Would it be possible to soften the color of the wood on the island?

Can you post pictures for us?

This talks about tea staining with a picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tea Staining

rainjapan... I second that... $11 a square foot? Do tell me where or how! I've been thinking of scrapping my marble island because of cost but I don't think I can bring myself to do it... I really want it!

mel, where are you located? and yes, can you post a pic?

Chiming in for a pic request!

$11 square foot--is that for tile or slab? Thickness? Installed price? Where???

I was just quoted $65 sq/ft. installed for carrera for 3cm. I'd be really surprised if it was $11 sq/ft installed.

At $11 a sf I wouldn't mind if it got etched, it would be very affordable to replace it!

I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. I bought the carrera at All Natural Stone in Santa Clara. However, it was also the same price at Walker Zanger in Hayward. That price is slab only. I then had to hire a fabricator to fabricate and install the countertops. The fabrication is really expensive. More than the cost of the slab. Because you have to buy the whole slab, it cost about $500. Then, it cost about $1,000 to fabricate and install it on the island. It works out to about $53 per sq. ft installed for my island. Of course the rest of the slab goes to waste. Shame.

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. I can't get over there today. Thanks for all the help.

When I picked up my statuary backsplash, my heart sunk because in the store light they looked plain white. Fortunately, the tiles were fairly translucent so once the went on the gray wall board, it seemed to make the veins and colors pop a bit. Also, having the tile near my charcoal counters helped pull out the veins too. Is there any way you can get a scrap of your marble and see how it looks with something gray under it? I don't know if there is a sink in your island. If not, it *might* possible to lift the slab and slide some wall board (or backer board or whatever that stuff is called) underneath to tone down the white.

I'm sorry your marble is so disappointing.

Mel,

Did the fabricator give you any of the scraps/leftovers?

Before I attempted to 'stain' my counter, I would definitely do LOTS of trial runs on scraps first.

I have successfully stained fabric using tea, and I have also unsuccessfully stained a shirt- luckily the shirt was a freebie they give officials, so it was no biggie, but I do caution you, that mistakes can happen. A white marble counter will look much better than a blotchy tea- stained one.

Having said that, I can't imagine a marble counter being a huge mistake! Once you warm things up with things on the counters, towels, etc, and start living in there, I am sure it will be fine. I would live with it for awhile before making the drastic attempt of trying to stain it.

Mel, don't pitch those scraps! Use the larger ones for cheese boards for Christmas presents. Saw that yesterday done with onyx scraps at the stone yard. Spiffy! The cheeseboards I saw were about 6 - 8 inches wide by 10 to 12 inches long. They came with a neat cheese spreader/knife.

Here are some pictures of my countertops. Today the painter was at the house and said, "Yah, it looks like a mistake"... Ouch! He said that a concrete stain may work too.
I don't think the pictures will help much because the colors don't come across well. The brown counter makes the cream cabinets look yellow when you are in the room and the white of the marble looks so WHITE and cold, it does not go with anything!

I asked the fabricator to give the extra marble to experiment with. I love the idea of the cheese board gifts, but I will have to see what I have left after experimenting.

While I see what you mean I would like to caution you to WAIT until everything is done. Until your backsplash is in, your hardware, all your countertop tchotchkes; until the furniture / windowcoverings / decorative accessories are in the adjoining family room.

Right now the marble is standing out because there isn't a lot else going on; when all those other pieces are in place you may not "see" the white as much.

In our kitchen, our over-the-counter microwave wasn't installed as I'd thought it would be. (I'd thought it would be built into the wall and would be flush with the surrounding cabinetry; instead, it's proud of the cabinets like 1.5" or so.) When the kitchen was nearing completion this bothered me SO MUCH! I cannot even tell you, and I was disappointed that it hadn't worked out the way I wanted but I also a) wanted a kitchen back (we were five+ months without one) and b) didn't want to spend another $1K (or so) to have it fixed.

So our kitchen was finished mid-May and I've been using it like crazy since then, and the microwave protrusion doesn't bother me one bit. Even right now, as I am typing this, I am looking at the microwave thinking "yeah, it should've been done differently but so what." I have no emotional response whatsoever and I have to actively think to notice it: it never, ever jumps out at me anymore.

I wonder if once you are in your kitchen, using it, with everything "done" and in place (like the list I mentioned above) if you'll really still see the white ....

All that being said, I have acres of white marble and I accidentally dyed a portion by using the teensiest bit of rusted steel wool (caught on the bottom of a sponge). That marble sucks the rust right up, even if it's been terrifically sealed! (I used a poultice which sucked the rust out, no harm no foul.) Maybe instead of tea you could try rubbing your test piece(s) with rust. Get a rusty steel wool pad and wet it -- that'll make rubbing it all over easier. It does NOT leave a reddish spot, more like the cafe color in Calacatta.

Personally I think the marble is gorgeous.

I would agree with the above... you gotta see it alltogether. I know you're seeing it in real life, but I think it looks gorgeous! Beyond gorgeous. But that is the exact look I'm going for in my kitchen, so I'm partial!

BTW, could you tell me the measurement of where the bottom of you're microwave will be (from floor to bottom line of microwave)? We thought about doing the micro above the double oven by dropping it down but were unable to get a feel for whether the micro would be too high. Yours looks very workable. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks! And really, your kitchen is looking great!

You might want to play with the lighting a bit. I think GE Reveal bulbs are supposed to take out yellow tinges. I have no idea how they work but I know people on the decorating forum have had success with them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Reveal bulbs

What I'd want to do is keep the marble & replace the limestone on the cooker wall. Marble, stainless, zinc? I'd actually like the marble best, I think. But the staining issue by the rangetop? Maybe there's an almost bullet proof sealer??

Then some nice doses of color to warm things up...reds? And the walls look like they're a cream color. Maybe something lighter/ whiter?

And, I gotta' tell you--Love how the tops of your cabs are trimmed out! You have a beautiful kitchen.

Call me crazy but I think your marble looks great. I agree with ci lantro, keep the marble as is and replace the limestone with something else.

rmkitchen- My front door was stained too light, and my gutters were painted too dark. I have been living with these mistakes for about 9 months now and they still bother me every time I pull up to the house. The countertops are ruining a beautiful kitchen and I really want to try to do something about it if I can. I will experiment with rust too. Thanks for the tip.

momof3kids pa - Above the double ovens is a built in dish rack. Part of it is missing because they have to redo it. My microwave is going in my island. It is one of those Sharp microwave drawer / warming drawer. We have not installed it yet.

deee- Above our island is flouresant can lighting. It has to be flouresant by code here. It probably would help if we could put yellow incandecent light over the island, but that would only help at night. During the daylight, it still looks bad.

ci lantro & donna214 - I agree with getting rid of the limestone. In fact, the fabricator made a mistake and cut it too deep around the cooktop anyway so we were going to have him redo it. So, I could probably just get him to do it over with a different countertop. But, I paid $1,400 for this limestone slab. And then I would have to pay at least another $500 for a new marble slab. So I would have wasted the $1,400 and still have to come up with $500 more! I am thinking about it, but it is difficult to stomach.

Mel71, I know from my own kitchen how tough it is when the 'whites' are a close miss- my marble tile came in much whiter than my sample and it is a near miss to my countertops. To make things worse, the near miss is because the marble is a bluer, cooler white and the counters are a warmer white.

I was very dissapointed when the tile went in and couldn't sleep for days. I'm the type of person that needs everything just so, and can see every error jumping out at me. However, I took everyone else's advice and decided to live with it a while before I made any big decisions. That was excellent advice- once we added just a couple things onto the counters, it all blended in, and I've learned to happily live with it.

One thing I had going for me was that I had only two battling whites in my kitchen. In yours, I see the cabinets, the walls and the marble. Of those, it's that warm creamy wall paint that's causing the most clash with the marble. Considering that paint is the easiest and cheapest change you can make to the kitchen, I recommend choosing a color other than white or beige for the walls. It could make a world of difference and save you all the $$$$ and stress of replacing the counter materials that you carefully picked out.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I think your kitchen is really gorgeous as it is. I agree that it may be best to wait till everything is in, then decide if you want changes. Alku is right, you probably can just repaint your walls or ceiling to rebalance the colors. I am also in the Bay Area, can you tell me who the manufacturer of your cabinets is ?

mel71 - I think your kitchen is gorgeous. I agree with the others who suggest changing the paint colour. Also, can you create a mosaic in the backsplash to bring in the greys, whites, creams? After all all the colours you have chosen are part of the white/black colour scale. Also, your hardware, accessories, lights make a big difference once your kitchen is completed.

Quick question: what is the cream cabinet next to your island used for? It looks great.

I agree with the people saying to wait. It looks like it's blending in a little bit now, but with paint, backsplace, etc it might be a nice tie in to the white cabinets as is.

You really need to see the whole enchillada before re-thinking. A dark backplash a little tanner on the paint it'll all come together.

Mel, I, too, think that the marble goes wonderfully with the dark walnut island and that the two look marvellous in your kitchen. I think that perhaps you were expecting to see a cream/brown inversion take place between the two units and because you don't see that you're disappointed. The rest of us, with no preconceived notions, simply see a gorgeous sophisticated island contrasting and standing out from gorgeous surroundings. The carrara looks wonderful against the deep brown of the island and to me, it seems to neither fight nor attempt to match the cream cabinetry (and I do see cream there). The carrara looks like it is there and prominent in its own right to give balance to that spectacular island.

You made the island different so that it would stand out from the cabinetry wall behind it. It is standing out beautifully! Please don't rip that out - it is so gorgeous!

BTW, I don't see any limestone on the cooktop wall. Where is it? I see some repaired drywall behind the rangetop but that's about the size of it.

Good luck. This is a really gorgeous kitchen. What are you floors, btw? They are really spectacular.

I agree with the above - I would wait. I would also suggest doing the backsplash in a tile that complements the color of the marble (i.e. white crackle subway tile or something like that). It will tie it all together.

As for price, I just did 5 cm white marble countertops (boy are they thick and fabulous!) with Crown Point cabinetry in antique white. The marble (which was Venetino, a whiter version of the standard Carrara) was about $90/sq foot installed. The whiter marble was a bit more expensive, as was the 5 cm vs 3 cm.

Pictures soon...

I think the photos look fine, but I think I know what kind of limestone you have and had a sample of it (but I was told not to use limestone for counters in a kitchen by the same place that sold me my marble). I was also trying to tie in greys and browns. I went with Cambrian black instead.

I think it migth be that the limestone isn't dark enough rather than the marble is too white. Could just be the photo or my monitor. Have you tried an enhancing sealer on the limestone to see if it would darken the colors in it and provide a stronger contrast? Would that help?

I also think your wall color is a bit too light. What would you think of taking it from a cream to a mocha?

The problem with waiting until after the backsplash is done is that you already have to recut that stone and don't want to do it a third time. Also, you might have to redo the splash if you then change the counters below. Can you mock up your backsplash (remember the index card "subways?") and put at least a few dishes or other things in the plate rack and glass front cabinets? It could really be your kids toys and paper plates -- just something to give you an idea of how your eye will see the overall picture. If you have a literal eye -- borrow some dishes from a friend or neighbor if you aren't ready to unpack.

Hope that helps.

Well, I would wait, too, but I can see what you mean. The marble itself is beautiful, though. I had wanted to put carrera in my new kitchen, but I'm keeping the cream subway tile and the two just do not go together. So, I'll probably do a warmer marble.

The toughest part about this is that the pictures don't show what it really looks like in person. The brown limestone countertops on the cooking wall make the cream cabinets look yellow. Then the white marble looks soooo White and does not go with anything. The color on the walls is from Sherman Williams and is called Nantucket Dune. It is a warm tan with grey undertones. The color of the cabinets and trim is called Feather Down by Benjamin Moore. It is a creamy color with grey undertones. The two look great together. The whole house is painted in this and I love it. The problem in the kitchen is that the brown limestone either needs to be more grey or the marble needs to be more cream.

I completly understand all the comments about waiting and letting it grow on me but, unfortunately, we have to sell this house and I'm afraid that the countertops won't look good to a buyer either.

These are my options: I received the left over marble today and I am going to experiment with tea and coffee staining. My fabricator is going to see what remnents he has in his shop and pull them out so I can see them. He will remake the countertop on the cooking wall with one of them if I choose. He messed up the brown limestone near the stove and needs to fix it anyway.
So, if the staining looks good on the marble scraps, I will stain the marble island and keep brown limestone on the cooking wall. If the staining does not look good, then I will have the fabricator replace the brown limestone with carrera marble or one of the remnents he has in his shop.

catsam: the cabinet next to the island is my garbage and recylcling. I dropped it down and shrunk it because bringing the large island any further that way would have been obstrusive to traffic flow in the room. I love the look. I have seen it done with drawers for linens and I was going to make the side of it look like it had drawers but my cabinet guy talked me out of it.

Mindstorm: The limestone I was referring to on the cooking wall was the countertops. No backsplash yet. The floor tile is 16" x 24" antiqued marble. I searched forever for a 16" x 24" tile I could afford. I finally found it at a warehouse that sells whatever they get a deal on. No special orders. It was only $3.25 a sq ft. The best deal in our house! I was sooooo excited when I found it!

Thank you all for the compliments and suggestions. You guys are all so supportive. I love this site.

I think your marble is beautiful. Now, I admit your perimeter countertops look mostly dark dark brown on the computer. But... if it does have gray undertones; have you thought about your fabricator using the marble remnants as a backsplash? A marble backsplash could be beautiful and tie the two areas together.

mel71 - I think either of your 2 options will solve your problem. I read an article once where Goldie Hawn stained her your newly installed carrera countertops with tomato juice to give it a patina look. She said they looked too new. Apparently the older the carrera marble gets the more weathered and patina it looks. I have the calacatta marble on my perimeter (my cabinet finish is White Down - the Feather Down is similar and it's a gorgeous colour too) and my island is a wslnut finish with the Nordic Antique Black granite. The Nordic Antique black has some grey veins in it. If your other options don't work you may want to ask your fabricator if he has any remnants in this. Here's a picture of our slab if you're interested:

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen

catsam: Thanks for the tomato juice suggestion. I just found out from my husband that the installer already put a coat of sealer on the countertop... ARRRRGGGG! I guess I will have to call around to see if there is something to strip the sealer before staining the countertop. I love the Nordic Antique Black. Your kitchen is gorgeous. Thanks for all the photos.

I agree with everyone else. It is gorgeous just as it is. I too would change the color of the walls and pull out the grey in the veining in the marble. It would be gorgeous--a nice soft grey on the walls. Have you thought of using stainless as your backsplash? I think it would be gorgeous and tie everything in together.

Trust me -- you can stain through a sealer, through multiple coats of an excellent quality sealer. I have proof in my kitchen right now ....

Without a doubt staining with tea will be harder and it'll be the strongest tea ever you'll need to use; tomato / rust will be a piece o' cake -- they don't recognize sealer .... Don't ask me how I know (plus I told you up above!).

Have you asked your realtor what s/he thinks of your kitchen for its imminent sale? Before doing any staining I'd ask them.

rmkitchen: Good idea. I will ask my realtor to come look first. What do you think about coffee? Do you think that would work better to stain the counters? I am afraid of the sealer because I am afraid it will make it come out splotchy. The coffee may take in some areas, but not in others. What do you think?

mustbenuts: I really don't want to change the paint color because I have painted the whole downstairs in this color. The kitchen is part of an open greatroom and I like having only one wall color so that the room looks larger and cohesive. Stainless may work for the backsplash, thanks for the suggestion.

If you're doing this for resale I would NOT do anything that is not reversible. The people who move into the house will most assuredly have different tastes than you anyhow. The more you show them that things are good, well made and usable the better. Do too many custom/unusual things and you'll turn them off. People want a home they can make their won.

Staining the marble is a rather drastic, irreversible step.

Eureka! I found it! I figured out a great backsplash that will make the carrera fit in better. No tea staining needed! I found these great little brick tiles from Walker Zanger that match my brown countertop. I will use mainly carrera on the backsplash, with an accent of chestnut brown brick tile running through it. Then I will try to do something special behind the range top using both the carrera and chestnut brown limestone. It would not be my first choice if I had to do it all over again, but it will work and go well with our modern/traditional house.

I think that would look great. You can make a border of the brown around the range. I think it will all tie together in the end.

Mel71,
What did you decide to do? Would love to see pictures of the backsplash is you've done it.

I'm so glad you figured out a solution because your kitchen is GORGEOUS with the marble!

BTW, I got a bid on a honed carrara top for our 4x7 island and it was $4000 (without install). You got a DEAL! I am SO envious!

I don't mean to offend, but my advice is don't do anything. Give yourself some time to adjust and watch the reaction of your friends, you may be glad you didn't do anything to it. Your kitchen is to die-for gorgeous with that beautiful slab of classic carerra.

Yes! I had the same problem and I used tea to stain my marble, i let it sit for about 10min and waped it off, let it dry and then sealed it. It looks great now in our vintage washroom.

Good luck