Hi Alex54, I too, have buckets of sunshine that pour through my two story windows. I have sensitive eyes and wanted something that would give off a soft matte feel. I chose VA Jet mist honed granite. I love it. I love the soft matte flat paint feel to my counters. I agree the color of granite makes a huge difference on care or appearance. If you search on GW for honed absolute black you will see some people have struggled with finger marks and even how it cleans. Not everyone but some have found this to be a problem and so honed has had a bad reputation but this is not the case for all honed granites. I have no issue with my VA mist which is a charcoal graphite color. A pattern on the honed surface is not going to emphasize a uniform kind of look. Imagine a black painted wall in flat paint. If you take a wet finger you will see a mark. It might fade but if it is oily it might not for a little while. But rather than my explanatin check out the pictures they can explain with just a peek far better than words. Keep in mind this explanation if for honed ab not all honed granites. From a post by Metromom in 2008 Honed Absoulte Black granite Honed black granite in a bright kitchen may emphasize finger prints, water droplets or general streaks from washing with a paper towel and how it was dried. If this does not bother you, go for it. Meanwhile here are some images of honed granite. If you check out the links below you will see honed Virgina Mist. Honed Golden Amarillo Some links from GW Ideas about light honed granite http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0108363719329.html Honed granite images from GW http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0721345227780.html Here is a link that might be useful: Honed versus polished granite counters?

I have honed dark granite right now and it stains like crazy esp anything remotely oily. Tried everything to seal it and nothing worked. It was in the house when we bought it and we are now remodeling the kitchen and it it will be gone. Replacing with polished Sea Pearl quartzite if the quote is right (fingers crossed). It's been a process because this kitchen has extremely high end (previous owner installed) cabinets with a high gloss finish in teal blue - gorgeous but challenging and way to expensive to replace. Very sleek and modern. Thanks to the oven forum we chose the Miele Master Chef oven (wanted that rotisserie) and warming drawer and after reading on the Refrigerator Forum we chose the Thermador Freedom Towers for the fridge and freezer. LOL we inquired about getting panels for them to match the cabinets and yikes, the cost was more than the appliances cost. So stainless fronts it is. Everyone here is so helpful - certainly appreciate this site and the forums.

I am at the countertop decision phase and it is killing me. I want soapstone perimeter and carrera island. Both have MAJOR issues but I love "the look." I feel like if I chose (ex. honed jet mist granite) it would be an imitation of soapstone look even though I know granite is natural stone etc... I am tempted to hone and antique the finish of my (not yet mine) 5 cm. carrera and then pour tomatoe juice over it and call it a day. An architect friend did this and it greyed the marble, but it looks AMAZING over her tobacco green cabinets! I am also debating between off white or gray cabinets. Anyone out there have gray cabinets? Also person who used carrera what did you use on your island. THANKS!

Someone posted here at Houzz that they purchased a couple of polished granite slabs with medium-level color variations similar to yours, sent them off somewhere to be honed, and they came back with the colors looking different, with gray tones brought out and a loss of depth of color. They then had the slabs re-finished back to a polish which brought them back to the original colors without the gray overtones and with restored depth of color. I'm sure changing the finish works for some people, but that particular poster was so unhappy with the alteration that the cost seemed worth it to restore the slabs back to the original polish.