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Anyone have both polished and honed countertops in kitchen?

12 years ago

So I found a beautiful slab of Super White (slab yard called it Vermont white) but it is polished and I really don't love the polished look. I have wanted honed counter tops since I first saw them, on gardenweb of course! It seems to be hard to find honed materials in my area. I am thinking about going with the polished super white on my island and keep looking for something honed for the perimeter. Wanting to find some honed virginia mist but no luck so far. Any thoughts on mixing the two finishes?

Cabinets are painted white.

Comments (7)

felixnot
12 years ago
If they are the same color, they will look like a mistake...different colors, no problem.
bethcw
12 years ago
We do. We have polished marble on our big island and leathered nevada matrix granite on our perimeter. I love the look, and think it perfectly suits each of the stones. I don't love the look of honed light surfaces, and I don't love poilshed dark surfaces. Maybe I am weird.
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Hello, I'm not sure if there is a universal answer, but, I can give you my perspective. We chose polished marble for our countertop and I really like it. Polished marble is a bit easier to clean than honed, is shiney and gives reflection, and I believe doesn't etch quite as easily. Honed is great for floors where traction is needed. That's my 2 cents. I looked up pictures of Calcutta Vagli and it's beautiful! Please post pictures of your bathroom in progress, or when it's done. Can't wait to see it!
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Polished is shiny and honed is a matte finish. Acidic substances (limes, vinegar & many others) will etch marble. On a polished marble, it takes the "polish" right off. Honed marble also etches but is is less noticeable than polished. Many stoneyards have slabs that are already honed, so you don't necessarily have to pay extra to have them honed. There are many threads on GW about marble. Just google "gardenweb kitchen forum, marble." I believe I've read almost all of them. I still decided to get honed marble & I love it.
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Aesthetics are really personal preference since both look just fine. Don't you kind of know you prefer one over the other? I just knew I didn't care for glossy.
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If you getting Absolute Black granite, then I have two pieces of advice: - do not have it sealed. Real AB granite is so dense that sealant will just sit on top, and create a haze. Many complaints about AB arise from the installer sealing the granite--because they seal all granite counters as a matter of course after they've installed them. Then the granite shows hazy and streaky, and the homeowner thinks it's the granite's fault. They will then have to remove the sealant, which can be done, but is a PITA, and could have been avoided by not sealing the AB in the first place. - make sure it is real AB granite. Unfortunately, when AB became popular, other similar stones came on the market to jump on the bandwagon. Some of this "AB" isn't really black, but more of a dark gray, and then dyed black to look like AB. The imitation AB will etch, and leave gray spots as certain liquids come in contact with it that remove the dye. To be sure your AB is real, put a little lemon juice on a sample from where you are getting your AB. If the AB is not real, the sample will show gray where the lemon juice was. Real AB is so dense it would not be affected by lemon juice.
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Debbi Branka
12 years ago
Ask the stone yard or your fabricator - anything you find polished should be able to be honed by one of them. Having said that, we have polished blue pearl granite on our perimeter. We are having honed statuarietto white marble on our island.
francoise47
12 years ago
I'm not really answering your question -- sorry!

Our granite yard had only polished slabs of our granite.
We picked one and our fabricator honed it for a slight increase (10%?) in price.
nini804
12 years ago
Our carrara was polished and they honed it for our kitchen and butler's pantry. We used the same Carrara but kept it polished for our master bath vanity. I like the honed better...it looks lighter and "softer."

I do think it is fine to mix different stones and finishes in the kitchen, especially what you described. Sounds very pretty!
caminnc
12 years ago
Here is an excellent example of polished and honed used together.
caminnc
12 years ago
Bumping for dhuston.

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