It’s been just over a year since we moved into our house which means there has been a year of wear and tear on our marble countertops in our kitchen.
One of the most common questions in kitchen design is, should I use marble in the kitchen? Here’s my personal tale so far of living with them.
Why did you choose marble?
When I was dreaming of our kitchen, the only countertop I ever thought about was beautiful white marble countertops. Yes, I knew about all of the cons. It is porous. It is soft. It seemed like every stone design and contractor kept telling us not to do it. “It will stain! It will etch! It will scratch! Are you sure? We have other products!”
Well, if there’s one thing I learned in life is don’t let people get in the way of your dreams and talk you out of them. So I took their advice with a grain of salt and tossed it out the window!
I was dreaming of a French country kitchen… one where I could bake pastries left and right. Marble is *the perfect* material for rolling out dough. I love the soft buttery feel of it. I love the overall patina that the marble develops with time. It is the perfect look I am going for.
Has it stained or etched?
Yes, it has. I have found you have to be quite careful with citrus, tomatoes, tomato sauces, berries, wines, coffee, vinegar, apple cider and even oils!
I am the most careful in catching the drips, however when we throw parties sometimes things aren’t wiped up right away and we get some etching or staining. Do I not throw parties because of it? No, we just wipe it up and move on. We knew it would happen! I have put some pieces (like placemats or linens) on the marble during parties to catch drips from food that I know will etch!
The marble right around the range gets oil splashes more than elsewhere.
Sometimes though, I smirk at the marks…
Ahh yes, that was from the apple cider. Boy was that good.
Those scratches? Oh that was when I took the piping hot cake out of the oven and the cast iron hot plate underneath was too close to the edge and the cake almost fell on the ground, so I had to scoot the whole thing on the counter. Now I have three beautiful (ha!) scratches to commemorate that. It was while baking this cake!
What type of marble do you have?
We have an extra white Carrara marble that is honed. The back splash is Carrara marble too but it is polished. Honed marble will not etch as much as polished marble.
How do you clean the counters?
First, just wipe down with water and a paper towel. Then Clorox disinfecting wipes. Seriously. I’m sure you’re not supposed to use it on them, but I do! I haven’t run into any problems with them.
How do I know if marble countertops are right for me?
The countertops are higher maintenance than other counters. Could you live with the staining, etching and scratches? You see, I love the patina so I am 100% fine with it. But are YOU fine with it? If you want the look of marble but don’t want the maintenance, there are tons of quartz options (a manmade product) that are less maintenance. They are more expensive than some of the marbles though!
Would you choose marble countertops again?
So, a year out, I am still in love with my marble countertops! I just love natural stone! (yes I even put limestone in my laundry room… literally everyone recommended against that!) Yes, they have some etching. Yes, there are scratches. Yes, there are stains. Am I unhappy? No! Would I be happier if it didn’t have those things, yeah, sure, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be.
Always use a cutting board. Just keep your eye on the counters when you are squeezing citrus. Pouring red wine. Doing literally anything with tomatoes. Have your towel there to wipe it up! Sure I probably need to seal it again. But would I choose marble countertops in the kitchen all over again? YES! YES! YES!
Such a great article . I also have carrera honed marble and I would never go without it. Yes, the contractors tried to talk me out of them, but I just remembered how marble steps and floors persist in ancient castles. The imperfections are part of the story. As a sealer, I use Porous Plus and I’ve had literally no stains despite a busy family of 6.
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Yes, I remembered the same thing – the marble steps! I haven’t sealed it yet… the fabricator sealed it and I haven’t had to. I actually should say that I haven’t had any stains, only etching and scratches.
Do LOVE – LOVE – LOVE marble, however I am too much of a klutz to consider it for my kitchen, however do have it in one of our shower stalls paired with engineered quartz on dual vanity counter tops. Your kitchen is beautiful BTW! -Brenda-