A white sink and a speckled countertop should hold up pretty well. I had a navy blue sink in my old bathroom and I know what you're talking about. You look at it with a mouth full of toothpaste and it turns white. The bisque sink we have downstairs stays FAR cleaner far more easily. Granite that speckled will also hide toothpaste droppings and it's a higher end look.

I got a kick out of your wanting the best that would look good dirty! One thing I am surprised at- I am looking at both and from where I see it, the cultured marble is significantly cheaper than granite.

You can get off the shelf granite from china pretty cheap nowadays. A custom top from a granite shop, even out of a remnant (unless you have someplace that gives remnants away - places around here don't and charge about 50-75% of the original price for a remnant fabricated), will be significantly more expensive. On the other hand swanstone (plastic) and corian (also plastic) will be less expensive than prefabricated off the shelf granite countertops.

I think the "Meteorite" granite will hide water marks and stuff fairly well, if it's the one I'm envisioning. I have Absolute Black in our powder room and it's a total PIA to keep clean. Water marks everywhere, I can't keep up. The granite holds up a lot better than the cultured marble in my experience. I had a white cultured marble vanity top in my last house and I managed to melt part of it with my curling iron.

Thank you all. You've made my decision easy!

And btw, for those who were asking, at two kitchen/bath showrooms, the pre-fab granite counter (including backsplash and undermount sink) was EXACTLY the same price as cultured marble. I couldn't believe it either.

Hey mmme that was me asking bout the price of prefab franite and cultured marble~ so where are you located? I haven't looked too diligently, but from what I have seen, the (prefab)granite seems to be about 3 times the price of the cultured marble.
I would love to find it for the same price as the faux-y marble...

sheilaaus122,
The KD here told me that it was a relatively new option in their shop. But I know I've seen similarly priced versions of the same thing at HD and Lowe's. At the kitchen shop, however, I had the option to customize slightly (add a sidesplash, choose from multiple granites rather than just three, and get a larger size).

I really prefer the look of granite and an undermount sink over the cultured marble appearance. If there is little or no cost difference, I'd definitely go with granite. Over time it won't become dated like the cultured marble does. I'll agree they're pretty durable and easy to maintain, which I'm all about, but not significantly more so than an undermounted sink in granite.

Ever read about how to care for cultured marble? Including what products should never touch it? That put me right off the product. I'd go for granite around kids.

I recently bought a stock granite vanity top (including basin) at Home Depot for $199. The clerk told me it was not as thick as "regular" granite, which is one of the reasons it was cheaper.

Anyone have any experience with this?