I've had marble counters since October. They're honed and well sealed and haven't stained in spite of me. They do etch, no getting around it. Honestly? I got my first etch (from guacamole) on day 2 and I was a wreck. Jeez Louise, I thought to myself - I made the wrong decision. This stuff is gonna look terrible in no time. Well, I'm here to tell you that my love affair with my Carrara marble counters is as strong as ever. There are several etch marks, and I defy you to find them. I don't notice them anymore. I don't knock myself out anymore about a pristine look in my kitchen. (God knows I didn't have a pristine kitchen before -- I'm 59, why start now??) There are no scratches, but it will scratch if you drag something rough-edged on it. I've got ogee edges and no nicks, not even from the barstools that my husband likes to KLUNK when he gets up. Wine bottles are opened and used on the counter every night - no dings. It was sealed twice initially, but I didn't get the "hang" of sealing correctly until I did it a third time about a month later. I won't have to seal it again for a long, long time. Everything cleans up beautifully. My marble pleases me every time I walk into the room. This is true love. I have some decision-regrets in our renovation, but not about my marble, Sisters.

I had soapstone and White Princess at my old house and we are starting demo of my new(old) house, so I am going through the thought process again of whether I can live with the marble. I like that that you have reiterated what I seem to hear on this forum--that those that want marble and go into the decision with full disclosure and info gathering, find it to be a wonderfully beautiful material. I am leaning toward marble this time, mostly because I have not found that the color of the White Princess quartzite these days to be the color that I am looking for. Thanks for adding yet another opinion--that's what I love about these boards. You hear both sides of most every material/decision.

I don't know what you consider "long term" but I've had my soapstone for about two and a half years. I have one of the softer varieties, so it does have its share of chips and scratches, but I still LOVE it and I think it looks great and feels fabulous. Four different people who were remodeling their kitchens and were on the fence about soapstone have come to my house to check out my counters in person. I purposely did not oil or anything before they came, just so they could see it at its worst to be able to make an informed decision. All four decided to go ahead with soapstone in their own kitchens, so it must have looked pretty good to them, too.

There are so many good ones. The brand above is I Marmi. I like Porcelonosa as well - their cermaic version is kick ass. You pick tile like you shop for clothes or perfume. It's your take. Your likes. I tell my clients if they reach out because they want to touch it or feel it they most likely love it. I have noticed this over the years. People say "Don't you just love this?" while they are rubbing or caressing the tile sample. I do the same. It's like a body defence thing. We are checkign to see if there is any flaw with the tile. The link above will take you to my blog where you can see more pictures of the install process.