I put in granite in my kitchen 8 years ago --- back then KDs simply said you CANT use marble --- and regretted it every day.

If you can live with imperfection, do it. If it will drive you crazy, maybe try wood?

You know, my dh mentioned the thought that he might like stained wood on the top of the island. Hmmmm...that might look "softer" than the granite, although I would probably stain it fairly dark because 5" wide white oak floor is going to be stained dark brown... I wonder if it would hold up as well as the granite?

I would personally rather do work and eat on a wood surface rather than a granite surface. It would not be as impervious as granite, and will require some upkeep and will acquire some age, but thats what wood surfaces do...

My advice to you is to stay away from marble on any of your kitchen countertops!

Granite is great, if you can find the color you're looking for, but my personal recommendation is to go with quartz. It's absolutely beautiful, virtually maintenance free, and usually comes with a warranty.

Some of the quartz surfacing companies even offer a honed finish, which I believe you said you liked.

My suggestion would be to do a little research and check out the different quartz surfacing companies...my personal favorite and advice to you is OKITE because they have an exclusive veined collection, which not only looks like marble, but some of the colors come in honed.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Okite Quartz Surfacing

I always feel a little unqualified to weigh in on marble discussions since mine's not yet installed, but I loved marble so much that I just couldn't be happy with anything else on my island (which is just about the same size as yours). Our perimeter countertops are soapstone, but my heart was always stuck on my marble island.

Anyway...

I have 12 children, ranging from 4-20, and most of them cook (or help cook). I can live with etched marble. I can't live with granite. ;o)

I would be worried about marble etching also, but I LOVE the look of it. Many folks around here have marble work surfaces. From what I gather, you just have to be able to accept the patina it will develop from this. I'm too much of a perfectionist. I think it would drive me bonkers running around cleaning up every little spill. I cook every meal at home and use a lot of acidic foods.

In your case, it sounds like there will be quite a bit of marble so maybe a visual break on the island would be good. Wood would look nice. You don't have to stain it dark because your floors will be. In fact, some contrast between the colors would be nice. Many folks here have wood tops and love them. I think it's a great material choice.

I love the idea of a dark wood island top but you could also consider soapstone. It is a great partner with marble and is less of a solid black than the absolute would be. You can get ones with lots of veining to really break it up...

We had a considered a gray/black marble for our kitchen, bardiglio, and that could also work for you. It has variety in it and shows up less due to the variation in color.

In any case, I'd shy away from the solid blacker granites because they are a pain to keep looking clean. They show streaks, smudges and the slightest crumb.

Besides showing streaks, Absolute Black will absorb some of the light that you designed into your kitchen. It will affect the color of your paint and the lighting you select.

The options such as soapstone, wood, gray marble are all good ones. Each one has pros and cons that need to be worked out.

nini, it sounds like you and I are doing the same kitchen.

When you say marble, do you mean white marble?

I wanted the old timey white marble with gray streaks look, but didn't want the problems that go with marble.

There's a quartz, the real stone not engineered/manufactured, also called quartzite. It has the look of marble, but is bullet proof like quartz.

Mom used it in her kitchen in the thread linked below. Her post with pictures is a little ways down in that thread.

I priced it in our area and the real stone was a lot cheaper than the manufactured quartz, plus to me it looks a whole lot better. I couldn't find a manufactured quartz that didn't look manufactured.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quartzite that looks like marble

Thank you all so much for all of this great info!! I have a lot to think about now! That quarzite looks beautiful...I will check that out as well.