I could be wrong, and sure others will soon chime in, but I always thought of Corian as something that scratches easily. I think I was told that at two different places I looked at counter tops too.

I had Silestone (not white) in my previous kitchen for 10 years, and nothing stained it, not even a sharpie. In fact, the installers used a sharpie to mark on it, and it wiped right off. Get some samples and do some tests.

Corian will stain and scratch easier than quartz but can be refinished.

Chances are nothing will happen to the quartz but if it does the you are %^$#.

Obviously,from a stain POV, you are far better off with cloud white. The tiniest imperfection will show on glacier white while cloud white will hide some tiny stain.

There are no slam dunk answers when it comes to countertops.If there were then we would all get the same countertop.

You'd be better off with a bullet-proof dark granite such as blue pearl or ubatuba. Won't scratch and won't stain. Don't know about sharpies, though, and I don't plan to try one :-)

You can get Sharpie off of most smooth surfaces with acetone (nail polish remover). However, I'm not sure what it would do to the Corian. I'm pretty sure the quarz would be fine if you wiped it up quickly. I can speak from experience that acetone will not get sharpie off of end-grain wood.

I'd go with Zodiaq, but I don't have any personal experience with Corian.

I was at the stone yard and they told me that got their accidental sharpie marks out with acetone and/or barkeepers friend on their white quartz. Get a sample and try.

Quartz is much more durable than Corian, IMHO.

I ended up getting whitish quartz, Caesarstone Eggshell. My husband left wet RED lunch box on the counter. The dye bled onto the counter. I was SO MAD. It came out of the 'resin' (I guess) over days with barkeeper's friend and it is completely gone!

I agree that dark granite is bullet proof. I have blackish granite in the bathroom and it looks good after many years. However, I did not want dark countertop in my kitchen. There was too much surface area to make it all black.

No matter what you do, the boys are hard on the house. Given them a playroom and expect them to play in the playroom. We try to coral them into the playroom, but they slip by now and then. The only thing they really do on the counter is their homework.

I have silestone blanco maple, very similar to the zodiaq cloud white. It is in the bathroom where I have spilled makeup, in the kitchen where I have spilled most everything on it, and in the nook which is my construction/project/catch-all area where I have the leather finish and have actually spilled black wood stain on it.

I can't tell anywhere where the color or finish has been affected! (It's got to be fairly indestructable to remain in my house.)

corian looks like plastic to me, so anything but!

My personal preference would be the quartz, but I don't really like the feel of Corian and don't have small children, so my answer may not be very helpful.

One thing if you start playing around with acetone, there are some cabinet finishes that will dissolve faster than you can blink if they get acetone on them, so be careful.

We have Caesarstone in our kitchen, Zodiaq in our master bath and Corian in the hall bath. I like both the quartz and the Corian, but I'm glad I did quartz in the kitchen. It's totally maintenance free, and everything just wipes right up. We rarely use the hall bath, so the Corian really hasn't been put to the test.

Thanks so much for the great responses everyone!! I just took a Sharpie to the Cloud White Zodiaq sample and it came out perfectly with a Magic Eraser and a little rubbing. Just not feeling the Corian.

I like Corian for kids. It has a little more bounce so when dishes are "placed" on the counter they are slightly less likely to break. It would have to be honed of course, to hide the smudges. I imagine the same is true for Zodiaq. I really love the Corian integrated sinks.

And please don't mess with acetone for a Sharpie--just use rubbing alcohol if the magic eraser doesn't do it.

As far as which material looks fake? Zodiaq looks like fake stone. Corian looks like real plastic. Both are at their best in white I think.

You'd be better off with a bullet-proof dark granite such as blue pearl or ubatuba.

A dark quartz with some specks or veins of contrasting color would be just as bullet-proof.

Corian looks like real plastic.

That is a funny.

Zodiaq looks like fake stone.

True,but the new Cambria Waterstone looks gorgeous.

It only looks fake in the sense that it is perfect slab after slab,which does not exist in nature.

We have a semi-white Corian, Rain Cloud, and love it. It shows less than a purer white while still coming across as white. It has held up with our 2 boys for the 6 months it has been in. It is quieter and warmer to the touch than a stone product (which I am also a fan of). I imagine there'd be less breakage of glasses or plates. It has a softer feel to it. It does not pretend to be stone, but is what it is very nicely.

A friend of ours has Black Galaxy on her counters and hates it because it shows up every little drop of water or fingerprint. YMMV

I wipe our counters down fairly frequently but still appreciate a little forgiveness for a stray crumb or 2. I have had bad experiences in the past with white vanity tops and pale laminate in solid colors. My best advice would be try to get some variation in the surface, even if it is subtle. Think of how one spot can ruin a plain white carpet and how a slight pattern or tone on tone will hide just a little bit more.

There are good reasons for any of the counter choices, so choose what feels best in your gut. You won't go wrong if you pick what makes you happy...

Like dianalo, I have Corian Rain Cloud which resembles Carara marble. It is very easy to maintain, my main reason for using Corian is repairability which Quartz or Granite lack. I have concerns abbout Radon emissions in Granite. I have the kitchen countertop, the small stainless steel island and Room and Board stainless steel table all with Corian Rain Cloud countertops. The 35 inch by 78 inch table I can use as a huge marble pastry board as Corian is very cool to the touch. My other reason for selecting Corian is scratches can easily be removed using scotch brite and Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser.

Oh I love rain cloud, wasn't in our price range though :(

We are going with lg hi macs solid surface in white quartz. I wanted white but with a little variation in color. After much reading and browsing the things I learned if going with solid surface:
1- choose a light color finish. Dark colors show scratches much more.
2-go with a matte finish, again shines shows scratching.
3- solid surface will scratch more easily than some other surfaces, but is highly repairable.
4- solid surface is highly stain resistant, but again easily repairable.

For me I just didn't want granite, it's not a look I care for. I like the soft feel of solid surface. And as a person who HATES cleaning sink edges I wanted the integrated sink. I like that the counters will be fairly built proof and easy to repair if I do (and I will) do something. For me quartz lacking the repair ability factor was the final tipping point. I would like to have he ability to repair the countertop, as opposed to replace the whole thing. Just my preference.

Funny, I feel the need to replace my formica countertops to "update" my kitchen, but can't find anything I like better. It is off white and 30 years old and and apart from a few minor nicks, still looks perfect. I even have it as backsplash - all the way up to the cabinets in the whole kitchen. So easy to clean up cooking splashes. We really abuse it - sometimes even using it as a cutting board, spill wine on it etc. I have never found a stain that Clorox won't get out. How can you beat that? I am pretty sure that my kids have set a lot of hot pans on it over the years too, But the best part is - it is paid for!!!!! I may be out of style for years to come.

I'm considering the Corian Rain Cloud for our kitchen remodel. Would love to see more photos of it installed and similar quartz countertops.

Alinev, your kitchen is lovely!

Beautiful and those bar stools are awesome! Where did you get them??