uh, are you more likely to spill flour or chocolate?

Generalization is dangerous, but generally, dark granites like Uba Tuba are less porous, making them less prone to staining. Many don't need sealing at all, and won't etch.

Lighter stones tend to be more fragile. Most won't etch, but should be sealed.

I have dark granite - Peacock Green. It shows black, but it is very dark green with bursts of blue and some black and brown specs. It does not need to be sealed and does not stain or discolor when somethign spills, however, it does show every fingerprint. I am always wiping it with a microfiber cloth to "erase" the fingerprints and streaks when it is wiped.

A long time ago, people commented here on the way darker countertops reflected the undercabinet lighting and fixtures. (This was when the fixtures were on.) I'd assume that you can check this out in kitchen display shops to see if this is an issue.

jayne

Do you prefer dark or light? Stones in both groups have advantages and disadvantages depending on the stone.

It depends if you want to see if there is dirt on your countertop or not:-)

I have Canac Cellini Monaco birds eye honey-lacquered cabinets with shiny black trim and a shiny black are under each drawer to open it. Absolute Black granite countertops made it really pop.

I put Canac Signature Polo cabinets in espresso-stained finish on my 100" island, built-in desk, and a tall pantry closet. I installed River Gold granite on the island, which reflects many of the colors in the room and lightens things up. With a Diva de Provence DPP-5 induction cooker (36") in black on the island everything goes together extraordinarily, particularly with the golden red oak floor.

Greg

I had dark granite in my (now) ex-wife's kitchen. Never regretted it. We went with some wild colours in there (terracotta, cream, and purple!) and it was a showpiece, we made sure it wasn't all dark (a potential issue with dark countertops) and it worked well. The granite we used (in Australia) was called Stafire, and it was black with coppery metallic flecks in it - the undercabinet lighting brought it out nicely.

It does show 'dirt' like flour etc, but it's really an incentive to keep it clean, and that's what you're supposed to do in a kitchen. We had glass splashbacks and we found the best thing to keep both clean was ordinary glass cleaner. Cheap and quick and streak free. My ex MIL was horrified at the idea of a glass splashback in terms of marks etc but it stayed clean - and wasn't too much work, what would you prefer, a situation where you remain blissfully unaware of grease and dirt, and one where you can see it and clean it up?

If you like the dark, go for it. I suspect it's hardier.

Avoid marble. I have seen a beautiful carrera marble (black and white) patisserie counter used as an island bench, but you have to be careful with anything acidic, it will etch it.

Although it sounds crazy, granite that hides spills is MUCH more trouble to keep clean than granite that shows spills. We have two granites in our kitchen, Absolute Black and Giallo Veneziano. The AB shows EVERYTHING. And when it's time to clean up, you just clean up the spills. The GV hides everything. And when it's time to clean up, you have to wipe down the entire counter...because you can't see any spills.

Bob

I think that's kind of the point--with a counter, you want to SHOW spills but not STAIN. But--and this might be akin to the stainless steel issue--spills means spills and not tiny streaks from cleaning--you'd rather it not "streak" so badly that you have to polish and buff it. That is, you'd like it do look good with simple wiping.

Or maybe I'm living in blissful ignorance of inadequate (streaky) cleaning.