Back when my DH and I were in the planning stage for our kitchen remodel, we fell in love with natural walnut cabinets (no stain) and matte black counters (as seen on the Henrybuilt website - our cabinet maker). We really wanted our natural walnut cabinets to do all of the talking, so the simple clean look of the Obsidian Paperstone really seemed to fit the "organic modern" look we were going for. The recycled content was a nice bonus, but the look was what really caught our eye (we didn't want anything sparkly, shiny or busy). As much as our kitchen designer talked up the Paperstone, we couldn't find anyone near us that had any experience with the product, and that gave us a bad feeling. We didn't want to make a mistake, so we ordered a large (48 inch x 24 inch) piece of the material to test (the tiny samples they hand out are worthless). We used our big piece of Obsidian Paperstone as a temporary kitchen counter for over three months and observed the following characteristics.

1. We immediately noticed a really awful smell every single time we cleaned the counter (we only ever used a clean sponge or dishcloth dampened with water and a tiny bit of dilute mild dish soap). The smell lingered as long as the Paperstone was wet or damp, and the smell was NOT something I could get used to. I had my neighbor come over to verify I wasn't overreacting and she totally agreed with me - not a good smell!

2. The Paperstone always looked dirty. Now, at first this really bothered me, but as time went by I realized that ANY black countertop sort of behaves that way. It's like owning a black car - looks great when it's clean, but looks terrible when dirty. The black countertop showed every speck of dust, every bread crumb, every coffee cup ring, water mark etc. To deal with it, I realized that I had to wipe (with a cloth dampened with mild dish soap and water only) and dry the entire counter to keep it looking nice. I also had to balance that with realization that life is too short to spend every waking moment wiping down my counters (I am pretty OCD so that's not easy for me). So, regarding this "it always looks dirty" observation, I can only say that Paperstone has no pattern whatsoever, so if you are trying to "hide dirt" this is not the counter top material for you. At first I was bothered by every speck of dust and every crumb, but as time wore on, that bothered me less and less. So, this observation is totally subjective - you have to decide what you are willing to live with and remember, no countertop material is going to be perfect.

3. The slab we received was bowed, as in it would not lay flat on our perfectly level and perfectly flat subcounter plywood. If you imagine that the 48" was the width (and the 24' the depth - front to back), the two ends touched the subcounter plywood, but the middle was a good quarter inch higher than the plywood. My husband and I both had to literally sit on the counter to get it to lay flat. When we called the Paperstone technical advisor to ask if this was normal; he told us that is was "not uncommon" for slabs to warp or bow as part of the drying/curing process, and as such, it was "not considered a flaw." To solve the problem, he advised us to "use a really strong adhesive and then put about 400 lbs of weight on the counters for a few days; that should do the trick." Okay! Well, that did not sit well with us at all. Frankly, it sounded as though this was something the makers of Paperstone were still trying to figure out. Let's just say, our conversation with technical support didn't give us a feeling of confidence, and no, we did not try his suggestion as this was just a large sample slab, not the real templated countertop. We contacted our kitchen designer who sent us another slab, which was not bowed, but had a small but very visible white dot (sort of like a pit or divot in the surface). On an otherwise all black surface, the dot really stood out and we didn't like it. The Paperstone people constantly talk about how the product has successfully been used for skateboard ramps as though that's all I need to know in order to gauge it's durability, but let's be real, my kitchen is not a skate park; the comparison is silly.

4. We don't cut directly on our countertops (we use a wood or plastic cutting board), but I did intentionally drop heavy items & knives, and the surface did get marked up. We learned that Paperstone makes a "rejuvenator" (comes in a spray bottle) that apparently makes the surface look brand new, but I never ordered it nor tried it. I'm not big on the idea of having to use very specific products for specific surfaces, and at something like $14 per bottle, plus shipping; it wasn't exactly inexpensive (relatively speaking, compared mild dish soap, over the course of several years).

5. We searched and searched for Paperstone reviews (online, through local designers & architects) and couldn't find anyone who had used it in a kitchen. We tried searching the kitchen forum for people who had Paperstone, but came up empty. That really made us think twice.

Finally, we searched for local fabricators and could only find two in our entire region who had experience working with Paperstone (we're in the San Francisco Bay area). The one fabricator had only done school desks or office reception desks, and they weren't sure how it would perform around a sink (but seemed more than happy to let us be the guinea pig) - big red flag! The second fabricator we found had a showroom that included a display kitchen complete with Paperstone countertop and undermount sink, and he seemed super knowledgeable, but his bid was really high, and he never got back to us with references - big disappointment. (We also found one fabricator who had worked with Richlite, but didn't recommend it for use in a kitchen or bath, and told us that they hated working with the product.)

So, after splurging on the custom cabinets of our dreams, the last thing we wanted to do was make a mistake with the counters. And although it seemed to be a popular product in Seattle (according to my kitchen designer, who is located there), we couldn’t find anyone near us who had the product installed in a kitchen or bathroom. We loved the look, but functionally, it just seemed like too much of a gamble. So we decided to go with honed absolute black granite (to be installed next week).

Some things that we found impressive: Paperstone can cantilever greater distances than granite (granite is more brittle). Also, because it technically is a wood product, you can screw into it. Our designer created a Paperstone backsplash made for a display niche and engineered it in such a way that it hangs with no visible hardware. There are metal cleats screwed into the Paperstone and into the wall; the backsplash hangs on the cleat system - a really elegant solution. She also designed a floating walnut shelf that spans the length of the Paperstone backsplash. We're happy with it for that application, but as a kitchen countertop material, we think the manufacturer needs to work out the kinks.

Hope that provides you with some insight.

Feel free to ask questions if there is anything else you need to know. BTW, we still have our big sample slabs if you live in the area and want to see them for yourself.

It's not for the faint of heart!