I think it would look great in a kitchen with warm colors.

I love it, but EXPO design center stopped offering it because of the maintenance issues.

caligirl (or anyone else), do you have it in your kitchen? I love it aesthetically too but wondering about those maintenance issues...are they different than regular honed problems?

Sorry, I guess my message sounded like I have it by saying "I love it". I was actually just considering it in my plans but since it wasn't being carried anymore and Ceasarstone has similarly placed major caveats on their own honed surfaces, I had second thoughts. My family just isn't that keen on taking care of things and I can defintely see any of us leaving a coffee ring, tomato sauce or whatever on a counter overnight. I just don't need the worry!

i read A LOT of negative accounts in here a while back, but i did a search and can't locate the thread.

but many many people reported that it shows every little fingerprint and grease mark and one person even decided to pull it out and re-do her counters she hated it so much.

i remember because it was when i was researching countertops and we wanted a honed/matte surface. also read about caesarstone's honed issues and we ended up going with caesarstone polished because we just didn't want to deal.

The material itself is stain free. However, the individual tiny little rough crevices that make up the surface of the stone will hold all kinds of dirt and "stains". You can eventually remove them, but it's a big hassle. All honed finishes are like this. The roughness of the surface holds dirt. It's inescapable. That's why the stones have traditionally come in a polished finish. It's not just aesthetic, it's functionally easier to take care of.

thanks live wire oak - so I guess you don't think leather silestone is worth than other honed if I'm going to take the plunge to the honed world?

I've had a couple of samples of Silestone Grey Amazon leathered finish sitting in my kitchen for several months while I've pressed my fingers into them, oiled them, spilled (on purpose) all sorts of food, wine, vinegars, etc and had absolutely no ill effects. It truly seems pretty good! I've abused them pretty badly and they still look amazingly good. Now, these are just a couple of small surface pieces, so I'm not sure how it would look if you had a large expanse of this surface, but I decided to go with it. They should be installed in a week or so. I really believe that it will be perfectly fine - maybe it depends on the color of the quartz. What are you looking at?

Thanks faeriedust...I'm looking at black (tabac) color. I'm not commited to silestone, just the word on the street is quartz is best, so figure since I want the honed look to do the best...but people are making me question that...

Like I said, the material itself is stain free. You aren't going to ever put anything on it that will actually sink into the pores of the countertop. However, the texture itself will trap dirt and oils. The medium to dark finishes show this the least. The light and dark finishes show this the most. THe light shows the dirt, the dark shows the oils.

To me, it's a functionality issue. I don't want a countertop that traps dirt---even if it doesn't show. FOr functionality's sake, I want a countertop that shows when it's dirty, and is easy to get to a clean state when it gets dirty. Honed stone of any variety doesn't fit that bill. If I wanted a matte surface for a countertop, I'd pick good old laminate. It fits the bill of an easy cleanup and good looking without the sanitary issues.

For what it's worth, the samples of honed Caesarstone that I have (pieces about 6 inches square in four colors -- all grayish) seem as completely smooth as the polished. They're just not shiny. I guess they could have microscopic crevices but, if so, they aren't evident to the naked eye or to touch. If I hadn't gotten a great deal on soapstone, we would be going with the honed Caesarstone, I think (although we did have concerns about scratching -- not that I could actually scratch the CS when we were testing it).

I have leather silestone in a beige color as a homework center. You can see a close up under Stiles in finished kitchens blog. I haven't noticed problems with fingerprints and dirt. We draw, write, eat on the surface. So far, I like it!

Stiles, thanks SO much - your kitchen is stunning and so fun to look at!!