You helped me with flooring.... now, COUNTERTOPS

I've been researching, spent hours on houzz, and I can't figure out what type of countertop to put in my  kitchen. There are many pros and cons to all.... I love the look (and pricing) of butcher block, but not sure how it will hold up around the sink, and in terms of resale. I looovvveee marble, and can live with it's demands, but don't think my house will see a great return on that investment, especially if I use faux wood flooring. Seriously looking at caesarstone, and engineered quartz (which I think is what caesarstone is). Also, would like to be green(ish)... so looked at recycled glass which is interesting too.

Are there any showrooms nearby you can recommend that has all these materials in one place to look at and get a real feel for? 

depending on how big of a piece you need, you could save in marble/granite by going to showrooms and looking at remnants. Remnants is our middle name. We went to Atlas marble in Springfield.

We just redid our kitchen and LOVE our countertop. It's granite we got through JL Designs (Millburn) but it came from Atlas Marble (on Rte 22). It's so durable and love that it's not shiny (even though it's highly polished). It's called Black Pearl Leather.

Nice kitchen Tigerlilly! I like the countertop and flooring combo (what is the flooring? slate?) Thanks orzabelle for the remnant tip too!

The flooring is also granite we got at The Tile Shop on Rte 10. I LOVE that too, BUT...it's flamed granite, which is extremely porous. Even though it was sealed, we found that it was starting to show any kind of grease splatter that came its way (it was darker than the floor, even though that is gray/black). We actually just had it resealed the other day with a sealer that darkened the floor. It's still great - maintained some variation in the tiles and doesn't look as dark as the counter, but water and grease won't show now. Whew! I was becoming a neurotic loser every time water or anything hit the floor...I'd be getting out the granite cleaner and cleaning every spot - We USE that kitchen and love to cook, so that just wasn't acceptable. 

So, while I love it and love the look, I'm not sure I would recommend it for a kitchen. (Plus, I'm not looking forward to the first time I drop a glass on that floor....I'm sure it's going to shatter into a million pieces.)

You might want to look at IceStone which is made of all natural materials including recycled glass and Portland cement and is made in Brooklyn. Local and sustainable.

http://icestoneusa.com/

Many local places to see samples of IceStone.

Engineered Quartz (zodiac sole stone ceasar stone ) is quartz chips aggregate in an acrylic base.

Butcher block is nice and warm. You might consider using it in one work area. needs to be oiled. some people like the way it looks as it wears in.  

We love our Quartzite (which is stone). More stain resistant than marble and even granite. 

I had butcher block countertops in our last house with an island that was granite and looked like a beautiful rocky riverbed. You could almost see the water flowing. 

In this house we chose a bowling alley for our island and put in a sink. It's holding up well so far but I should probably reseal it soon. Our perimeter counters are slate. I found antique chalkboards from a schoolhouse on Craigslist and now I have the slate I always wanted and couldn't have afforded. Both materials I'd consider green as they're being repurposed. 

That's a fine cat you have, Bramzzoinks.

I love soapstone. It does scratch more easily than granite, but it is really maintenance free, looks great, is impervious to everything, won't stain, and isn't radioactive!

We have walnut butcher block counters that have held up very well for 3 years so far. I just make sure to wipe down water, especially around the sink. It's just second nature now. There are some small marks but we'll probably just sand it down in a few years. Some of the marks are from my daughter pressing down hard with a ballpoint pen when she was learning how to write and I love those marks. We get compliments ALL the time on the counters, too. It's very warm and unique looking.

But if you're going to do a wood floor, I wouldn't do butcher block counters. It might be a little too much wood!

Soapstone needs to be oiled once in a while.  Not a big deal.  It is beautiful.

You can get an integral sink of soapstone too.  

Vermont Soapstone is the main supplier  

tourn said:

I love soapstone. It does scratch more easily than granite, but it is really maintenance free, looks great, is impervious to everything, won't stain, and isn't radioactive!

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@bramzzoinks - love your countertop! Would you mind sharing the name of the quartzite, and where you purchased it? It's beautiful. (And adorable kitty!).  @afa - I agree about too much wood. I'm trying to figure out - butcher block top, stone/porcelain floor, or stone/quartzite, etc top, and faux wood floors. I'm wondering if I should get a real estate agent in to see if the faux wood would go over well with potential future buyers (not that I plan on moving yet), as I wouldn't want to invest the time and money, just to be advised to change it in some later date. Or, I could just go with what I want ;-)

It is called Fantasy Brown or Brown Fantasy. I forget which way it goes. 

I forget the name of the stone yard but we bought it through Nella Lerner who was with Design with Tile in Morristown at the time but is now with Standard Tile on Rt 10.

I would ask a real estate agent about faux wood of any kind, to be on the safe side. 

We had granite countertops in our last three houses, and I love it! Now, our kitchen has Corian, and I detest the stuff. The sink is a light beige, and the damn thing stains if you look at it funny. Cannot let tea bags, spaghetti sauce, or red wine touch it, or I will be scrubbing for days.

When we get around to renovating the kitchen, I want either soapstone or Quartz of some kind. I'm finally getting a little tired of granite, believe it or not.

I was very happy with my Silestone (quartz) countertops. Attractive, indestructible, and required no maintenance.