Lost Your Marbles? I Have
This article will give you some invaluable information on marble counter tops. However, before I tell you, I have a story that needs to be shared;
Someone recently called my office and said the following to me, verbatim: “Bro, I just came from my boy’s crib and he gave up yo digits. Man, that {cencored} marble walkway was sick!! His home theater was the dope too, fo real!! You gotta come an drop it like that fo me yo. Hook up my kitchen dog, I want that same marble {cencored} for my kitchen. Ma digs have been under the radar too {mother of all cencored} long!”
I quickly ran for my decoder ring, and here’s what I took from the tone of this call:
“Hello and good day sir. I’ve just left from tea at the {name withheld} residence wherein I noticed your exemplary work with marble textures. I would so like it if you could join me at the club for cocktails, so that we might discuss arrangements for you to customize my kichen in a similar spirit.”
- Except for the decoder ring bit, I’m not joking about the call.
- How did this call get past my answering service? (note to self; fire my answering service)
- I wasn’t sure what to think, when one of my projects was classified as “sick”. (apparently that’s a good thing these days)
- I was almost sure I should inform the DEA that a drug dealer was asking me to plant something illegal in his home theater.
Needless to say I turned away this customer, mostly because I was fully booked, but also because I’m generally not much for people that call other people “Dogs” as a term of endearment.
At any rate, since this is an article on marble, I’ll get back to it. Just thought I’d share.
If you are considering marble counter tops for your kitchen, perhaps like DJ JazzyFreshCool J (quoted above), then you should really grab some education on caring for marble.
- The most common group of marble – the white marble group – can stain and wear and tear easily unless treated properly and fabricated in a certain fashion. Even water has been known to stain white marble when it is not processed correctly.
- As a general rule, the darker the marble, the less likely it is to stain, however darker does not necessarily mean harder.
- Quality marble is protected with a sealer, in the same way your car’s paint is protected by wax. Just the same as car wax, you will need to renew the sealer on your marble periodically to ensure it has maximum protection from stains.
- Having said that, there is a new process that isn’t so well known yet called “impregnation” (stop with the dirty thoughts already). Basically this process applies a product that penetrates into the stone, repelling stains by becoming part of the marble.This is a permanent process, as opposed to having to re-apply a product periodically.
The best advice I can give if you are in a rental, a condo, or if you have a high level of activity in your kitchen (like lots of children), consider a serpentine class marble, or a granite finish instead of genuine marble. Both of these alternatives are visually similar to marble finish and they require far less maintenence than an authentic marble product. Also, both serpantine marble and granite are much harder than marble, so they are able to withstand the wear and tear in a kitchen known for lots of activity and traffic.
If, however, you are just dead-set on getting a marble counter top there are a few food items your marble will want you to avoid. Citrus can harm your finish, specifically lemons and lime. Anything acidic can be harmful to the marble, so it’s best to pour your juices at your dining table, not on the counter. It’s also best to ground your kids for a minimum of 4 years if you ever catch them pouring citrus juice on your marble counter top.
The bottom line on marble is that you have 2 major things to note before deciding on the purchase and installation:
- Ask if the product should be impregnated to keep it from easily staining.
- Pour acidic juices and squeeze your limes in the laundry room or in your neighbors kitchen, and set up a motion detecting alarm to warn you when your kids go in the kitchen unauthorized. (Just kidding about that last part, really I am)
So there’s the basics on marble counter tops. Of course with any major purchase like this I would expect you to write in with further questions, or ask a local marble expert to set you straight. At Interior Living Room we often let you know the pro’s as well as the cons of various popular choices – not to throw you from your preference – only to show you the best ways of enjoying your choices and the easiest methods you can use to enjoy your decorating ideas for a long time.
I’m off now to fire my answering service and change my phone numbers.
About the Author
Peter Gibson is an interior design expert of 20 + years that regularly writes for Interior Living Room and Vintage Vinyl Records.
He is a very accomplished author on the subject of interior design and an avid vintage vinyl collector. He has written for many publications and penned 2 best selling novels. His design works include the redesign of a popular New York recording studio, redesigns and upgrades of countless homes, and he renovates challenging older condo/ apartments as a part of his charity work abroad.
Glass Car by Mothers