Thanks cat_mom and Maggie, hi and thanks for your interest! I don't have any pics yet beyond the last batch I posted awhile back as to choices... we're about to order the stuff although I've already got the vanity. The big decisions were whether to tile up the walls or not ... I asked the contractor to go ahead and work into his final estimate that we'll do so ... and the tub. I have a deep old white cast iron tub that I am 90% sure I'm going to have reglazed, because it is a tight fit into the alcove and nothing I'm seeing is really quite as thin and also deep and also cast iron. So if we do that, bathroom will be: Black wood vanity, 49" kohler black enamel cast iron vanity top, black tub, black toilet (hoping for Kohler Santa Rosa if the rough-in will fit), and absolute black 12x12 tiles 8' up the wall. Above that will be an off/soft white flat paint section and ceiling, and the door will be that color. Will have a beveled 4'x4' mirror and a beveled-mirror medicine cabinet. All the fixtures will be brass, and probably the knobs on the vanity too. Going with a couple round brass robe hooks (really knobs) instead of towel racks. Getting a black porcelain recessed toilet roll holder, and will have two 12x12 granite recessed niches in the tub alcove for shower and bath use. Will very likely add an all-glass sliding tub door ... though I'd love to do without that and without a shower curtain ideally ... I'm more of a bath person. (I was thinking I could always stash a shower curtain and rod in the hall closet for shower use occasionally... but most likely will go with the sliding glass door. I'm going to get a black plantation shutter box for the bathroom window. And for lighting I will likely have a sconce on each side of the vanity with a black silk pleated shade... so there will be soft light and it will go up and down from the sconces. I may add a dimmable recessed light above the vanity but really would like to leave that option open (pre-wired) till I see what that place looks like and how much I have to tinker with lighting to get the soft glowy effect I'm after instead of glare from all the shiny black and brass. :)

I guess I'l be the one who hasn't had any maintenance issues with honed AB. I love it! And I don't baby it, either. Like you, I wanted a not-shiny dark stone: my first choice was slate, but I was told it cracks, flakes, sheds - I can't even remember all the things it does, the saleswoman scared me off it so fast! Didn't want marble. Didn't want synthetic. Liked the reasonable price of granite. Read all the reviews here on GW that said it shows every fingerprint and watermark and fleck of dust... but this simply hasn't been true for us. We have it on our sink run and our deep sink splashes plenty. We mop up the water after doing the dishes - but I wouldn't call that a maintenance nightmare... I would mop up water or spills on ANY counter... Not sure why AB gets a bad rep - I think it looks sharp, we have had ZERO problems. Now, I wish I could say the same about my wood island top.... This isn't a great picture, but since you asked:

AB...I think if you use an enhancer on honed AB the fingerprint issue goes away. As to sealing vs not sealing it, I suggest you get a sample of it unsealed and test it...if water sits on top of it and sort of beads up (i.e., isn't absorbed) then it probably does not need to be sealed. Kevin (AZStoneConsulting) has said that he's found some ABs that do need sealing...but not all do. To me, anyone who makes a blanket statement that all AB must be sealed either doesn't really know what they're talking about or are lying... (probably the former). There are a lot of people out there that think all stones have to be sealed and that's not the case. [I admit it, I was one of those who thought all granites had to be sealed...b/f I started actually learning about it. Later, I was pleasantly surprised when my KD mentioned in passing that while most of their granites are sealed, my AB would not be b/c it didn't need it...I already knew that, but it was nice to hear it from her! I did take home a sample to be sure my stone was not dyed and did the other tests while I was at it...it passed all tests with flying colors!] Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Stone Information and Advice (& Checklists)

I know this has been asked and answered But I still need some help. After an extensive search for a slate counter top I settled for honed black granite. The owner of the quarry guaranteed me he would seal it before delivery and it would not leave any discolorations. That did not happen, the installers just wiped it down with a sealer and when epoxy was used for the sink glue residue & finger prints set in as well as every splash of water after the faucet was connected. I called the dealer?quarry the next day and he said he would take care of it. 1 week later everything was leaving stains even if I wiped it immediately, splatter from the stove just spread with each wipe. I called again and told him he needed to send someone over to remove the stains and reseal it properly. His response was well it's stone it's going to do that?????? but he would sell me a sealing kit!!!!I responded what good is that if it's stained. he said use bleach, didn't work either. Help! this guy lied to me and now I'm stuck with a top that is getting worse by the day, is there something wrong with this stone? What can I use to remove the glue stains & food splatter, water marked do come up if I repeated scrub them but that's all day every day???????