Isn't amazing how "snobbish" some people can get. If this surface works for you, then just do it. You can always upgrade them later to marble if you choose.

I have had these cultured marble counters in bathrooms in the past, and they were fine. I have had both polished and honed finishes, and prefer the honed. But they do scratch. Since you have them now, you probably already know that. I don't think they're that much less than granite, and there are some awfully nice looking granites that look like marble.

Your house sounds like it will be wonderful and if you want to use cultured marble it will probably look great.

Have you looked at white granites? Some look a bit like marble, but might wear better. Kashmir White and River White are 2 that come to mind. Quartzite might work too. I don't have quartzite so no 1st hand experience, but from what I have read it is durable (more than marble, possibly as much or more than granite.)

Kashmir white granite:
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White quartzite:

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foolish? no

do you like it?

I haven't had Cultured marble, I've been in bathrooms with it. I don't mind the material so much as I don't like the execution I've seen. basically shallow sinks, 4 inch centerset faucets etc. but then I've been looking at off the shelf at home depot.

there is also corian and swanstone and the like

for our secondary bathroom we're doing actually a ceramic top, american standard makes one in a 31" size.

Thanks, y'all!
Chicagoans- those slabs are lovely! Actually, something like that Kashmir white might look fine in those baths, I hadn't seen such a "white" granite before...I adore the quartzite, but I think it might be more expensive than my "mid grade" granite allowance, and since I am going over on my kitchen and master baths...I certainly am not going to go over on the kids! :)

ChrisK- What is a ceramic top? That sounds very nice and pretty.

I would say do what you want! I have cultured marble in the kids baths now and I agree it is practical (except it does melt!!!!) - just don't love the plastic-y look of mine. They make all sorts of solid surface type countertops that would look more updated - I think the cultured marble probably looks better now than it did 18 years ago when our current (spec) house was built.

Heat is the enemy for cultured marble so I would be concerned about using it in your daughter's bath. Those are the only issues I have had - when someone is visiting with a curling iron, flat iron, etc. We have a couple of spots on one of the vanities from that (not discolored, just a little melted looking!). For a truly bulletproof surface, I would look at Ceasarstone, Silestone, Zodiaq, etc. (all man made quartz). They are bullet proof - we have it in our current bath and you cannot hurt it - nail polish remover, hair dye (even if it is left on there til it darkens), etc. all come off easily with no damage.

Not sure what your allowance is but we are planning on using it in our boys baths - not big vanities and I know we won't have to be replacing it for damage down the road.

If you like cultured marble, get cultured marble!

We had polished cultured marble (white on white with gold flecks and streaks) in all three bathrooms in our old house for 25 years. It looked just as marvelous when we moved out as the day we installed it. I hear complaints that cultured marble doesn't wear well but I dyed my hair in those bathrooms all the time and our cultured marble never stained or got scratched. The only thing I ever did was make sure I never used anything scratchy to clean it with and every once in a while (like maybe once a year) I would put a coating of turtle wax on it.

I would happily have used the same cultured marble in our new home except I couldn't find anyone who made the particular color combo we had. We had purchased ours from a big box store that has since gone out of business and tho I looked everywhere, nobody seemed to be making quite the same color combo anymore so I ended up with silestone which looks nice but not nearly as light and airy as the cultured marble.

Go with what you like! It's not as if you don't have any experience with cultured marble. It is a perfectly fine surface. The only reason people look at you like you've lost your mind is that granite is all the rage right now and cultured marble is "out." I'll bet that in 15 or 20 years, when all the new high-end homes are using something else for countertops, if someone suggests they're thinking of using granite, they'll get the same "have you lost your mind" look! LOL.

I guess its called fireclay? either or, the description and link are below

American Standard 7820.800 22 7/8" x 31 1/8" Fireclay Vanity Top with Three Faucet Holes and 8" Centers from the Newbern Collection

http://www.faucetdirect.com/american-standard-7820-800-22-7-8-x-31-1-8-fireclay-vanity-top-with-three-faucet-holes-and-8-centers-from-the-newbern-collection/p102515

The cultured marble I have seen looks plastic, but maybe it has been improved? Have you consider Caesarstone? We have a color that looks very much like limestone.

For my new build I chose cultured marble c-tops because I couldn't pick anything else at the time. I plan to replace them in the future with remnant pieces of granite/marble etc whenever I can decide! I wen't into decision overload after awhile and finally came to the realization that those were some of the easiest to replace! Now the Cabinets were a whole other story, talk about obsessed!

I put solid white cultured marble (no swirls at all) in my kids' bath when we had to renovate five years ago. It looked fabulous and not plasticky at all. I will say if it had stayed looking that good, I'd be happy. But you can now see some slight scratches in certain lights where things have been scraped across the counter (whether it was the tissue box or toothbrush holder or whatever). I know one scratch occurred because my 9 year old had an orthodontic device and had to use a waterpick for a while before brushing and he moved the waterpick tub across the counter. Also, something kind of heavy must have been dropped in one of the sinks because there's a small dent in the side of one of the sink bowls. I swear if I pressed on it, it might puncture through. I'm scared to try as I'll have to replace the whole darned countertop.

So in a nutshell, with our upcoming build, we will NOT put cultured marble in any bathroom. I will look at other surface options that are more durable and solid. I'd much rather not be able to see the scratches or not get scratches if you move a cup or a tissue box cover, toothbrush holder, etc. across the counter and not have to worry about a possible hole or gouge if something is dropped. It seems other surfaces camouflage things better and are more durable.

Cultured marble has come a long way from the 1970s stuff my grandmother had in her bathroom. I am thinking of the same type of countertops in my boys' bathrooms when we build. I didn't want stone or quartz because my boys are rough. I looked around and love that rynone products have cultured marble that looks like granite. I'm really looking into it being what I place in their baths. I'm attaching their brochure. The cultured marble section is toward the end of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rynone brochure-Imagination series

Tiffany - quartz (the manmade stuff like Silestone or Ceasarstone) is totally bulletproof. I can't imagine your boys could hurt it and I have three boys and a husband - and none of them are at all careful. Just FYI!

The cultured marble we have was damaged by a fake-fingernail solvent I was trying to apply to a broken fingernail. I think it was the surface cleaner, not the glue. It melted the resin but I only notice it from certain angles. I don't know if fingernail polish remover will leave a mark on cultured marble resin.