A question: We're gut reno-ing our kitchen (well, a GC and his team is), and have ordered matte acrylic cabinets. Quite modern. My wife and I both love Carrara marble and are torn between honed and polished. Which do you think works better with a modern matte look? Wife thinks honed is more of a match to the matte. I think it would be nice to have the countertops really pop, with polished. I know it's all about personal preference, but can you make a suggestion to help break the tie?
Apologies for the delayed response! Carrera marble is indeed beautiful, and you are right- it comes down to preference regarding the sheen of the stone. Rather than break the tie- how about I offer this: go in between sheens. Honed means “little to no reflectivity” and polished is often shiny- like a mirror. However, you can do a light in-between sheen that gives a touch of reflectivity but isn’t “Las Vegas” shiny and it pairs well with almost any design. Keep in mind, Carrera marble is a soft, calcium-based stone and will etch very easily. If you want to keep your new marble etch and stain-free, it will take a lot of preventative care (wine spill or squirt of lemon juice will etch it in seconds) and ongoing maintenance which can get expensive. You might consider investing in TuffSkin. The low-sheen option of TuffSkin would mimic my suggested shine choice and it will protect the stone with a 10-year warranty. There are TuffSkin dealers all over the States- look one up if you want to minimize the cost of maintenance over time. Hope this help!
Is it possible to hone a polished marble?
A question: We're gut reno-ing our kitchen (well, a GC and his team is), and have ordered matte acrylic cabinets. Quite modern. My wife and I both love Carrara marble and are torn between honed and polished. Which do you think works better with a modern matte look? Wife thinks honed is more of a match to the matte. I think it would be nice to have the countertops really pop, with polished. I know it's all about personal preference, but can you make a suggestion to help break the tie?
Apologies for the delayed response! Carrera marble is indeed beautiful, and you are right- it comes down to preference regarding the sheen of the stone. Rather than break the tie- how about I offer this: go in between sheens. Honed means “little to no reflectivity” and polished is often shiny- like a mirror. However, you can do a light in-between sheen that gives a touch of reflectivity but isn’t “Las Vegas” shiny and it pairs well with almost any design. Keep in mind, Carrera marble is a soft, calcium-based stone and will etch very easily. If you want to keep your new marble etch and stain-free, it will take a lot of preventative care (wine spill or squirt of lemon juice will etch it in seconds) and ongoing maintenance which can get expensive. You might consider investing in TuffSkin. The low-sheen option of TuffSkin would mimic my suggested shine choice and it will protect the stone with a 10-year warranty. There are TuffSkin dealers all over the States- look one up if you want to minimize the cost of maintenance over time.
Hope this help!