Monday, April 29, 2013

White Kitchens: Marble vs. Quartzite

Hello, hello!  I hope you all had a beautiful weekend.  We enjoyed our little weekend getaway to Austin for the Lumineers concert, and managed to carry the fun through to Sunday evening.  I'm in need of a bit of relaxation after such an intense few days, so I thought I'd focus on calming white kitchens- a favorite topic of mine!


Right now, all-white kitchens are very popular.  I have always loved them, as my favorite color is white, but designers are really taking this monochromatic palette to another level with interesting details.  Carrara marble (as shown in the picture above) is a breathtaking counter option.  In my dream kitchen all the cabinetry would be Carrara marble:



 However, marble is THE most high-maintenance stone.  Anything acidic (wine, coffee, basically all the good stuff) will stain.  So if you like to cook or have young children you may want to re-think marble kitchen counters!   If you love the pristine white look but don't want to deal with the maintenance, a good alternative is quartzite.  Princess-white quartzite looks quite similar to Carrera marble but has a durability closer to granite:





As always, remember when selecting your marble or quartzite in a showroom or store that unless you see the actual slabs you want to purchase, veining and color can vary in each piece of stone.  They aren't artificial, they're the real deal created by Mother Nature, and come from a quarry, like this one in Carrara, Italy:


Pretty amazing , no??  

So what's your take on kitchens- do you love the all-white look like me or are you over it? What would your dream kitchen look like?

29 comments:

  1. I LOVE an all white kitchen. We are about to move into a new house that is in desperate need of a kitchen update and this is the perfect inspiration. Thanks for posting! xo

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  2. I'm really needing an all white kitchen.....my problem...I love white marble but it stains so easily.....urgh!

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  3. wow thats so cool, I did not realize how/where it was created! I have a carrera marble slab on my actual counter top, and I have destroyed it in under a year [coffee stains, and accidentally left half a lemon on it]
    I would have to choose a quartzite option for sure!

    Rai Atelier the blog
    Rai Atelier the shop

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  4. I adore all white kitchens the most! I would choose quartzite for practical reasons, although I marble is my true love.

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  5. I would loooove to change my kitchen tops to white marble or quartzite, love white kitchens!

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  6. fine pics; DD


    i invite to me too


    www.live-style20.blogspot.com

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  7. i just want to redo everything in my house white including kitchen :)

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  8. SAM! My fav color is white also....I've never met anyone else who shared the same sentiment, Soul Sistas! XO

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  9. Your post couldn't have come at a better time, thanks! I'm on the verge of renovating and building up my dream kitchen for this summer and I was set on getting carrera marble for my island, and then I saw your gorgeous pictures of the quarzite, and now I'm having second thoughts. I will afterall have my cooktop on the island, so for sure the marble might not be a good idea. But the marble is just sooo pretty! Thank you!

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  10. We renovated out kitchen when we moved in, and put in marble counter tops (you can see the full kitchen makeover on my blog), and I was just telling my husband this morning...we will NOT be using marble again...at least not for the entire kitchen. I love, love, looooove the way it looks, but honestly, it's SO much to keep up with, and we've already had a few mishaps (since August)! I am definitely going to be going with quartzite from now on, and save the marble for the bathrooms. :) Gorg inspiration photos!
    xo,
    Brooke
    www.decorgreat.blogspot.com

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  11. I love white kitchens! But my house is fairly open-plan downstairs, so I would have to paint at least half the downstairs white. As much as I love white, I'd prefer a little colour on the main floor. So I'm going to paint the kitchen (including the cabinets)/dining room/sun room Benjamin Moore's Baffin Island, a pale beigy-yellow and pair it with marble countertops. Heaven!

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  12. I love them! We are doing a kitchen remodel soon and I need to make some decisions!

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  13. I am obsessed with all white kitchens...and actually starting our kitchen reno in a week!! We went with carrera countertops + white cabinetry! I love all of your inspiration pictures!! I found quartzite to be a lot more expensive...

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  14. Kendol and I will be using quartzite in our new home, I believe!! I cannot wait to start picking out a particular color... EEEKK!

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  15. obsessed. Completely and utterly obsessed much to the dismay of my practical and realistic husband.

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  16. I will be having some of this in my kitchen. They now create sealants to go over the marble, if you didn't know. Actually, they guarantee that there will be no staining etc, or they will replace the entire countertop. True story. Spill as much coffee and red wine as your heart desires!

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  17. I have a white kitchen with a marble island and wouldn't change it for the world! I have four boys and am a big cook who often uses ingredients like lemons, tomatoes and red wine (among other acidic foods). Marble, in my opinion, gets more beautiful with age.

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  18. All white Kitchens are timeless!! (and great for re-sale) I'd save marble for a bathroom application, if you use your Kitchen at all Quartzite or a faux marble made man Quartz composite is the way to go.

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  19. I love, love, love a white kitchen. It's exactly what I want when we build. And, this post is perfect as I so badly want the look of marble but not the maintenance. My dream kitchen would be white uppers and lowers with a gray kitchen island, all topped with a marble look-a-like. These are all gorgeous!

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  20. LOVE an all white house in general and am sooooo on the marble bandwagon. I know it's not practical but I think I'd make it work just because it's so beautiful.

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  21. These all are the spectacular pictures. I'm in love with these designs.

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  22. I will be having some of this in my kitchen. They now create sealants to go over the marble, if you didn't know. Actually, they guarantee that there will be no staining etc, or they will replace the entire countertop. Spill as much coffee and red wine as your heart desires! Marble, in my opinion, gets more beautiful with age.http://www.forevermarble.com/.

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  23. Hi Samantha,
    I was searching for quartzite and your blog came up. We are renovating our 1980's oak wood kitchen and will be doing an all white kitchen. I love your blog post and we are in a pickle trying to find a countertop. Of course, I wanted marble, but didn't want the worries of up keep. So we looked a various quartzites and loved the look, but was concerned about their maintenance. Do you know of any granite that may have the marble look or maybe an engineered countertop. We did look at Silstone, but we were not thrilled about the repetition of the design. I love your taste in design and will follow your blow. Please feel free to take a look at our blog. Thanks! Marie

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  24. It's beautiful. Here I want to have a Corian Kitchen Countertops in Houston house. I love that style. Thanks for sharing. Keep exploring.

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  25. It is going to be wise decision to call SGH handyman for residential maintenance and repairing campaign, and freshen up the home premises with complete ease.

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  26. We purchased a condo that had white cabinets but ugly blue laminate counters. I love my white kitchen but can't convince hubby to replace the countertops. Bathrooms are the same. One day ...

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  27. Thankfulness to my dad who informed me relating to this blog, this website is really amazing.kitchen countertops

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  28. Hi Samantha,

    I really like white color and I used it during my kitchen remodeling project. My husband loved it, White kitchen counter-tops looks really classy and elegant. It also add peace in the home environment. I agree marble is the most high-maintenance stone and if wine, coffee, drop down, it will stain. And, quartzite is the bet option.

    Thanks for sharing such nice post!

    Regards
    Ruben

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  29. Where in the St Louis Missouri area is a distributor that I can visit their showroom? Thanks. Judy. That is for the white quartzite Princess white

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What say you? I'm all ears.

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