability of granite seems to be the best choice (we'd most likely go with honed black). If you were not concerned with immediate resale value-what surface would you go with?