Lucretzia, it has been about 5 months and so far, so good. We also have a dry bar adjacent to our dining room and the granite guys forgot to seal it! We got red wine stains on it right away...it is a bar after all! :) I managed to get them out with bleach...thank goodness...and hubby ran to the hardware store to buy a sealer and we sealed it right away. We also spilled wine on the island (which was sealed) and it wiped up easily...no problem. So, I assume as long as it is kept sealed, we should be ok. Not only is our granite honed, but it is also pitted in some areas. It is pretty cool and we get lots of positive comments about how unique it is. The only problem so far with the pitting is when my 4-year old daughter paints at the bar, I have had to use a little brush to get paint out of one of the "pits" already. No biggie, but if the counter was polished, it wouldn't be an issue at all. We had polished at our last house and it was super easy to keep clean. That said, I would do honed again in a minute. It really suits our space. I think as long as we maintain the sealer on it we should be fine. The good part is due to the movement of the stone, even if it does get a stain, it will probably blend right in! :)

The texture, stack, color of the brick and the shape of a fire place is designed specifically for the style and era of a home. Painting brick and stone is like trying to turn a tutor home into a MCM and usually turns out mishmashed. To each their own , but the examples above of the painted stone and brick fireplace look cheap , flat and tacky. I've seen several posts on how to bring back the character and warmth in the snowstorm kitchens that was all the fad. I've only seen two on how to remove the paint from brick , but I'm sure there will be many more as the trend fades. Guess what, your stuck with it. You can't remove the paint.

We just moved into our new house and I do not like the exterior color choices at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I do not like how brown it is. Thoughts on what to change to brighten it up. My thoughts are to paint the brick in Ballet White. Thank so much!

Thank you for your input Beth! I really would like to paint all the trim darker but my homeowner association may not let me. I’d have to show examples of homes that have painted gutters, etc to get it approved. The original house color is Chadwick by KM but it’s been 16 years and it needs a refresh. I like it, but feel like I need to go darker. I agree, if I go darker, then I should paint the trim something other than white. Do you think the serious gray with the the charcoal blue trim or the incredible white would be nice? Or do you think the elephant ear as the base, aged white trim and iron ore for the door? Love all your choices! Thank you again for your help!