Rant #1: Countertops

DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!! I am sure that this, and future "rant" posts may offend some. If you have worked with me, you probably know that I am not the biggest fan of granite. I don't mean to put anyone's personal counters or preference down, and understand that it is probably not possible to just go ahead and swap out your counters on a whim. That being said, I think that the interior design profession is over granite. It is overused, and quite frankly not that attractive (in most cases). Here are my thoughts on granite countertops, and their alternative. The culprit: "Baltic Brown", and the other similar members of their brown and beige crew. Even the name sounds bland. To top it off, in this photo, the owner has gone with the "poor mans backsplash", running the stone remnant up the wall, adding insult to injury.

Try suggesting to your contractor or stone fabricator that you would like to use a stone other than granite, and they will give you a blank and confused stare. I have seen it on more than one occasion. This is because they, like most people, always go to granite because we have been trained to think that granite is the "end all be all" of style. Wrong...there are endless options, that are much better than the standard Home Depot look.

Engineered Quartz- This was a bathroom I remodeled down the street from my house. We went with the "Lagos" Caesarstone. This product has a modern look, and is as durable, or more so than granite. Goes great with the custom vanity. Blotchy granite would have taken it down 2 notches.



Another project where I specified Caeserstone. Here we went with the "Rosemary" color, giving a polished concrete look. You can drag a hot metal pan around on it with no problems, and it does not need to be sealed or treated.


My personal favorite: Carrera marble. Timeless, classic and works with fully traditional styles, and ultra modern. One of the most historically used stones, architecturally and artistically for a reason. It is now moderately priced, and easy to source. Be selective when picking your slab, as the colors and patterns change dramatically. I had an installer bring his own slab for a dual vanity installation, and after seeing his selection, decided that it had to be ripped out and replaced. Not a happy day for anybody.





Crema Marfil (marble): Another personal favorite. This was for a good friends master bath. A soft texture and mild color option. Well priced, and widely available. It is tougher for the installer to work with, as it can break easier in handling, but one installed, is no problem. It does etch and stain easier, but if sealed properly, and cleaned, is fine for a bathroom, and fine for mild kitchen use.

Emperador Dark: Another great option. Dark, with great texture, but with a nice veined pattern, as opposed to the splatter pattern granite. Once again, well priced and easy to find. There are a lot of color/pattern variations with this stone.

Emperador Light: Same family as the above stone, just a lighter option

Granite: What? I thought you said no? Granite does have it's place in the countertop world. I hate to compliment it now, but granite is cheap, and durable. It would be the option (rather than the above options) for a commercial kitchen, or a kitchen that gets heavy use.

This is from the same house I worked on as the Crema Marfil above. Here the granite looks great with the surrounding materials. The name of this stone is "Lagos Azul" a great blue/green/gray option for a modern room. Click to enlarge the photo, and see the little irridescent blue accents in the stone.

Another great granite: "Bianco Romano". I found this little gem recently. I am doing a very large conference table in this material, a bit higer priced compared to other granites, but a sleek look.



The moral of the story: don't just settle for the standard beige or brown granite because that is what the salesman is saying you need to go with.