After the revelation yesterday that I’m a total drama queen when it comes to countertops, I figured I’d share more on that subject since I apparently love it so much. The countertops in the master are already installed. Not much we can do about it even though they weren’t supposed to be. Okay I will stop before we go down that road again.
The problem is the counters are too gray, so we thought maybe honing the stone might give us more of the look we wanted. We had a sampled honed before we made any commitment. We were told there is no difference in durability, etc between the 2 options.
It’s definitely lighter, but there isn’t much marbling left though. It’s almost like a white stone with gray specks. What do you think? Is one better than the other?
Note this has no effect on the island. We still need a solution for that.
I like the lightness of the honed, but I can see that you might miss the veining if that’s the look you were hoping for. I’m guessing with a good seal the honed would be just as easy to clean. It’s a tough decision for sure!
I’ve always loved the way stones look when they are honed. I just wonder if honing it will be enough contrast with the white cabinets.
yes, i definitely like the honed for the overall feel you are going for- it will have a much lighter look over all!
I like the non polished aspect of the honed version, but I just don’t know if it will be enough contrast on the white cabinets.
If you like the feel of honed, I say go for it. But, this is something you will live with long-term, so if the color is not white enough for you, you might just want to bite the bullet and get new stone. It’s more money now, but you will be happy for many years to come (and can you really put a price on that?)………
You are repeating my motto for this build! I think if I could find a stone that I liked then I could probably justify the price. The problem is there isn’t one. It might be something to just deal with right now and maybe update later or just move since that’s what we do every 4 years or so! I might like it better once everything is more finished. I don’t know. The honed seems too white, but it might not when the whole bathroom is together. They can hone it onsite any time.
I like the darker one, where you can see the marble more— but I bet you’ll hear a good 50/50 split from comments. At least both options are lovely, you can’t go wrong
My bet is on the 50/50 split too. I guess I should just leave it alone until the room is together. I can always go back and have it honed, but I can’t unhone it.
The marble debate has really jump started my life by the way. I am so happy you are blogging away:) I love any type of marble and I think the dark gray in the bathrooms is beautiful. White on white on white has been done so much lately, it sorta makes your bathrooms look a little fresh and exotic:) … Especially Baby B’s BR. I may have missed this but are your absolute black countertops honed or polished?
Well I hate the countertops less in the kids’ bathroom if that’s a thing. The real problem is if I had known this is what we were working with I would have made different design decisions in the bathrooms. I think any material can work but to be planning for 1 material and get another when everything else is in place is such a punch in the gut.
The absolute black is polished. Honed granite is extremely difficult to maintain or so I’m told.
I like the honed version better and when I picked our countertops I did research and what my understanding is that the honed is more durable, hmmm! At least that’s what I read 😉
Interesting. The lady at the stone yard said she has honed carrara and it doesn’t spot as much as the polished carrara She kept stressing the “in her experience” part, so who knows if even that depends on the slab. Crazy natural materials!!
You need to start this post off with “It was the best of marbles, it was the worst of marbles..”
Personally, I would miss the marbling in the honed stone. Hope you don’t have to wait long for the product you’re looking for.
Crap I botched the landing! I think I would miss the marbling. I mean I could have gotten a less expensive option if I was just going all white.
I hope we don’t have to wait long either because we don’t really have any time to wait!!
I just saw your reply to Stephanie, and that’s what I came here to say! You can’t undo it once it’s honed, so I’d suggest waiting to see what you truly want to do long-term. I so understand that horrible, pit-in-your-stomach feeling of realizing that something is *not* what you expected! And I’m a huge fan of that white with light-gray grained Carrara you thought you were getting… Hopefully what you do have will grow on you
Best of luck finding your dream marble for the kitchen island!
You’re absolutely right! This is probably something to revisit later when I actually have the space finished. Also we don’t have time to sit and wait for the right material to show up since it’s apparently nonexistent right now. The kitchen island is the biggest and most pressing issue at this point.
I like them both and I don’t think you can go wrong, but I do kinda like the subtlety (Is that how you spell it?) of the honed version.
I like how dull the honed option is. That’s a very good look especially with black, but there was no way I was going to hone granite though. High maintenance.
I like the honed stone. But I also like the non-honed stone. … and this is quickly turning into a Dr Suess book. Crap.
I think this is going to have to be a case of eeny meeny miny moe.
I just can’t figure out if I like it here or there. In a house with a mouse.
I don’t even know what “honed” means (when it comes to marble, at least), but I like it better :). Incidentally, I was going to call my next post “A Tale of Two Christmas Trees,” but now I guess I’d better come up with something else 😉
Haha just go for it! I mean you can start it off like John suggested I should have.
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I really like the honed better too. Interested to see how it all comes together
Marble is gorgeous! xo Kristin
I’m sure we will be happy either way. I just really want to see everything together. Plus if I don’t like it I can change it later…which defeats the purpose of building a little but everything has to change eventually anyway right!