Relatives who just don't get it

[Morning Glory]

Gray is pretty common when selling a house or for people who want flexibility when decorating because it's quite a neutral color so it can match well with any furniture/picture colors etc. A lot of our rooms have grey walls and white ceilings. It provides a lot of flexibility for decorating. Of course not all shades of gray are equal.

Gray is also an incredibly depressing color to paint the interior of a whole house. People seem afraid of color these days.

I don't mind grey paint, which is easy to change, it's grey tile and grey flooring that's already starting to look out of date.  It's difficult to decorate around as the only way to cheer it up seems to be a violent shade of pink or orange.  Grey doesn't even photograph well.  Yuck.

I had the nice fake countertops -Corian???? at my old house (installed by previous owner in 2001 and were still in perfect shape). Husband and I always argued about whether they were blue or grey.

[Taran Wanderer]

Yeah, bread crumbs sort of disappear on our granite counters, but we love them anyway.  (The granite counters, not the breadcrumbs.)

[ixtap]

The condo we currently rent has white, four inch tiles. Nothing disappears and the grout is never clean...

Don't even get me started on the white, painted steel sink.

All this crap is paired with solid wood cabinets, which is pretty rare in this area, so we have that going for us.

[SunnyDays]

All this talk about countertops is interesting because we really want to replace ours. Obviously not all houses have granite and quartz. Ours have formica that were installed in 2013 (I have the previous owners receipts) and I wouldn't want to replace them except the house was previously used as a rental and the renters destroyed them. There are chips out of them in lots of places and a few melted spots. Our previous house had quartz and I think that is what we will go with. We can't do granite because of my husband's visual impairment - all of the random colors/patterns makes it impossible for him to see things like knives on the counter. We absolutely loved the quartz at our old house because it was all one solid, light color and you could put hot things or damp things down without worrying about it.

It sounds like you have good reason to put in an expensive countertop.  I don't think anyone would argue with that - it's the changing for the sake of a trend that bothers me.  I also cringe at a lot of the wastefulness on HGTV.

Well, shoot, we ripped up the tile and replaced it with tile...

Our house is pretty boring and about as un-styled as you would expect from two engineers.  Wood floors, neutral-ish paint (beige, pale yellow, pale blue, pale green).  Tile.  Black and white bathroom.  But, not fancy black and white.  Just...the floor tile is black and white and the tile is white and the sink is white on a black cabinet.

Does un-stylish go out of style?

A designer whose blog I read from time to time (Maria Killam) is fond of saying, "Boring now equals timeless later."

I agree that is a pretty timeless look.  I wouldn't change it either.

[zolotiyeruki]

The condo we currently rent has white, four inch tiles. Nothing disappears and the grout is never clean...

Don't even get me started on the white, painted steel sink.

All this crap is paired with solid wood cabinets, which is pretty rare in this area, so we have that going for us.

Ugh, tiled counters are something that makes absolutely zero sense to me.  Aesthetics aside, you're literally constructing the dirtiest surface in your house with the one material that is most likely to capture and stain said dirt!?

[PDXTabs]

The condo we currently rent has white, four inch tiles. Nothing disappears and the grout is never clean...

Don't even get me started on the white, painted steel sink.

All this crap is paired with solid wood cabinets, which is pretty rare in this area, so we have that going for us.

Ugh, tiled counters are something that makes absolutely zero sense to me.  Aesthetics aside, you're literally constructing the dirtiest surface in your house with the one material that is most likely to capture and stain said dirt!?

I actually don't mind tile counters. But they are better with big tiles and they absolutely need some sort of new age grout like epoxy or maybe one of the new-age cement ones.

[Kris]

The condo we currently rent has white, four inch tiles. Nothing disappears and the grout is never clean...

Don't even get me started on the white, painted steel sink.

All this crap is paired with solid wood cabinets, which is pretty rare in this area, so we have that going for us.

Ugh, tiled counters are something that makes absolutely zero sense to me.  Aesthetics aside, you're literally constructing the dirtiest surface in your house with the one material that is most likely to capture and stain said dirt!?

DH recently DIY renovated our kitchen. The tile countertops were the thing I was happiest to get rid of. They were the worst.

[bluebelle]

Well, shoot, we ripped up the tile and replaced it with tile...

Our house is pretty boring and about as un-styled as you would expect from two engineers.  Wood floors, neutral-ish paint (beige, pale yellow, pale blue, pale green).  Tile.  Black and white bathroom.  But, not fancy black and white.  Just...the floor tile is black and white and the tile is white and the sink is white on a black cabinet.

Does un-stylish go out of style?

A designer whose blog I read from time to time (Maria Killam) is fond of saying, "Boring now equals timeless later."

I love it.....I'm timeless.....I actually always said that about my business attire (when I needed business attire), it was 'timeless', aka, you couldn't tell what year I bought it.   I didn't care what the "in" colour was this year, blah, blah, blah

when we reno'd the old house kitchen, we put in quartz, because it doesn't require the maintenance of granite (I'm boring and lazy).   We had the 'forever' home built and again put in quartz.   Old house had brownish with flecks of copper and other beige/brown - and DH couldn't see the crumbs etc....new place is a mostly white with swirls of grey.   It shows EVERYTHING, but this way I know my kitchen counter is clean.

Because we hate to paint, and hate going through renos even more, we went with a very neutral white/grey palette for floors and walls.....I use consumables like towels for my splash of colour, and pictures.....and our view is awesome no matter the season, so I look out a window if I need something 'exciting'......

I will never be trendy, and I'm really, really okay with that.   I've always said "function over fashion" for everything, clothing, design, cars, phones, wall colours, shoes especially, etc

mm1970 - you're not un-stylish - you're timeless!  (it's all about the framing of things)

[Cassie]

Locally I can put in prefab granite for a third of the price which I did in the last 4 homes. The only difference is it comes in certain lengths so if your countertop is longer you have a seam. The company is so good that you can’t see the seam. The condo I bought last year has a white kitchen with black granite countertops. It’s not what I would have picked but it’s pretty. I painted my accent walls a light gray and used red accents such as toaster, coffee pot, etc.

[ysette9]

We rented a house that had an avocado green kitchen with tile countertops. SO GROSS. The grout near the sink was moldy and crumbling. Like others have said, you can never get it clean which means there is no kneading bread on those counters, no rolling out pie crust or sugar cookie dough.

[Sugaree]

I put in granite counter tops last fall as part of a kitchen update (room was original from 1960, knotty pine and all), I cant speak to the multi-decade-esthetic of it but the function has been great.  Putting hot pans directly on the counter top and the under-hung sink are very good functional improvements.  And short of taking a hammer to it I dont think I could damage it.  Function has to count for something in esthetics, right?!?!  (Full disclosure I am a male engineer.)

I've got the knotty pine kitchen thing going on too.  I did put in granite a couple of years back (tornado dropped a couple of trees on the house, so we went ahead and pulled the trigger on some renos that we'd been talking about since the contractor was going to be there anyway).  I like it.  I had initially planned on going with quartz, but when I started looking at slabs, the granite just looked better.  I really liked the recycled glass counters, but they were SO expensive.

[DaMa]

Because we hate to paint, and hate going through renos even more, we went with a very neutral white/grey palette for floors and walls.....I use consumables like towels for my splash of colour, and pictures.....and our view is awesome no matter the season, so I look out a window if I need something 'exciting'......

I will never be trendy, and I'm really, really okay with that.   I've always said "function over fashion" for everything, clothing, design, cars, phones, wall colours, shoes especially, etc

Same here!  I don't like brown or brown undertone except in wood.  It just looks dirty to me.  I had a blue gray carpet installed in my house back in 1990!  My condo is shades of gray - medium gray vinyl plank flooring, very light gray (blue undertone) walls.  All the fixtures and trim are white.  I find it very soothing.  I am a quilter so that gray is a background for my colorful quilts and other colorful things that I can change easily. 

[ambimammular]

I actually don't mind tile counters. But they are better with big tiles and they absolutely need some sort of new age grout like epoxy or maybe one of the new-age cement ones.

We've got cement ones in our bathroom. Anything oily marks it.

[Just Joe]

Hahaha, you obviously don't watch HGTV. Every time a sledgehammer hits a granite countertop, I cringe. Such a waste!

Yep when granite could be cut and reshaped and reused for decades...

"I Had a Little Overcoat." A Yiddish children's story that we love at our house...

We have tile counter tops that came with the house. They are aging okay but not smooth enough to do alot with. We're rennovating cabinets soon so new countertops will come along soon after.

I like the pricetag of tile countertops though. I even like Formica with a wood edge. I've installed that before and it aged well. 

[shadesofgreen]

This takes me back to when I was a kid. I remember those fancy hand towels that were stitched with something ghastly kitschy and super scratchy. Next to the bars of soap in pretty shapes that smelled to high heaven. They were in the type of bathroom that had a carpet mat around the base of the toilet and a plastic foam squishy toilet seat.

~shudders~

Here is some nightmare fuel for you.
Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s Lileks, James
And.  https://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/index.html

He did find the goodies, those were over the top even back in the day.  But he missed the bathroom of my first house.  Grey everything, enough to give anyone depression.  Bright yellow would have been wonderful in comparison.

 And yes, foil wallpaper was a thing, we did my parent's powder room with it.  It was expensive.

The house we bought last summer IN SEATTLE was painted gray everything inside. I’ve spent months painting the ceilings white and the walls pale yellow. It is transformative turning sadepressing room joyful.

I just cringe when I see so much gray in the PNW....We get sooo many cloudy days that having lots of my home gray would just make me beyond miserable. I refused to use gray in my kitchen when I remodeled last year. Instead I have deeper aqua blue lower cabinets with white uppers and a swirly white and brown quartz counter. Sorta reminds me of the ocean but not using the typical beach look.

[ysette9]

This takes me back to when I was a kid. I remember those fancy hand towels that were stitched with something ghastly kitschy and super scratchy. Next to the bars of soap in pretty shapes that smelled to high heaven. They were in the type of bathroom that had a carpet mat around the base of the toilet and a plastic foam squishy toilet seat.

~shudders~

Here is some nightmare fuel for you.
Interior Desecrations: Hideous Homes from the Horrible '70s Lileks, James
And.  https://www.lileks.com/institute/interiors/index.html

He did find the goodies, those were over the top even back in the day.  But he missed the bathroom of my first house.  Grey everything, enough to give anyone depression.  Bright yellow would have been wonderful in comparison.

 And yes, foil wallpaper was a thing, we did my parent's powder room with it.  It was expensive.

The house we bought last summer IN SEATTLE was painted gray everything inside. I’ve spent months painting the ceilings white and the walls pale yellow. It is transformative turning sadepressing room joyful.

I just cringe when I see so much gray in the PNW....We get sooo many cloudy days that having lots of my home gray would just make me beyond miserable. I refused to use gray in my kitchen when I remodeled last year. Instead I have deeper aqua blue lower cabinets with white uppers and a swirly white and brown quartz counter. Sorta reminds me of the ocean but not using the typical beach look.

That sounds beautiful. Can you post a photo?

The gray thing, yeah. Don’t get it. The countertops and tile in the bathrooms are also gray. My sister and parents have been doing the Airbnb tour of the UK and she says so many places they stay at have been remodeled in all gray also, so clearly it is/was the in look for a moment.

[Nickyd£g]

I have just moved house and all the walls are greige, the carpets in the bedrooms are dark grey, the curtains were light grey, the flooring tiled dark grey in the hall, kitchen and living room. I live in Scotland, where it is dark and cloudy 9 months of the year. And cold - why the hell would you want tile in the living room?? It's not Florida! I'll be painting and carpeting over the next few months. Curtains already replaced and a sage green rug in the living room - I need colour!

[RetiredAt63]

I have just moved house and all the walls are greige, the carpets in the bedrooms are dark grey, the curtains were light grey, the flooring tiled dark grey in the hall, kitchen and living room. I live in Scotland, where it is dark and cloudy 9 months of the year. And cold - why the hell would you want tile in the living room?? It's not Florida! I'll be painting and carpeting over the next few months. Curtains already replaced and a sage green rug in the living room - I need colour!

Tile at the entrances is great - tile so snow melt and slush won't wreck the floors.  And kitchens, where spills are hard to clean up. But otherwise? Just no.

I don't understand greige, it is the most discouraging colour.

[Dollar Slice]

Tile at the entrances is great - tile so snow melt and slush won't wreck the floors.  And kitchens, where spills are hard to clean up. But otherwise? Just no.

Maybe the worst ever example of this: I used to live near a grocery store that was entirely carpeted. Maybe it reduces breakage of dropped glass items, eliminates slip and fall accidents/lawsuits, lowers their insurance rates and is secretly genius? I dunno. It was incredibly weird, though. They must have invested in some industrial-strength carpet cleaners.

The location was taken over by a Whole Foods at some point and they redid the floors like every other grocery store in the world.

[saguaro]

I just cringe when I see so much gray in the PNW....We get sooo many cloudy days that having lots of my home gray would just make me beyond miserable. I refused to use gray in my kitchen when I remodeled last year. Instead I have deeper aqua blue lower cabinets with white uppers and a swirly white and brown quartz counter. Sorta reminds me of the ocean but not using the typical beach look. 

@shadesofgreen  your kitchen reminds me of a neighbor's kitchen who had a aqua countertop and aqua accents in the white flooring.   It looked quite nice but it's gone now, 2 neighbors ago.  And the floor is now...you guessed it...gray.

Next door neighbor had her kitchen remodeled to white and gray.  It's nicely done but it's too much gray for me.  Both our townhouse units face northeast with shade from the big tree in front of our unit.   The tree is big enough that there's less light in the summer than in winter.  But still we get plenty of cloudy days here in winter and it can get pretty dreary.   So I don't get gray but it seems she was talked into it by the contractor.

As much as we like color we painted our walls to a cream color and it made a big difference even compared to the original greige, which looked light beige at first but once the new color went on, you could see how much gray was in it. 

[RainyDay]

I actually don't mind tile counters. But they are better with big tiles and they absolutely need some sort of new age grout like epoxy or maybe one of the new-age cement ones.

We've got cement ones in our bathroom. Anything oily marks it.

We stayed in an Airbnb recently that had concrete kitchen counters.  The owners had put up signs saying to be very careful since almost anything stained the countertops.  Why would you put something in the kitchen where liquids and sauces would stain it?!?!

[ixtap]

Wow, if we are still on countertops, the relatives must be behaving themselves in the new year. Or everybody is avoiding the relatives...

[SwordGuy]

We stayed in an Airbnb recently that had concrete kitchen counters.  The owners had put up signs saying to be very careful since almost anything stained the countertops.  Why would you put something in the kitchen where liquids and sauces would stain it?!?!

Because the people who lived there didn't cook in their kitchen, it was just for showing off their wealth and status?

Or because they didn't do their research until after it was installed?

[PDXTabs]

Concrete countertops can be sealed. Maybe the owners didn't know that?

They are also very mustachian. You can pour them yourself.

[TomTX]

Corian - out of style.  Rip it out and put in granite. 

Granite - out of style.  Rip it out and put in quartz.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in ?????

It’s no wonder most people will be working for the rest of their lives.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in polished concrete with recycled-glass aggregate.

[MissNancyPryor]

We stayed in an Airbnb recently that had concrete kitchen counters.  The owners had put up signs saying to be very careful since almost anything stained the countertops.  Why would you put something in the kitchen where liquids and sauces would stain it?!?!

Because the people who lived there didn't cook in their kitchen, it was just for showing off their wealth and status?

Or because they didn't do their research until after it was installed?

My childhood home had CARPET in the kitchen and bathrooms. 

That worked out exactly as you might expect. 

[SunnyDays]

Corian - out of style.  Rip it out and put in granite. 

Granite - out of style.  Rip it out and put in quartz.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in ?????

It’s no wonder most people will be working for the rest of their lives.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in polished concrete with recycled-glass aggregate.

Is that “the thing” now?  Can’t say I’ve heard of it.  What will they think of next??

[Sugaree]

Corian - out of style.  Rip it out and put in granite. 

Granite - out of style.  Rip it out and put in quartz.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in ?????

It’s no wonder most people will be working for the rest of their lives.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in polished concrete with recycled-glass aggregate.

Is that “the thing” now?  Can’t say I’ve heard of it.  What will they think of next??

I looked at a recycled glass countertop option a few years ago.  The one I looked at was resin vs. concrete.  They were a cool terrazzo looking surface, but they were pricy and reportedly not as durable as quartz or granite.

[AMandM]

That`s prettier than most granite, but almost as bad at hiding crumbs and bread ties.

[sonofsven]

Corian - out of style.  Rip it out and put in granite. 

Granite - out of style.  Rip it out and put in quartz.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in ?????

It’s no wonder most people will be working for the rest of their lives.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in polished concrete with recycled-glass aggregate.

Is that “the thing” now?  Can’t say I’ve heard of it.  What will they think of next??

I looked at a recycled glass countertop option a few years ago.  The one I looked at was resin vs. concrete.  They were a cool terrazzo looking surface, but they were pricy and reportedly not as durable as quartz or granite.

That picture reminds me of the old "rock candy". I like quartz due to the low maintenance.

[Freedomin5]

Terrazzo is very in now.

[SunnyDays]

That’s nice, but a bit too busy for my taste.  I do like the colours though.

[OtherJen]

Corian - out of style.  Rip it out and put in granite. 

Granite - out of style.  Rip it out and put in quartz.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in ?????

It’s no wonder most people will be working for the rest of their lives.

Quartz - out of style.  Rip it out and put in polished concrete with recycled-glass aggregate.

Is that “the thing” now?  Can’t say I’ve heard of it.  What will they think of next??

I looked at a recycled glass countertop option a few years ago.  The one I looked at was resin vs. concrete.  They were a cool terrazzo looking surface, but they were pricy and reportedly not as durable as quartz or granite.

I would love that as a table top. Not so much as a regular workspace.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Kind of reminds me of the Southern restroom and the decorative hand towels. Growing up, every Southern house's bathroom had at least one very fancy hand towel hanging neatly folded near the sink. But woe be unto anyone who used it! It was purely decorative, and no one was ever supposed to touch it! That was what the (often semi-hidden) plain towel was for.

I think at first, it was a matter of having a "good" towel for guests, and another one for household members. But eventually it evolved to where even guests weren't supposed to use these fancy towels, which were heavily decorated and often not made of absorbent or even moisture-tolerant materials.

If you ever want to torture a Southerner, remove every single towel except the fancy one.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Terrazzo is very in now.

I just redid my countertops in Calacatta Gold marble because the brown Italian marble with bronze highlights that I installed back in March didn't do it for me color-wise.

Of course, I did it all with epoxy from Stone Coat so it cost me a whopping $200.

I only get one picture so this is the photo from the spring.

[Hadilly]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

Your new counters look lovely!

[Sibley]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

Your new counters look lovely!

Marble stains, scratches/chips and need a lot of maintenance. Granite, particularly dark colored granite, shows fingerprints and requires maintenance. Personally, I'm way too lazy for either.

[Taran Wanderer]

Our granite is pretty low maintenance. Middle tones, lots of variety in the stone, can’t see bread crumbs well (this can be a problem), can’t see fingerprints at all (this is not a problem), takes hot cookie sheets and the occasional casserole dish without issues. Only two joints in the whole kitchen and they’re almost invisible. We like it a lot. Ten years old and it looks brand new.

[Dicey]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 
Your new counters look lovely!

Hmm, I think the key word was "epoxy".

[Sandi_k]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

My SIL just did a whole-house gut and remodel, and turned the attached garage into a stunning kitchen. She went with white and gray, of course. The countertops are marble.

Within the first month, it was stained by the fridge area, as the kids had pulled out a basked of strawberries and put them on the counter. She's bleached the bejeezus out of the area, and it's still visible.

No way would I mix marble and kids when we do our reno of the kitchen. We're looking at quartz for exactly the "seal it and forget it" reasons you cite.

[economista]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

My SIL just did a whole-house gut and remodel, and turned the attached garage into a stunning kitchen. She went with white and gray, of course. The countertops are marble.

Within the first month, it was stained by the fridge area, as the kids had pulled out a basked of strawberries and put them on the counter. She's bleached the bejeezus out of the area, and it's still visible.

No way would I mix marble and kids when we do our reno of the kitchen. We're looking at quartz for exactly the "seal it and forget it" reasons you cite.

Quartz is the best for "seal it and forget it." I dripped hair dye on the quartz countertops in my bathroom and it just wiped right off.

[jeninco]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

My SIL just did a whole-house gut and remodel, and turned the attached garage into a stunning kitchen. She went with white and gray, of course. The countertops are marble.

Within the first month, it was stained by the fridge area, as the kids had pulled out a basked of strawberries and put them on the counter. She's bleached the bejeezus out of the area, and it's still visible.

No way would I mix marble and kids when we do our reno of the kitchen. We're looking at quartz for exactly the "seal it and forget it" reasons you cite.

Quartz is the best for "seal it and forget it." I dripped hair dye on the quartz countertops in my bathroom and it just wiped right off.

That's really good to know, because we're contemplating moving our kitchen, and with the proposed much smaller span of countertop quartz seems like a reasonable option. But I use my kitchen pretty hard, so I'm happy to have that info. Thanks!

[ixtap]

This thread needs to be renamed

[Sibley]

Nah, it's just some temporary foam. Or orange/black boxes. It'll get back on topic.

[DadJokes]

Nah, it's just some temporary foam. Or orange/black boxes. It'll get back on topic.

It'll move on to the next big thing, kind of how people move on to the next popular countertop material.

:D

[pasadenafr]

TGS, would you mind sharing how the marble is wearing? I need to get new countertops, and am torn between quartz and marble. I cook a lot and have kids. Our kitchen needs to be very functional.
 

My SIL just did a whole-house gut and remodel, and turned the attached garage into a stunning kitchen. She went with white and gray, of course. The countertops are marble.

Within the first month, it was stained by the fridge area, as the kids had pulled out a basked of strawberries and put them on the counter. She's bleached the bejeezus out of the area, and it's still visible.

No way would I mix marble and kids when we do our reno of the kitchen. We're looking at quartz for exactly the "seal it and forget it" reasons you cite.

Quartz is the best for "seal it and forget it." I dripped hair dye on the quartz countertops in my bathroom and it just wiped right off.

That's really good to know, because we're contemplating moving our kitchen, and with the proposed much smaller span of countertop quartz seems like a reasonable option. But I use my kitchen pretty hard, so I'm happy to have that info. Thanks!

+1 for quartz. Mine is white with very light and very small greyish speckles - not distracting at all (I'm not a fan of more "patterned" countertops). I use my kitchen pretty hard too, and after 3+ years it looks like new. It's also incredibly easy to clean - just a quick swipe with a wet microfiber rag and some multi-purpose cleaner every evening and done.

If I were to buy a home, I'd definitely go with quartz. Ease of maintenance and durability are the most important criteria for kitchen countertops - way before aesthetics. As much as I like marble and soapstone, I'd never be able to live with those in my kitchen.

[ysette9]

Glad to hear. I am hoping to pull the trigger on a kitchen remodel shortly and am thinking white-ish quartz.

How is quartz for setting down hot pots on it directly?

[pasadenafr]

How is quartz for setting down hot pots on it directly?

I don't ever think about it. Not something I do super often as I tend to put those on the stove top (it's flat, and glass), but I occasionally do put them on the countertop and never had a problem.

[Hadilly]

TGS: whoops! Missed that key word.

I appreciate hearing all the quartz love. I currently have very dark, stripey granite. It looks like dried snot, one can’t see if it is clean or not, but is very durable and I can put hots pans down with abandon.

[SwordGuy]

If you keep posting about countertops in this thread, you're somebody's relative that just doesn't get it.  :)