Whenever we tell people about our quartzite countertops in our kitchen, we usually get this response: “Do you mean quartz?” Totally understandable since their names are so similar. But, we’re not talking about quartz countertops, even though they are awesome in their own right. We want to tell you why we chose to install quartzite counters in our kitchen, and why we love them!
When we began our kitchen renovation in 2018, I looked to Pete and said, “I want a marble kitchen.” Marble kitchens are so pretty, and I can’t help fawning over them when scrolling through Pinterest. Plus, we have a Carrara marble countertop in our bathroom, and I like things in our house to flow from one room to the next. Let’s show you a picture of our bathroom countertop for inspiration:
Marble countertops are popular because they are elegant, timeless, and add value to your home. They make any room feel luxurious. I especially love the white/grey look of Carrara marble, which is neutral and easy to pair with any cabinet color or decor.
Why not marble?
When we told our contractor that we wanted to use marble for our kitchen countertops, he (thankfully!) gave us some pushback. While marble has its pros, like being naturally beautiful and heat resistant, it also has its cons:
- Marble is porous, making it easily susceptible to staining and etching.
- It’s a “soft” stone, so it’s prone to scratches and chips (it’s relative “softness” is why it’s used by artists to make sculptures)
We’ve actually noticed a couple etching spots on bathroom countertops, probably from a beauty product spill that sat too long. Anything acidic will cause marble to etch if it’s not wiped up right away. Luckily, you can only notice it in certain lighting.
Don’t get me wrong, I would absolutely pick marble again for a bathroom. But, kitchens are high traffic areas, so we want our countertops to be durable and stain-resistant (meaning something besides marble). Plus, we love to cook, and do a lot of cooking! Even though we’re the “clean as you go” type when we cook, we don’t want to worry about every little spill staining or etching the counters.
Here’s what our contractor said to deter us from choosing marble: “Imagine someone coming home, tossing their car keys onto the marble counter, and maybe leaving scratch marks. Now, picture this happening daily, and add in cooking, eating, and everything else that happens in a kitchen.” He insisted that marble kitchens tend to show wear-and-tear over the years. Pete and I both cringed at the thought of this. Marble was out.
Quartzite
To get some inspiration, we went to our countertop supplier and browsed through the rows of slabs. If you’ve never done this, it’s so fun! There are so many choices, and each stone slab is unique. Of course, we were automatically drawn to the marble, but made ourselves look past it. No marble for us (for this project at least). Then, we came across a stone called quartzite. It caught our eye because it looked like marble, only it’s an entirely different stone. To be honest, we had never heard of it before.
What is quartzite, anyway? Quartzite is an awesome alternative to marble because it resembles marble, but it’s more durable and stain-resistant. It has a similar white and grey color pattern, with lots of veining (veining is a desirable trait in marble that increases the price $$). Plus, it’s a natural stone, which makes it different from quartz (quartz is man-made). Some other perks of quartzite – it’s UV-resistant (the color won’t fade) and low maintenance. Looks like we found a winner for our kitchen countertops!
Feeling excited that we found something that we loved, we purchased the slab that day. The type of quartzite that we bought is called Super White. A couple of days later, the countertop installers came to our house to create a template of our countertop layout. They use the template to have exact measurements when cutting the slab to size. Also, they borrowed the sink that we would be installing in our new kitchen, so they could make a perfect cut-out for that.
Two weeks later, our new quartzite countertops were installed! We went through a brief period of having no counters or kitchen sink after the old counters were removed, so this day was much anticipated.
Our kitchen was undergoing its full renovation in this picture, so excuse the unpainted cabinets and ripped up backsplash. We’re saving our full kitchen reno for a future post! We’ve carefully hid the majority of the kitchen in these updated pictures so we don’t spoil the reveal.
Overall, we are so happy with our new countertops. Quartzite gives us the marble-look that we wanted, without the stress of maintaining it. We’ve had the countertops for two years now, and we’re happy to report ZERO staining, scratches, or etching! Take it from us, if you love marble kitchens, do yourself a favor and consider quartzite.
