Do solid surface with a speckle because it would go great with your casual retro look. I would avoid stones because they tend to be more formal and definitely avoid white marble - it stains.

http://info.formica.com/blog/bid/120218/Refreshing-Solid-Surface-Countertops

I think that white granite looks really good. I know we are experiencing granite backlash lately, but I sort of think marble backlash is only a few years away since that has become so trendy too. Good granite is still great for kitchens. I like your quartz samples a lot too, and that is what I will be putting into my own kitchen soon.

Just Say No to tile. It's a pain to clean every single day, and the grout will stain and need to be resealed every year.

Woo, I love the first and 2nd...good substitute for carrara marble.

God, that penny tile looks like a nightmare (and also reminds me of the mega-messy public bathrooms at Pike Place Market). Don't Do Grout. Just don't. I almost wish that our entirely ceramic-tiled bathroom had been done with kitchen-style granite or quartz countertops and shower just because the grout sealant wears off SO quickly. Don't even THINK about intentionally putting that problem in your kitchen!

I have kashmir white granite almost identical to that of the one from Involving Color and I love it. I also had granite tile before and agree about steering away from grout.

The unfortunate owner of a tiled countertop kitchen, PLEASE avoid this at all costs. The grout is difficult to keep clean and even subtle differences in the level make cutting boards a nightmare. I so look forward to when our budget allows for new countertops and thank you for posting some of these options.

Kashmir white is my favorite granite. It looks great with pretty much any cabinet color, except for maybe maple wood, and has enough "speckles" in it to hide a bit of dirt etc. You could also still do a carrera subway tile backsplash and it would look great.

IceStone is great and comes in very light colors like white and gray. It's made of recycled glass in concrete so it is not mined -- a very good characteristic that most people aren't thinking about. It doesn't stain if you clean things up quickly.

Funny that Ceasarstone isn't in there, since they do a pretty good version of a honed Cararra look.

@Tanya67, but cement IS mined...mined limestone, that is. And concrete Is cement and sand or aggregate. The limestone is mined by blasting in strip mines, then it's baked in energy-hog kilns. Cement manufacture is highly polluting, highly wasteful, massively destructive. Nothing made with cement/concrete is green.

I have Bianco Romano granite (which I believe is fairly close to the kasmir). It is fabulous. Indestructible, as far as I can tell, and it comes sealed using some process which apparently means no sealing for 10 years.

I take pots of boiling soup off the stove and set them on my counter, things out of the oven, spill berry juice and red wine. It still looks the same as when I had it installed 2-ish years ago. I have a messy 5 year old and two black labs who flagrantly counter surf. I would get it again in a heartbeat.

We put a white quartz in our kitchen and it was AWFUL. It stained and marked worse than any counter I have ever seen. Every time metal touched it, even lightly, an ugly black mark was left. This meant that the edges were badly marked from my belt and that our island was covered in marks from teaspoons being put down (yes, teaspoons being placed down, not dropped). It also stained from herbal tea, spaghetti sauce, water marks, and jam. There was also a chip in one corner after a week. We replaced with granite.

Have you considered Caesarstone? We love ours--it's astonishingly durable and so easy to clean. We have red upper cabinets with white lower cabinets and countertops in Blizzard, a white, finely grained pattern, which might look really great in your kitchen. But they have lots of light-colored options.

They're expensive but I think the recycled glass countertops are beautiful. Vetrazzo makes one called "cubist clear" that is recycled safety glass (breaks up into square-ish pieces) in a white base that I'd love to use in a light colored kitchen.

I have a light Corian in my apartment. It's white with some black and grey speckles and it looks gorgeous. It was also relatively inexpensive (1/3 the price of Caesarstone), is more forgiving than stone surfaces when you drop glass or dishes on it (helpful for a klutz like me), doesn't have any visible seams (they literally fuse the pieces together and you can't even see where they meet), it doesn't stain and any chips can be easily and seamlessly repaired (although we have none yet after 4 years of hard use).

I know it's a bit out of favour, as everything these days is "stone, stone, stone" but we have been happy with our decision every single day.

I am looking for any surface that can handle stains of turmeric, the Indian spice that I consider the hallmark of staining. There is Caesarstone, but anything else that is a little cheaper?

Super White Quartz was my intended surface until I found my carrara gioia so that gets my vote.

Stephaniemw, we also have Corian and I love it. I can't remember the colour. We have stacked marble tiles on the backsplash and countertop goes really well with it. Most of our cupboards are white, although some of the lowers are medium brown wood. Even though we have a fairly large window in the kitchen, the room is not very bright and I'm so glad we didn't go dark.

I love white counters, and Carrara marble is so gorgeous. We recently redid our kitchen, and I had to compromise with my husband and get dark granite counters, but everything else is light and bright, so they are a nice contrast. I have heard good things about Caesarstone, too.

Honestly, i don't get (or am not seeing right.) What happened to those charming green cabinets? This is obviously a very high-end reno, and it's resulted in a colorless personality-less room with monstrous lights, I wouldn't be caught dead oooking in. The original was much better; if you had changed the counters it would have looked like a real kitchen.

Do you really have 2 ranges?

I'm always amazed how many people who consider granite and marble as ecologically responsible choices because they are natural stone. Please do some research on the environmental damage done by quarrying operations.

We have a white penny tile backsplash and solid white (no speckle or pattern) acrylic counters. And we have kids.

They will definitely show the wear over time, but we love them, and for now, they clean up perfectly - and make me happy every day!

In general I think all-white kitchens, no matter how luxurious the materials, look bland. I think a bit of contrast (with, say a dark countertop) gives an essential crispness.

I have white Caesarstone (I think the color was called Blizzard) in my kitchen, and it's great! Any stubborn stains I've generated have come out with Barkeeper's friend, which I have anyway for cleaning my stainless steel pots.

@chandru - you are definitely not seeing right. The photos above are NOT her kitchen. Click on the link to see her kitchen renovation. The photos are just examples of white countertops.

We renovated our kitchen about 3.5 years ago and went for white countertops. After much deliberation we deciced on Silestone and L.O.V.E. it. Stains come right out. My wife is super clumsy and has dropped cans from 3 feet up, pans from at least a foot as well as just about smashed the edges by the sink with everything imaginable (thank goodness she is an awesome cook) and only on slight ding. They also have a true white which is why we chose it over Ceasarstone. Good luck!!

Oh wow, thanks for posting my kitchen (no. 8)! The kitchen was mid-reno then, so we've done a lot of updating since that picture was taken. We still have a couple things left to do, but I have more recent pictures with the cabinets finished and marble backsplash installed here if you're interested.

This renovator has shown vulnerability by admitting we swayed her away from the dark counters. Now she has to do anything we want! Moowah hah hah!

Far be it from me to suggest Formica just because it's cheap and perfectly suited to the style of the kitchen, but have you considered Formica? I have 50-year-old gray cracked-ice Formica in my kitchen. I thought I'd ripping it out and replacing it with quartz or Silestone, but I love it.

If you use a lot of turmeric, try Fantastik. When I was in college, I had chronic turmeric stains that Bon Ami wouldn't budge. But Fantastik not only worked, it was fun: It turned the yellow stains PINK first, and then they'd wipe away. The formula has no doubt changed since 1983, and now I tend to rely on Ajax with bleach, but I still remember the amazement of seeing those stains turn pink.

I am 100% with LEA FROM LOVELYMESS - tile is so irritating to work on and to clean. Plus it cracks easier than stone. Don't go there. As far as durability goes, I've consistently heard the best things about quartz and composite materials. Personally, I am contemplating something like Silestone Lyra, Zodiaq Bianco Carrara, Corian Clam Shell or Corian Rain Cloud for our eventual renovation.

I just went through this & decided on Silestone Lagoon. In my opinion it looks a little more like actual stone than Silestone Lyra or Caesarstone's Carrera. Might be worth a look. We haven't had it for too long, but I love it. Cleans up well, isn't too stark but also doesn't look too grey. Good luck!

Check out Cambria "Torquay" - we've had it for 6 mo and love it, the vein hides spills/crumbs but the overall look is very white and marble-y.

We used ECO by Cosentino in White Diamond and it's the best decision we've made. Very durable, moderately priced, look great and made of recycled glass.
http://usa.ecobycosentino.com/color_revive.cfm

I have river white granite on my island. It's very pretty and when sealed it doesn't stain. I've had it for about a month and it looks beautiful. I chose honed absolute black for the perimeter and while I like the look it shows lots of water spots. The white shows nothing. It's awesome.

I love when people talk about getting something to hide crumbs. Eww. I like being able to see messes, so I can clean them. I have white quartz and am happy with the look. Mine chips on edges pretty easily and that bothers me. It's Cambria.

I just put Kashmir white granite in my kitchen. I was a little worried if it would work with the 1956 white metal cabinetry I had just refinished, but I got a great price on it, so I just went for it. I totally love it! Granite can tend to seem more formal, but I really don't think it clashes with the casual cabinetry.
My only gripe is you can't see the mess the roommates didn't wipe up until you have already set your laptop in it.

If I could have my kitchen anyway I wanted in my rent controlled apartment, it would look similar to this. The Kasmir White Granite is so pretty and appears strong enough.

Quiltmaster,
I didn't know using granite was environmentally irresponsible I'll definitely look that up.

I believe used Granite and Marble that came from previous homes are better options for remodeling a kitchen. Anything recycled.

Kashmir White Granite
Fantastic photos. Your color selection in granite countertops is very nice. What about the durability?
www.granitememorial.in