If you really want to be amused, take a Geiger counter into a kitchen with granite countertops. It's not harmful, but it's funny to see people's reactions.

I have granite counters in my kitchen and I like them. They're easy to clean.

I don't like the way they look. They make a kitchen look heavy and yet cold. I grant that they are easy to clean. But difficult to repair if damaged.

out of curiosity, what is your preferred material?

I agree that granite has been done to death. When I bought my 1950s ranch style home, the kitchen already had stainless steel countertops. At first I wasn't sure I'd like them, but I do...very much. They're easy to keep clean, and they add a nice mellow glow to the muted greens, grays and browns in the room...none of the cold lab look I was afraid of.

If I were a renter, I don't think I'd be willing to put money into replacing countertops unless the landlord were willing to take the cost of the redo off my rent. In the case of granite, I doubt that would happen, since there are probably more people out there who like it than there are those of us who don't.

Hmmm. Maybe just save yourself some money and rent a less-expensive apartment? We didn't have any trouble finding places without re-done kitchens, but I suspect we were looking in a different price bracket.

Granite is overpriced and not functional. Let's start a DuPont Corian or Zodiaq counter top trend! (I'll always take function over form in a kitchen. It's the one room I actually use.)

I'm also not the biggest fan of granite. I think stainless steel looks awesome though.

However.......

In my opinion, if granite counter tops are the worst thing in the rental, you are doing awesome.

I'm on board with Liefie... what material would you prefer? I think there are drawbacks to every kind of countertop. However, I abhor my ceramic sink for the same reason you hate your granite - you have to be very careful with glass and other fragile items. I long for a stainless sink. :/

I'm not a big fan either, they can be really pretty, but I too am afraid of breaking things (god forbid I knock a glass over, would it shatter?!?!). Personally, I love the look of stainless steel or butcher block countertops, they are less common and look pretty sweet!

not all granite looks the same. some is ugly, and some is nicer. and it's a cinch to clean!

I'd LOVE for landlords in Chicago to overuse granite. Unless you're renting someone's condo or you're in a lake-side hig hrise, the trend here is for old, chipped, laminate countertops.

You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm going to have to agree that this is a pretty silly "problem".

First world problem if I've ever seen one. Excuse me while I go scrub my Thermador stove. Those 8 burners really cake on food and it's a real pain to keep shiny.

First world problems indeed! There are so many shades and variations of granite, I'm intrigued that it is all obscene to you. And if that is the deal breaker in an apartment you're looking to rent, then I would also have like for theat to have been my problem when is was apartment hunting. I haven't come across the chipped/damaged granite you mention, but I have to wonder what the occupants were doing to make them that way. I've much more often seen ugly worn out laminate that was begging to be removed. And if I have a choice between the two, I'd take granite any day, even the cheap builder grade.

As someone above asked, what is your prefered surface in a kitchen?

I am also curious as to what you would prefer instead. I love my granite countertops and I've never found them difficult to clean.

I have granite countertops in my kitchen. Not what I would have chosen, but they were there when I bought the house and so will be staying until I remodel and expand the kitchen in a few years. In the interim, I did pull down the standard 4" granite backspash behind the counter and replace it with subway tile, which along with painting the cabinets went a long way towards making the counters inobtrusive and less institutional looking, though that's probably not an option if you're renting.

Whatever their aesthetic issues, I would totally disagree that they are not functional. They are super easy to clean, did not stain when I spilled food coloring gel and didn't notice it until the next day, are great for rolling out dough and I can put hot pans right on them without damage. Despite being somewhat klutzy, I've also managed to not chip or scratch them. I'm certainly not extra careful.

Granite countertops are not a dilemma. Ceramic tiled countertops are a dilemma. If you though granite was hard to keep clean, you're going to just love trying to clean these guys.

Formica is what we went with when we did our remodel less that 5 years ago. But I put marble on a small island for candy making. Now the marble and formica look the same. There are patterns that look just like marble and granite. My formica looks like new, cleans easy and lowered the cost of the remodel by about 5,000 dollars.

Granite would be 1000 times nicer than the two different shaded formica countertops in my apartment.

I'm in the Bay Area. Where can I go to get stainless steel counter tops? Anyone have any idea? Thanks.

I don't like granite either. I've seen high end, low end, more heavily "patterned," plainer....I just don't care for it. Especially in black. My preference if I were a homeowner would be butcherblock countertops.

As EKF99 pointed out, though, every material has its drawbacks.

I've lived with granite tops in my kitchen for the past 7 years. They look nice to me. Sort of a mottled grey with some other colors showing up once in awhile. Never broken anything on them. The only reason they are "hard" to clean is that they hide dirt so well I often forget to wipe stuff up. If something gets really caked on there, you can scrape them site a razor to get it off, which is awesome.

Yeah, I have to agree with most of the other posters here and disagree pretty whole-heartedly. Kind of a weird complaint to have, especially to feel strongly enough about it that it "ruins" an apartment for you. Complainy-pants much?

I'm with you Dana: I strongly dislike granite, and would never install it. However, my preference is entirely due to appearance: I looked at SO MUCH GRANITE, hoping to see a slab that appealed to me, but had no luck. Nothing appealed to me. Instead, I installed a beautiful grey quartz with recycled glass and mirror. It was hard and cold, but easy to keep clean, low maintenance (no sealing required), and lovely to look at.

I also love our stainless steel countertops, and the butcher block counters my parents had when I was growing up. But I've never liked granite.

When looking for a new house, it drove me up the wall to see all these quickly reno'd kitchens touting 'GRANITE COUNTERTOPS!' as a plus, when all I wanted was ugly laminate that I could rip out and maybe re-use in a work shop. Hard to justify ripping out something that cost so much money.

My kitchen had granite countertops when I bought my house. I probably would not have chosen granite if I had redone my own kitchen, because of the price. But damn, my granite countertops sure make me feel classy! I feel like a million bucks when I'm in my kitchen.

Yeah, I would love granite countertops. Our "high end" concrete countertops can't have a drop of liquid on them or the finish bubbles up, if you drop anything on them they break. And we used to have peeling plywood and laminate, along with a painted plywood "backsplash" that flaked paint into food on the stove when steam hit it...

Please do report back with what you prefer as I've always found that granite hides dirt, is exceedingly easy to clean, and can have water on it without any finish being ruined, or bubbling of wood/laminate. Plus, lots of the high end manmade materials, like Corian, are now more expensive than granite.

OK...

Ugh! I also can't stand granite countertops! at least in the kitchen anyways. My mother loves the stuff though so my parents place is full of it. I remember as a kid while she was getting it installed thinking it was the worst and most nonfunctional thing to put in a kitchen ever.

I'm so sick of 'first world problemers' on here. This is a design blog. Isn't it, just by nature, probably going to be a lot of 'first world problems' discussed here? Why are you even reading this if you have a problem with that? And seriously, 'white people problems'?? You are an a$$. Materials that are used in the kitchen are of utmost relevance here. I would never choose granite either. It's touted as the 'it' thing to have in the suburbs, and everyone's kitchen looks identical, and is a flash-back to 2002. It's serious de-personalization in design.

Not liking her counter may be a First World problem but the ecological implications are not. Unhealthy and unfair working conditions + mining = the cause of some Third World problems and serious ecological ones. Vote with your dollar. Ask your landlord(s) to look at more responsible counters such as recycled glass, reused slate, reused soapstone, etc. One day you'll have your own and get to choose, just make sure the installed counter material gets put to good use elsewhere. :)

I completely agree, maybe this is generational, I know my mother and mother-in law swoon at the presence of granite - I think it was a status thing for quite a while. Style wise, I think it's very difficult to do the popular clean and modern look with granite unless it is a very plain unpatterned slab. I'm all about quartz countertops, we've just installed them in our kitchen and they are a wonder to clean. It is true that these days cheap wildly patterned granite (I agree, sometimes they look like straight up barf) are almost universally chosen by developers, this is probably because quartz is more expensive these days. Butcher block would not work in a rental, way too much maintenance required.

Dana, I totally know what you mean. I've noticed that in New York too, with rental kitchens that where renovated in the 2000s. They all look exactly the same, and it seems like landlords were trying really hard to make the kitchen look "fancy", but usually the granite is paired with horrible cheap cabinets and the whole thing just ends up looking tacky. For a few years I lived in an apartment that had hardly been updated since the 30s. The kitchen was a little shabby, but it was mostly original and I loved it. It had character. I looked at other similar apartments that had the new granite kitchens and it just killed me to think about the cute kitchens that had been ripped out. All of the charm was lost!

Yep, I'm not a fan of granite either. A few rentals back I lived in a place with granite countertops. Aesthetically I think they look fine, but I was told by a roommate not to let water sit on the countertops as it would discolor the granite (I was subletting and playing by their rules). I'm a clean person, but this just made me paranoid I'd miss a water spot.

The next place had vintage tile countertops - adorable from a distance and water could sit on them all day long, but the nastiest grout ever. Crumbs were impossible to get out of the places where the grout was gone and scrubbing the existing grout with Magic Erasers did nothing.

Now I live in a rental with ugly old laminate and I couldn't be happier! It was already stained and scratched when I moved in, so I don't have that paranoia about ruining fancypants granite and there is no nasty grout to deal with. Not pretty to look at, but it's only a rental!

I think it is pretty hilarious that people are coming down on the writer of this as a white whiner for discussing personal taste on a website focused on interior design. I think it would have been obvious that most of what is on this site would seem like a load of wank from outside of the first world, but that is sort of the assumption when you are on sites like these. Give me a break.

Granite-backlash makes me giggle. We had soapstone counters/farmhouse sink installed in our kitchen remodel (because we have a Chicago bungalow and wanted to stick with traditional 1920s materials) and when we had people over, one person (boyfriend of a friend) said to me, "I am SO over granite."
But with that said, my mother had granite installed in her kitchen last year. I tried and tried to convince her of another material, but she had dreamed of granite for so long it was unthinkable for her to put anything but. However, she picked a LOVELY stone (I believe Blue Pearl, it's black with blue and gray specs in it), and I really do like it.

I agree with Noelle153, I think it's largely a status thing, at least for sure in the Chicago burbs. I just bought a condo, and in my budget, nearly all available choices were original kitchens in bad shape and in serious need of work, or granite slapped on cheap cabinets. I ended up with a formica counter in the place I bought. It's not what I would choose necessarily, especially for color, but honestly, I prefer it to anything else I saw, and it's new enough that I could not justify the waste of changing it out. If I were upgrading though, I'd rather have something locally produced that I could be proud of instead of just keeping up with the neighbors.

Can't stand the granite in my rental. Don't like the look, but more importantly, it BREAKS STUFF. Even plastic! Drop ANYTHING, it shatters into smithereens.

I don't know what the greenest option would be (recycled formica??? since it exists already, might as well reuse it??), but nope, granite ain't it.

And yes, I can afford to live in an apartment that was renovated with granite countertops, but no way can I afford to take them out, store them, replace them, and put them back for the landlord when I move, so I live with it.

Oh gosh, my last rental had the most horrendous laminate countertops you've ever seen in your life...Brown, impossible to see dirt, peeling at the edges. The fact that my new place has anything other than that (it does happen to be granite) is a godsend!

Luckily there is a granite counter top that is hassle free. I am getting them as soon as I am able!
I cannot wait!

I agree with you on the preference for another material, but I also agree with highwater that you must be doing okay if that's the main complaint about the kitchens you're seeing. When I was looking for apartments in the East Bay two years ago, we were having a hard time finding ones with both an oven and a full sized refrigerator. I happen to love my countertops (no idea what they're made of), but even if I hadn't (all of the other kitchens in my building have tile countertops), I still would have jumped at the chance to live here.

As a landlord, I'd LOVE to have granite in all my rentals...I see the damage that my renters do to formica, butcher block & tile & just imagining A), the appeal to most renters of granite & B), the lack of long term maintenance needed sounds amazing.

I've had to replace tile countertops when they chip/stain grout, sand out butcher blocks, & have to live with burn marks on formica. Concrete stains too easy & the corian stuff can scratch/burn...So really, from a landlord standpoint, a good solid stone like granite, esp one that hides dirt & marks is really as ideal as you can get. It'll last & always look fairly new.

Then again, I rent houses in a college town & abuse is common...we're not dealing with high end renters.

I wouldn't be unhappy to wind up with a kitchen-top like this - nice cold surface like granite should be perfect for making pastry. Why not embrace it and get baking :)

I could not live without mine. Chocolate making, Pastry, Pasta..... there is nothing better than Granite. Easy to clean and keep sterile... I can move my hot pots from the cooker straight on to it and chop without worrying about marking it...

How can any real lover of cooking not love Granite countertops????

I have black granite counter tops and white cabinetry. I think it looks really clean and pretty.

haha commenter #1, I was just going to write sounds like a first world problem...

Yes! And sometimes my caviar is too cold and my champagne is too bubbly!

Joking aside, you're allowed your design preferences, but saying that you've "resigned yourself" to something nice and new(ish) seems a touch melodramatic and elitist when one of the alternatives is having crappy old countertops that are in bad condition.

Sorry but agreed with most- first world problem. If you live in the Bay area and have a place with granite countertops, I'm guessing you're not doing so bad, financially. I remember looking at places out there and was met with typical formica cheapo apartment counters. Its not a house where previous owners/builders can lavish it with marble or soapstone or the like, but for an apartment, granite is high end. Take it or get used to a tiled counter or formica, which is useless and a pain to clean. Granite conducts heat well, making it great for putting hot baked goods or pots on safely. That's a plus over plastic counters for me any day.

I agree with Holler, this is an interior design post. What did you expect, a post about the plight of frogs? People have the right to complain. Renting is hard and noisy and depressing. Reused and recycled materials like glass or soapstone are the most responsible, and less morose than granite.

Geez people, have you seen the other titles today? How to tell if wine is corked? Cold brew at home? Add avocado (expensive!!) to your egg salad? Calling out "first world problems" on a blog like this is asinine.

I think it's important to distinguish between quality granite counters and those that developers install in cheap renovations. They're usually the leftovers and garish pieces overlooked by homeowners sold cheap wholesale to developers.

LOL, kariak. totally!

My bugaboo is those kitchens with black/dark gray granite and those ubiquitous deep-brown cabinets. Those kitchens always look so drab and mumsy. I'm certain they'll be considered the avocado green of the aughts.

My landlord, despite doing slap-dash "renovations" of their properties, actually did a nice job with my kitchen. It does have the dread dark gray granite, but they chose white cabinets, which make my kitchen look clean and fresh. I also like granite for the option of having the counter meet the sink seamlessly. It makes for much less scrubbing of the grime that grows in any seams or cracks in a kitchen.

Considering what renters are usually stuck with, granite is the lesser of evils.

I agree with the posters pointing out that the premise of this blog is pretty much solutions to first world problems. And I also don't like granite countertops, but wouldn't mind if that was my chief rental problem. We have bland formica in our apartment, but that's nothing compared to the hideousness of the cabinets. Such is life as a renter.

Granite doesn't bother me much. My personal pet peeve is La Cornue stoves. Every time we rent a house in France for the summer, there it it!

I can't escape them.

I have granite counters in my apartment, and I don't mind them (they're a very pretty speckled black and are also in the bathroom). I much prefer them to Formica or some other laminate. My preference though is for quartz or a similar material.

I'm with solobeckett. Sure I like the way butcher block looks. Or even tile countertops. But they're so impractical. If you cook a lot, granite is just easy and (seriously) indestructible. If you find the right pattern, you really don't have to worry about spills, and you never have to worry about hot pots. Stainless is great too (although you have to love the eventual "patina"), but not necessarily for pastry making. in my next kitchen (whenever that day comes), I might do stainless with a marble area for pastry and a butcher block area for chopping.

I'm not a huge fan of granite. The house I'm renting is all granite and stainless steel in the kitchen. I'm a native Vermonter, so you'd think granite would make me feel at home. Not.

My biggest complaint is the color. I despise black counters, and granite seems to come in black a lot. This is a problem of style and form over function, and I have a problem abiding that. I am a cook, and I want a kitchen that both looks good, and works well. If I can't see a spill or a stain on my dratted black counter, then the function has failed. I also hate stainless steel, but that's another story...

I put granite in my kitchen and bath when we remodeled. It was the best decision I made. They are beautiful, indestructible, easy to care for and timeless. Worth every penny.

We had that counter top (exact shade of black and shape) in our kitchen. It was easy to clean, and incredibly hardwearing. Unfortunately, nothing could be salvaged when we remodelled as the kitchen was completely reconfigured. We now have grey/brown marble counters - they do look more modern (thicker, with a bevelled, not curved edge), but are much less practical than the granite as they scratch and stain very easily. If I was renting, I would be very pleased to have granite counters.

Put me in the anti-granite camp, too. I think it's cold looking and just feels over-used. We're currently house hunting and it seems like everyone trying to flip a house has slapped some granite countertops in the kitchen and jacked up the price $50K. I'd rather have the before-kitchen, thanks, and make it more 'my own'.

I'd love marble countertops (yes, I've read all the negatives) or even stainless steel. But honestly, I did just fine with the formica counters we installed in our last house. True, I couldn't put a hot pot on them, but that's what trivets are made for!

I agree that granite slabs aren't all that attractive, but my parents used to have a kitchen with black granite tiles (and black grout) paired with cherry wood cabinets that looked amazing.

I have white corian. I adore it. It is super easy to clean and not as hard as granite (I'm a clutz), plus if you scratch it you can sand it out with sandpaper. What's not to love?

Plus it's at least fifteen years old and looks brand new.

Ikea has 26" deep butcherblock countertops- 48" for $40, and 96" for $60. Just get those, put little rubber feet on the bottom, and set it on top of the granite.

We had them put in after researching many options. Stainless steel is cool but more expensive, I do love butcher block, but thought granite would be more indestructible and practical. We had stained, gouged formica before, so, no thanks. I love tile, but not grout, so didn't want that again as a counter (as a backsplash, yes). I wanted something flat and good for real cooking and baking. I don't like just going with the trendy thing either, but it's stone. That's like saying a rock you love will go out of style. The color we got matches the geology around the house. It even has crystals! How can you not like that?

Having to live with granite is a small problem in the scheme of things. I happen to love my granite and the idea that it is nonfunctional just makes me scratch my head and say "what?". Plywood is nonfunctional as is old funky tile with nasty grout lines and chipped, stained laminate (I have lived in some interesting old dwellings). The builder grade colors are a bit mundane, but to be able to do pastry is a dream for me and wiping the counter directly into the under mount sink is sooo wonderful, in my view! If I were designing my own kitchen I would probably have a solid color quartz, but I'm good with the granite I have.

Ugh! I hate them too! I'm in the process of buying a house and I swear the first thing people do to increase the "value" of the home is install granite countertops. and ceiling fans. Stop the granite madness!

I'm surprised to read that people are cutting and putting hot pots on their granite counters because I was told by the construction manager (I bought a new construction house) that you shouldn't do that.

I love my granite counters. I have rented a lot of places and even owned a few homes, but I have never had kitchen counters that I liked as much as my granite. Tile is horrible, formica is cheap looking to me. I do like butcher block counters, but have never had them personally.

If the granite counter is already there then the ecologically sound thing to do is keep it. Where it is going to go if you remove it in favour of a more eco option? The damage has already been done and even you to install the most eco option instead, it is still not as ecological as making do with what is there.

I would say if the bench is that important, it might be worth find somewhere else to rent that has the kind of materials you are looking for.

That said, we have white reconstituted stone bench tops which I would never specify myself having lived with them for a while now, they just stain so easily. I'm also not a huge fan of dark granite and the rounded edges that so many of them have. It is a pleasure to kneed dough on such a hard smooth surface though and we haven't had any issues with breakages on them.

Hah! My landlord and manager are so proud of the granite in my bldg's remodeled apts, but I only felt disappointment at the black holes in my kitchenette :( They really sucked during an ant infestation that had me shining lights on the counter at weird angles to see the ants.

Now that I plan to do some simple cooking, I'm looking for some cheap, low maintenance cover to place under the appliances and shelves I'm getting.

I think this qualifies under the category of "First World Problems" (sounds like some other people feel the same way).

And seriously? They're better than crappy plastic-y ones like most rental apartments have. And it's way easier to clean than tile counter tops (it's impossible to get coffee grounds out of the grout between tiles).

Alicee - thanks for pointing out that replacing a perfectly functional counter (or anything else) for no particular reason is the very opposite of "eco-friendly"

That said, one of the many reasons I don't miss renting is that when we FINALLY got around to renovating the kitchen, I got to pick what I wanted, not what fit someone else's needs or what they thought was most marketable.

Ugh! Enough of sputtering about 'first world problems!' You're on a design blog, in case you hadn't noticed?!?!

Just as I suspected, this post was going to bring me some trouble! To address a few points raised here:

Granite = high end. Not always true, at least based on what I've seen on Craigslist in the Bay Area. It may have been that way at some point, but as a commentator pointed out, there's a lot of crappy, cheap granite out there and landlords are installing it and then making a big deal about how the kitchen has brand new granite countertops in order to make the apartment sound better. When I click through, it's often a cheap looking fake granite or some really queasy looking (to me) color. (Perhaps we should have chosen a different photo to illustrate this post.) I agree, there are some granites that are attractive and therefore expensive but I'm not seeing it in the price level that I'm looking. Which brings me to my next point:

Some people have assumed that I must be a rich person to even be clicking on apartments that offer granite countertops. Seriously, seriously not true. I'm a freelance writer living in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, with no other income stream besides what I bring in from my part time jobs, which don't offer benefits. I'm looking at apartments in West Oakland, not in the Berkeley Hills. Which brings me to my next point:

I work from home. I spend a lot of time at home and not only that, I write about food so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So I have to live in and work with my kitchen up to 16 hours a day. So countertops that make me cringe are perhaps a bigger deal to me than most. I should have acknowledged that in my post. Sorry.

I can understand the landlord who wrote about how indestructible granite is and can see how it would make sense for them to invest in that over classic formica or less sturdy materials. But as a commentator pointed out, it's a real shame when perfectly good kitchens are ripped out and replaced with cheap-looking granite. Worse is when this 'improvement' is touted in ads as something I should get excited about and possibly even pay more money for. I guess this is a classic renter's lament, granite or no granite.

I'm a little surprised that people who complained about this being a third world problem didn't also acknowledge that this post pointed out the problems that granite mining is creating in developing countries and the enormous amount of fossil fuel waste that is involved in importing it here. If you missed that part, here again the link to the Treehugger article that talks about it.

What kind of counter would I prefer? That really depends on owning vs renting. It is highly unlikely that I will ever own a home unless I move, change jobs or both. But if I did, I would like something less shiny and hard and patterned than granite. I prefer simple countertops. I actually like butcher block but recognize that they're a lot to maintain. And I certainly don't expect to see something so easily marred in a rental. Right now I am living with a simple white laminate and painted white wood countertops. They're nice, nothing fancy, and seem to clean up OK. Before that I lived for 8 years with 80-year-old tile and grout countertops and yes, they were a bear to keep clean.

OH OH>>I laughed.loved 'first commenter's' dry humor comment....and I thought I was the only misfit that did NOT like the look of granite at allll..love the look of slate or soapstone. The granite 'craze' when it first started, reminded me of back in the 70's when new homeowners or apt dwellers would proudly exclaim," oooooohhh and it has SHAG CARPETING.!!!!!"

Concrete would be my choice, but I could live with wood, too. Granite looks sterile to me and I don't like that look. I also can't stand stainless steel, much too institutional looking and impossible to keep spotless.

Of course, I am saying this all the while I cook on laminate. But I WILL build a kitchen in the near future, and it will have concrete counters, among other things. And definitely no granite!

In my dream house, which will probably never happen because I will probably always and forever be a nomadic renter, I'd love recycled glass or soapstone. I love concrete, too, but I know that it's not without its maintenance issues and it might be a bit more trendy than timeless.

When we criticize granite for being shipped from overseas, its important to distinguish whether or not it gets flown into this country by air or gets shipped by sea. If its the latter, then the carbon footprint is like 1/60 that of shipping something by air.

I don't like granite, either. I rent, and my countertops are laminate, and they look like butcher block. Not ideal, but I actually don't hate them. I would far prefer real butcher block.

I'm trying to find a rental right now, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find one in my price range, and if I could find one with granite countertops I wouldn't complain even one little bit. I WOULD complain about tile, because I think they would be a massive pain in the butt. (I would complain, but I'd still jump on it because of the impossible task of finding ANYWHERE I can afford, but I'd still complain.)

You didn't have to rent an apt with granite top, you know? Step it up, save some money, buy a place and do whatever you want. The reason landlords do granite tops because they are long lasting, easy to clean, fairly priced. Landlords do not live at their rental properties, why will they care?

I quite like Caesarstone, myself. We've had our (heavily used and abused!) countertops for eight years now and they look brand new. Totally heatproof, never had a class or anything break on them, you can use them for candymaking the same way as marble, and the colour range is pretty cool. Ours are blue!

And yes, if people really want to make them look like granite, then they can, but it's a lot more durable.

(I promise this isn't an ad! People wanted alternatives - this is a good one.)

Clearly the granite you get in the USA and the granite you get in South Africa are two different materials. Most developers use laminate made to look like granite, because real stone is way too expensive.

We don't seal it, and the only breakages we've had have been dropping things on the ceramic floor tiles. It's great to put hot stuff down on, a cloth with a bit of soapy water cleans it up easily and it nicely complements the colour scheme (chocolate floor tiles and back splash, beech cabinets)

@ Renyin: I live in Oakland and ended up buying my steel counter from Specialty stainless online. I can't say enough about their excellent customer service. The counter with integral sink and custom finish was about $1000 cheaper including shipping than quotes my contractor got locally. The company is in Buffalo, NY and they send you lots of drawings to make sure its right before manufacturing it--it's hand finished in a pretty cool way too. Steel is also 100% recyclable and you support an American company and US industry.

There is one company in Berkeley but they weren't excited about non commercial work, wouldn't do anything custom and were almost cost prohibitive.

My other counter is vetrazzo-- if you are looking for environmentally sound options togranite and care about where stuff is made, they're in Richmond and you can actually go and pick your slab.

I am really confused by this post. If you aren't buying then you dont choose what is in homes you rent. A landlord chooses what is durable, popular and he isnt going to put something else that costs even more and will require even more maintenance and more cautious care. I guess I would be grateful to have a more modern place, or I would go find an old place that doesnt have granite, but it also could have older sinks, a ratty old toilet, etc. Any rental is a give and take, and even when you buy, you dont get everything you want. You have to later make changes to a home. You may just be venting, but it comes across really bad. And I bet you dont mean it that way.

I've honestly never heard anyone complain about granite. I don't mind it as a material choice - like anything, it depends on the presentation, how well it fits in with the rest of the kitchen's design. That said, there are definitely materials that I would prefer nowadays; stained concrete is at the top of my list, with butcher block being a close second.

As for those coming to the writer's defense by pointing out that this is a design blog: you're not wrong. But wouldn't someone with an eye for design be able to work around a material they didn't like ( I don't have a horse in this race, just playing devil's advocate) ? As a renter myself, I honestly can't see granite countertops being a deal-breaker or obstacle...

In the end, it's like others have already pointed out: beggars (read: renters) aren't choosers. Deal with it, ask your landlord if you can upgrade, or rent elsewhere. Or become a homeowner.

Ha ha, I said about 5 years ago while watching an episode of "house hunters" that granite countertops and stainless steel appliances were going to be like avocado green refrigerators in a few years. Maybe that day has come? I've always disliked them, but I've also never had a rental with a counter that nice. I've either had formica (ugly) or tile (cute, but usually gross from years of tenants.) That's life as a renter.

I totally agree re: granite. Maybe it can be honed after it's installed to soften it a bit (you'll have to seal it though)? At least then you won't have miles of shiny, hard granite.

Yes, it is a "first world problem," but not in the whiney, I-can't-have-everything-my-way way that you're all implying. Am I the only one who took note of the author's distaste for environmental devastation and unfair labor practices? Granite for countertops doesn't just appear out of thin air; it took millions of years for the earth to form it and it is not renewable. What's going to happen to all that beautiful stone when the kitchen stylists at HGTV move on to the next craze and granite is soooo last decade? Not only that, but mining, whether for gold, oil, or granite, is an extremely dirty industry. If the first world's insatiable appetite for everything shiny and new is leading to environmental devastation and cruelty in poorer countries (and it is and always has) then disliking granite countertops is absolutely a first world problem! The people who choke on fumes and drink poisoned water while living off a dollar a day digging out your crappy countertop don't have a say in any of this; we in the privileged first world are the only ones who can choose to stop the cycle by refusing to decorate our kitchens with their suffering. Why don't we carpet our living rooms with tiger furs and use ivory for door knobs?

The image used in this post is from Treehugger and looks like high-end stuff--used in what appears to be a high-end kitchen. I doubt this is what the poster's kitchen looks like.

I sympathize with the poster. I have seen too many awful apartments with awful kitchens with the same orangey granite countertop plopped in over and over. It doesn't look right, it doesn't look good. In fact, it's an eyesore. I'd rather have laminate. And yet the rental ad will tout it in all caps as if that were the most important thing. And landlords seem to feel justified asking for more for their "stylish" kitchen.

Dana, is white-painted wood countertops an east bay thing? Because my crappy West Berkeley apartment definitely had those (couldn't leave a pizza box or take-out container sitting for more than a minute or the condensation would leech out the ink from the box and leave a nice red logo on my counter...).

As much of a pain as those were, I preferred the look of that kitchen to the look of my "new remodeled everything!" kitchen in my crappy, unsafe West Oakland rental (yes, fellow readers, in the east bay they install granite countertops even in unsafe, poor-people neighborhoods!). The house we're renting is old, and I'm sure it had a really adorable kitchen at some point that fit with the quirky charm of the house, but the ugly, cheap wood cabinets and grey-ish patterned granite tops, all very haphazardly installed, just look tacky. I have gotten into the practicality of having granite (I can just chop straight on the counter, probably my favorite part after painted wood), but I seriously hate looking at it. I wish my landlord had put that money into, oh, sealing the doors properly, for instance, so we wouldn't run up crazy gas bills all winter...

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You're going to have to be careful with ANY countertop surface. Granite chips. So do quartz, corian, concrete, and soapstone. Steel scratches. Butcher block is its own headache. Cheap nasty laminate will melt if you set something hot on it. So...buy a place and redo the kitchen to your liking,or continue to rent and quit bellyaching. And maybe vow to be a little less clumsy in how you treat the countertops, hmm?

Oh, hipsterhousewife, PLEASE DON'T chop directly on your granite countertop! Regardless of anything else, it's terrible for your knives!