NEW Marble Countertop Alternatives

In my never ending quest for the perfect countertop, I've researched nearly every option on the market. I was willing to take the plunge and just baby the heck out of that marble, but hubby is not as keen. In fact, he is adamantly against it. Considering I'm making 90% of the decisions for this house, I do feel obligated to let him chime in when he feels the need, especially considering he cooks everyday and is about as messy of cooks as they come.

My fear of choosing our number one contender, quartz, has been that sometime in the near future, possibly mere months after moving into our new home, a new product will come out that actually does a better job of mimicking the natural veining of the white marble I oh so yearn for. I can't imagine spending $6000+ on countertops that I won't love, so to help quell this horrible feeling in my gut I scoured the internet some more.

What did I come up with? Two options that have yet to penetrate the blog universe in a big way... but they will. It's a coming!

First up (and my favourite) is porcelain slab. This isn't your Home Depot porcelain tile porcelain. This is a solid slab of absolutely stunning and durable porcelain that completely mimics the look of marble, in my opinion.

How much do you love this? I was actually first introduced to this product from a kitchen designer in Winnipeg on Instagram - she installed the first ever porcelain countertop in the city (see her original post here) The catch for having the loveliness of marble with the durability of porcelain? Cost. The aforementioned countertop cost $11,000 vs. the $7000 quote for quartz.

That said, if it's in your budget, or you were going to splurge on Calacatta or a higher end marble, this could be a fantastic alternative for you!  Read more on porcelain slab here and see the source for the Instagram slab here.

Next up addresses my fear mentioned earlier. I just had a feeling it was going to happen, and it is. Caesarstone Australia is releasing a stunning new marble-look countertop that is the closest look to marble that a quartz ever did see. It's called Caesarstone Calacatta Nuvo. The porcelain slab still takes the cake for realism in my books, but Caesarstone is sure to be a more affordable option.

It has such a nice look to it and makes choosing quartz over marble not that much of an aesthetic sacrifice. The problem? It's not coming out in Aus until this July, and as far as I can tell from my googling, it's not set for US launch until 2015 (who knows when), which means it probably won't be in Canada, or more specifically Winnipeg, ohhh, until maybe 2020? Okay I kid, but it sure takes forever for us to get "new" releases up north.

What this does tell me, though, is that "IT" is coming. The "it" being the best of both worlds - a countertop with the durability and (somewhat) affordability of quartz that replicates the veining and soft depth of real marble. It might take a few more years, but it's on the way! This makes me incredibly excited - but also a little disheartened, because this house that we are building is sure to miss the boat. But this does provide hope for the future (or for those in Australia or those with a bigger budget than ours).

What will we end up doing? Now, I'm confused more than ever. Thank goodness we still have a few months to decide.

Had you heard of these options before or know of any others? White quartzite is one that has been suggested, but I know it's not as readily available as other products.