In addition to the commnets by the previous posters, I want facts in an e-article. Vague, wordy, this-or-that, outdated, and out of touch is the best way I can describe illa maden's unopinionated opinions. 1) Not any more it isn't. 2) Seal with what? Describe proper care? 3)Texture? Tactile or visual? Does a certain color indicate a certain geological makeup of the stone that makes it more or less durable than another color? Why honed versus polished? Pluses or minuses? 4)What mishap? A chip? A crack? a stain? And how is it repaired? DIY friendly? Pro? Expensive??? 5) Will it? You made statements without telling me anything! Ah, the beauty of the internet. Where anyone can be an e-star with their very own e-zine. Do you even know where you live? Guam? Bermuda? Next door to the other wonderkind of e-zine spammolicious fame, "LA writer"? e-critically yours, e-Mongo

Are your cabinets already in? We did as jreuter suggested. The cabinets with sinks are at kitchen height and between and lower is a make up area just like in the picture he/she posted. This served a couple of benefits for us. We like having the higher height for the sinks for brushing our teeth and face washing and I like having an area where I can sit to apply make up. We wanted to use the same material for the tub surround and counter tops. By doing it this way, the fabricator was able to do a solid piece for the tub surround with no seams and then use the center portion that was cut out for the counter top. I can't remember if they were able to get one or two out of the center section. In the end, we were able to get everything from one slab which kept our cost down.

Thanks everyone. I am stain testing the cameo white corian vs. the blizzard ceasar stone (looked at it again, and the freckles are not so bad really). I am afraid the corian will scratch and read some not so favorable reviews here, so I am leaning towards the cs. Plus it did not do so well on my fingernail polish remover test. Thanks mayland for the suggestion, but we have already installed porcelain undermount sinks. Just can't see giving my boys marble (after I type this, I am cleaning up the carpet from the sparkly red and green spin-art splatter), and granite is too much movement. Stainless steel? Well,love the look but not so much for the bathroom. Thanks so much sassyinak for such a comprehensive summary!! It really made me think of all the options.

Thanks to everyone. Let me clarify....our culture marble is standard which is at no cost, so if we want to have the granite for our bath countertop, the builder will charge us for extra 1400. We don't know how to negotiate with the builder. It looks like if we think the price is too high and we can choose not to upgrade. And finally we decided to upgrade to a granite, but are looking for patterns/colors to go with our espresso cabinet and bronze faucet. The granites we are considering are giallo ornamental, santa cecilia....do you know any other great granites that are in the same price range as the two we are considering and simultaneously can match our espresso cabinet and faucet? Thanks very much again!