There have been tons of posts on this topic. Here's one I clipped and saved myself.

Here is a link that might be useful: white granites

Thanks. Yes, I saw that one, but there wasn't much info. on a honed white. I really want honed, but have heard mixed things about whether it stains easily. Would love to hear from anyone who has a honed, light color granite (and ideally has had it for a while). I love butcher block too...I'm worried about spilled red wine, markers, etc. on either surface. I want something we can't easily ruin. I actually am tending toward the look of butcher block, but hear really mixed things about that too. I want a counter that we can live with without worrying about every spill. So hard to pick with so many mixed things I read!

Shoot...I've looked the best I can, but does anyone else remember a kitchen with Kashmir White that I'm pretty sure was honed...It had a few red Asian accessories I think. I've looked through 'categories' on the FKB but couldn't find it.

Kitokeefe mentioned on the white granite thread that she has honed KW, but I can't find any photos of her kitchen either.

Jbrodie, honed or satin-finish Kashmir White was my dream counter for my island, but the $2300 bid brought it to an end. (I think that was even for polished, which was probably less expensive, since more readily available.) Anyway, in my research I was convinced that it could stand up to my family after being properly sealed. If it didn't stay pristine, I was prepared to deal with a bit of 'patina' over time. Many people have honed marble (now even higher on my dream counter scale) and it seems to be fine...and most granites should be tougher and less absorbant than the marble.

Try getting a sample to do your own stain testing. Try one bare, and one sealed...or try a few different sealers.

I think the stone would take more of a beating than butcherblock...Will tolerate heat and won't dent as easily. It also depends on the wood species and how you plan to finish the butcherblock. We ended up with wood on our island and finished it with several coats of Waterlox for water resistance since we won't be cutting on ours. The finish is quite durable and protective...but not heat resistant, and we used fir, so the wood itself isn't very hard. There are dents already, but we expected them.

Bumping this - it looks like I will be going for some kind of white granite also, and I don't like the polished look. Hoping someone can provide pictures of honed white-ish granite and feedback about how it holds up - thanks!

Rhome is right; someone out there has a honed KW...I just can't remember who. It was a long time ago though, not recently.

I have a polished white granite, and it's worth noting that light colored stones look less reflective than dark ones. I can't comment on honed because that's not what I have, but I can tell you that we couldn't be more pleased with our White Andromeda granite.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I have had many many samples of granite in our house for testing with everything I can think of. Kashmir White Polished sample stained with everything I put on it. Red wine turned it pink. Catsup stained it, as did beet juice and olive oil. I think that stone would have to be sealed every other day for weeks in order to prevent everyday damage. I imagine the honed finish would only intensify the problems and make them much more difficult to remove. I also read somewhere that this stone yellows with resining and therefore often isn't resined. Buyer beware with Kashmir White!!!

Jb makes a good point...if you're choosing a light colored granite, try really hard to find resined slabs. Our AW slabs are resined and are virtually stainproof. Everything we've thrown at them has wiped off without a trace, even after sitting there for overnight or longer. Be sure to test a sample of any slab that you're considering.

For some reason I think at one time someone had a honed Bianco Romano. Anyone else remember?