Like rmkitchen, I have always dreamed of marble counters in my own kitchen. When I had this chance to renovate our kitchen last year, I didn't even want to look at other options. However, many stone suppliers were less than enthusiastic to sell me marble for the counters, but looking back on it I think it mostly stemmed from their reluctance to deal with potentially unhappy customers. That experience did raise doubts in my head, but I was fortunate to have found GW and the generous advice of several women who'd been living with their marble counters. From them I got the reassurance I needed that I would, indeed, have no regrets about my choice.
And I have absolutely no regrets! I love my Cararra. In the first few weeks I used to greet it in the morning with "Well, hell-o gorgeous!" I stroked it often, and still do. It's warm and luxurious, and it still takes my breath away. Guests fawn over it. It speaks. It says, "I've been here forever, and I belong."
But please be honest with yourself before committing to this stone. There is no product that will repel etching. It will etch, no matter how careful you may try to be (and I did try to be careful in those few weeks when I was flush with love). It was only a couple of days old when some guacamole spilled on it. Oh, I had an instant of a heart attack! It took all my strength to tell myself to let it go. And in the next day or two there appeared a ring under a glass that I had to let go, too. Do you know that those splotches GLARED at me in those early days? And my husband used to ask, "Where? Where do you see it?" And truly, as others will also tell you, those etches can only be seen when the light is right and your head is tilted just so. My guests can never spot them after I've told them of the stone's foibles. And they always drop their jaws when they see my Cararra. Inwardly I revel at their appreciation.
We cook a lot in this house. I'm Italian and I make lots of tomato sauces. We have a huge lemon tree and use them liberally in recipes. We drink wine every day. So, lots of exposure to acidic things here, and occasional splatters from citrus have left miniscule etches. I honestly would have to stop and look for them, because they're not there to the casual eye. Ask me if I care -- please, ask me! Not a whit. My husband isn't perfect, either, but what is wonderful about him more than makes up for what isn't. The marble in my kitchen is what makes me gladdest of all (and I have a backsplash to die for, IMHO).
I have not a single stain in my kitchen, not from half a pot of fresh brewed coffee, not from a full glass of spilled pinot noir, not from curry, not from hot tomato sauce. But I do have etches. Can you live with that? That's what you really need to ask yourself. The marble will reward you in the end. When you trace the lines of the veins with your fingertips down and across the ogee edges, when you rest your arms on its back and ponder the centuries that it has been loved in the home and in art, you will smile at your brave choice (and cup with your other hand the next lemon that you slice!).
Please let us know what you decide.
Q