Like I said up thread, I have both quartz and granite in our kitchen: granite on the island, and a white quartz on the perimeter. The granite is pretty busy with a lot of movement. Even so, because of the highly reflective polish, it's easy to see smears. Oddly enough, it totally hides crumbs and other kitchen detritus (I just wiped a black ball point pen off that was hiding in the pattern!). We've had it less than a year, so we haven't had to reseal yet. The quartz isn't as highly reflective, which I like (my husband wanted the high gloss on the island). The more uniform color let us go with a busy mosaic backsplash, which we couldn't have done with our busy granite. It seems more "smear" resistant than the granite, and the light color makes it easier to keep clean, because I can see when and where it needs wiping down. As far as staining, I haven't had trouble with either surface. Two days after install, I left a box of blackberries on the quartz overnight, not realizing a pool of juice had soaked through. That left a shadow, but it came off immediately with a little Soft Scrub. And as far as heat, as I said, I'm kind of paranoid. It's not that hard to use pot holders, cutting boards and trivets, so that's what I do. Both surfaces have great qualities, it comes down to what you want to see in your kitchen.

NyefNyef By "called Blanco", I meant I telephoned Blanco's US HQ and asked them to find me their sink within a 200 mile radius of my home. They pointed me to their regional sales teams, who could not locate it readily available, or in their nat'l warehouse. They said most of the time, nobody really stocks them and they're all custom ordered. No matter. Amazon & FedEx came thru. cal Ditto! I'd love to FedEx them too. breezyThanks for answering my original question. My suspicion was that they weren't as good, just based on how often I see Blanco mentioned and never hear the other makers. And compared to what we've spent already on things, you're right that $100 is a small price to get exactly what we wanted exactly when we need it.

Joseph Corlett - please note that there are some granites than have extremely low absorption rates and therefore will not stain. My granite counters have been in place for 10 years, and look like the day they were installed. I have used spices like turmeric on the counters, spilled lemon juice, wine, tomato sauce, and nothing shows. In fact, I was cleaning silver the other day, and spilled silver polish (an abrasive) on the counter, didn't notice, and it stayed there for several hours. Wiped up, counter showed nothing, because it did not absorb. While there are many stone counters that will show stains, it would be ignorant and misleading to say that all the thousands of granites are that way. As Crl_ said, I would like to see what happens to your favorite solid surface counters when toilet bowl cleaner is left on them. I once left a bit of mustard on my mother's Corian counter; I think she still hasn't forgiven me. If the OP is interested in granite, s/he should go to a stone yard, and ask the people there which granites have low absorption rates, and then bring home samples of those and test them with home spices to see what happens.

I am not an aqua or light green type person. I am into earth tones. The kitchen was pale yellow, it reminded me of a baby's room and my bedroom was light green. Just not me. The basement bathroom was bright blue - gone. Basement bedroom was orange - gone. Spare bedroom spruce green - gone. I like my color in my accents, not on my walls. I may be boring, but I like browns, greys, sage, creams, burgundy. Pastels are not my thing and brights don't suite me either. I want calm and relaxing when I get home. I'll change up my pillow, throws, light shades etc. But I am so sick of light oak I cannot even tell you! They are dull and are a bit worn. If I don't paint or restain them, they will need to have the doors and drawers refinished. My last home had oak floors and cabinets. Painting the kitchen....the wall that the columns are on lead to the dining room. Don't you think it would look odd to have that one wall a different color than the rest? I am concerned about painting the cabinets and having to touch them up, but I don't think I like them with the color of the counter. And I have already bought my slab. So I a committed at this point. I can't wait to get rid of my country backsplash! It is the ugliest thing! Can you see the random houses set in the tile? I have been waiting to tear that out since I moved in 4 years ago!!