Living With Marble: Is It For You?

Several weeks ago I revealed my kitchen remodel.  Since then, I have received so many positive comments and questions.  Thank you to all of you who have commented here on the blog and privately through email.  

As with any big project reveal, I have gotten a lot of questions about my sources and choices.  I responded to those questions here.  

By far, the most asked question — besides paint colors — is about my marble counter tops.   Many of us swoon when we see marble but we are hesitant to put it in our kitchens.  Why?  As you may well know marble is not a carefree choice.  It cannot be cleaned with products like Lysol or Clorox and it can etch and stain.  So, obviously, the big question that I continue to receive is how do I feel about my choice to go with marble and how is the maintenance? Do I have any regrets?  How is it living with marble?

Before I answer your most common questions, I want to let you know that we have some uncommon issues with our marble that primarily concern the installation and the quality of the stone itself.  We are in the process of resolving those issues with our contractors and  I will explain everything and share the whole story in another post soon.  

Until then, those issues don’t prevent me from being able to answer the questions about living with and maintaining marble.  So, today I’m going to address the most common concerns and questions you need to know when considering installing marble in your kitchen.  

Etching and Staining.

This is what everyone wants to know about when they discover I have marble counters.  In fact, it was my number one concern when researching counter options in our kitchen.

First, let me define what etching and staining is:

• Etching is when the finish is marred and the resulting mark cannot be cleaned or wiped away.  It is usually noticeable in certain lighting and/or at an angle.  This commonly occurs when something acidic like lemon or orange juice makes contact with the stone.  

• Staining is when the marble gets discolored from something like grape juice, wine, ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc.  Because marble is extremely porous liquid penetrates the stone and leaves behind a permanent stain.  Having a sealer applied to the stone will help prevent this from happening, but because marble is more porous than granite and most marble is light in color, stains can happen if something like wine is left to sit on the stone.

Honed vs. Polished Marble

You may have heard that honed marble does not etch.  Unfortunately, that is not true.  It does and it will.  It’s just that honed marble does not have a shiny, glass-like finish so it is not as obvious as with polished.  

Honed marble:

Polished Marble:

What Does Etching Look Like and is it Obvious?

It’s really hard to capture good pictures of etching because it’s not readily noticeable.  If you are standing at a certain angle and in a certain light the etching becomes very obvious.  But, honestly, people who walk in to my kitchen don’t even notice the etch marks that I already have unless I point them out. Most people just see a beautiful piece of marble and don’t notice any flaws.

Here’s a picture I took this morning of my island.  I didn’t use any lighting and it’s cloudy outside:

Even when it’s sunny, the island still looks the same — no noticeable etch marks.

Now…here’s a picture at a low angle with the light from the window bouncing off of the counter:

The little round spot was caused by a squirt of lemon juice and the other, larger splotch was caused by some strawberry juice that oozed from some cut up berries put on a paper towel.

Here’s a different view a little closer up but at my regular height.  This would be my view point if I were preparing food at the island.  I don’t see any etch marks, do you?  

That picture is actually dead-on of the etch marks but you can’t see them!

If I’m Super Careful Can I Avoid Etching and Staining?

The short answer:  no.  The other day I was making something that required lemon juice.  I was doing all of my mixing in a bowl on top of my large cutting board.  When I squeezed the lemon a drop squirted out and landed about 2 feet away on the marble leaving behind a small etch spot.  It’s going to happen if you use your kitchen because etching happens immediately — it doesn’t matter how quickly you wipe it up.  The acid reacts with the marble and the etch mark is there.  So, the bottom line is, you will get etch marks on your marble.  Period.

Can You Live With Marble? 

When I was researching counter top choices I came across Edie from Life In Grace’s post about her Calcutta marble counters.  She said that she thinks that all people should have to take the Meyers-Briggs personality test to see if they’re the type that can live with marble in their kitchens.  (If you’re unfamiliar, with M-B, it’s a test that determines your personality type). I found it amusing while I also completely agree with her!  Marble is just not for everybody.  If you’re a perfectionist and like everything to look perfect and new, you will probably not enjoy having marble counters in your kitchen. 

About a week after our counters were installed I found the first etch mark.  It was heart-breaking.  Now, a few etch marks later, I don’t really mind.  I think of the beautiful marble I see on antique tables or in European shops and think about how beautiful they still look.  Also, there’s just no other stone that matches the beauty and depth of marble, so I’m okay with the patina that will happen over time.

How Difficult is Marble to Clean?

I think marble is super easy to clean.  I don’t find it to be high maintenance in that regard at all.  I don’t use regular household cleaners on it but that’s not really a problem.  Currently, I’m using mild dish soap and water.   I haven’t used marble cleaner on it yet, but will at some point.  (I’m waiting to purchase marble cleaner because of the issues I mentioned at the beginning of this post.)

Would I Recommend Marble for Kitchens?

It depends.  I can’t recommend it for everybody because I don’t think everyone can live with it.   I love the way it looks in my kitchen and I adore it’s timeless appeal.  It’s gorgeous.  However, I am more careful than I was with our old granite counters and I use hot pads and trivets for hot pots and pans like I did in our old house with laminate counters.  I am careful about what I put on the counters because I’m still a little timid because they’re new.  Maybe one day I won’t be so careful.  Even so, I’m okay with it because I adore the look of marble in my home.  I couldn’t find anything I liked as well as marble so this is the trade-off — being a little less carefree than I was with my granite. 

So, what do you think?  Can you live with marble?  Is it for you?

I hope this helps answer your questions.  Feel free to let me know if I’ve left something out.

I will be back soon with the details of the specific problems we have encountered and my “buyer beware” advice.  I will be talking about choosing marble slabs, choosing subcontractors and what you need to look out for when purchasing natural stone.

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Before I go, I want to introduce you to a few of my blogging friends.   Every Friday, I’ll be sharing a few of my blogging peeps.  

I know you’ll love them as much as I do!

Please stop by their blogs via the linky thumbnails below and leave them a comment.