Tough question. Highly dependent on personal preference IMO. White counters I think is more modern, black is more traditional, but beyond that and the "show less dirt" thing, there's not many universal truths here. Highly subjective... Sorry for not being much help.

Can you provide more information about your plan? Were you thinking of a gloss or honed or leathered finish? That would be a factor to consider re fingerprints if you're doing black with 4 little ones.

What style kitchen? Is it separate or connected to other rooms? Lots of natural light, or not?

It's subjective, as unkinected noted above, but we might be able to offer more help in deciding if you give an idea of the look you're hoping to achieve.

That's a very personsal preference. I crave light so a dark counter is unappealing to me, although I might do soapstone in the right setting. You have to determine the feel you would be more comfortable in. Not seeing dirt is a negative, imo, but I wouldn't look to black to solve that. Besides, there is plenty of dirt that will hide on a dark color, especially one with pattern. A dark surface like that will suck a lot of light and openness out of the room.

Sales are not a decision point unless I love something or must conserve funds. Limited weight factor there for such a long term decision with so much impact.

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This post was edited by snookums2 on Tue, Oct 7, 14 at 17:03

I just googled that granite - looks delicious! haha must...find....oreos....

In all reality, don't get it because its a good deal - get it because you love it. Your 4 children won't be children forever - will you still love it when they're not smudging it up? Do you plan on redoing your kitchen before then?

Are you doing a backsplash? That's a very busy pattern so if you had plans for a flashy backsplash you might reconsider.

Can you get a sample to live with for awhile? What were the black options you were considering?

I don't know what color your counters are now, but someone else here was thinking about black counters and it was suggested that she cover her existing ones with black trash bags to simulate black counters to give her an idea of how it would look, etc. Might want to try it and see if it changes your outlook.

I used to have white tile counters and they were easy to keep spotless. Now I have dark gray quartz. Dark does hide the dirt and messes, but I too consider that a negative. I prefer clean counters and getting to messes before they set up and need to be scrubbed. So, yes, show me the mess. I don't want it lurking.

I have ample natural light in my kitchen so my counters don't darken the space. Yet, dark can be a difficult background to spend a lot of time at. Just my opinion.

Next time I will go with a light counter.

Old house had black countertops. I found they never looked quite clean to me, and definitely showed every crumb. In our new house, we just put in white ice granite and I love love love it. I also have 4 kids, and let's just say I might leave a crumb or 2 behind sometimes, and appreciate that these countertops let me get away with it! It helps that I much prefer the look of light countertops. If you love dark, get dark! You will be living with it for a long time so get what you love.

A busier granite will limit your backsplash options, so keep that in mind. The rest is just preference and I agree that you should go with what you love vs what might save some money.

We have black polished opalescence on our perimeter and I really don't find it to be as hard to keep clean as so many people say. My preference would have been for a honed finish but DH wanted polished. I use an all-purpose spray and towel and find that it keeps them looking fine. We have white cabinets, light walls and light flooring so black doesn't darken the kitchen much at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: White kitchen reveal

Thanks for all the advice.
You all have given me more to consider.
I think the problem is that I am not sure which I like better. I am going for very causal light kitchen. We are doing a lot of white and I like the idea of a contrasting counter. However, I just haven't found one that I really like that is in our budget.
Thanks again. I will return with more info. and hopefully pics. Thanks again

White and black are BOTH hard to keep clean because they are "extreme" colors. Either one will show every bit of dirt.

Something in the tan range is probably the easiest to keep clean. Similarly, I have a dark green mottled countertop, and it doesn't show anything.