Kitchen Countertops in Toronto: How to Choose the Right Marble Slab

Want a marble kitchen countertop in your Toronto-area home? Good choice. But how do you go about selecting the right slab? Do not worry. MaxSpace Stone Works will help you choose the stone that best suits your home’s style.

A light marble countertop (i.e. one that is primarily white) will elevate and modernize the overall appearance of your kitchen, while its cool surface makes it ideal for baking. With regular upkeep, maintenance, and sealing, a marble kitchen countertop will last longer than other materials.

Marble is a durable choice of material when it comes to kitchen countertops. It is composed of calcite, dolomite, and quartz, making it a strong stone. Marble slabs also come in a wide variety of veining patterns. Their veining is one of marble’s most striking characteristics. This comes from the impurities trapped in limestone when the earth’s heat and pressure transform it into marble. You can also get mostly white marble slabs (like Bianco Carrara and Calacatta) as well as those in brown (like Emperador Dark).

All these factors present in its formation mean you will never find two identical marble slabs. Here, we will walk you through the process of selecting the ideal marble slab to improve the look of your kitchen.

How to Select the Right Marble Slab for Your Kitchen Countertop in Toronto

Use these pointers to select the ideal marble slab for your Toronto-area home’s kitchen countertop.

Choose the Ideal Colour

Marble slabs have a timeless appeal, meaning they never go out of fashion. They come in white, black, brown, and beige, with white being the most widely-used colour in kitchen countertops. White marble slabs give your kitchen a modern aesthetic. They also make it more spacious and luminous thanks to light reflected off its surface.

White marble is also preferred in the kitchen because it helps hide etching (i.e. surface damage caused by acidic substances). As etching leaves a whitish mark, darker-coloured marble slabs tend to reveal damage rather than hide it.

Select Marble Slabs That Fit Together

Marble, being a natural stone, has different patterns and designs. Therefore, it is necessary to select similar pieces of the slab for your kitchen countertop, i.e. those that have a continuous veining pattern. Selecting the right veining and arranging it accordingly is like solving a puzzle. That’s why it is critical to take into account how different pieces of marble come together.

It is preferable to have a section that is as long as possible without any seams (a break in the veining pattern). It is often good to ‘book-match’ the marble if there are seams, which will give the appearance of mirrored adjacent pieces. (Book-matching is a process through which marble slabs are mirrored to match the pattern and veining.) The slabs are placed in such a way that the movement of the veining appears as a continuous flow or pattern.

Consider Veining Patterns

As noted, no two marble slabs are the same. Since marble is a natural stone, every pattern on the slab is unique. By cutting the slabs in different ways (cross-cut or fleuri cut), unique patterns can be created. Through, book-match vein placement, designs can be created that will look good on your kitchen countertop and give the space a modern aesthetic.

If you want a more unconventional style, you can opt for ‘confused’ marble placement. Here, slabs are placed haphazardly, with no continuity in the veining patterns. This will give your kitchen a more rustic feel.

Go for a Polished or Honed Finish

Two of the most popular choices of finishes for marble slab are polished (i.e. it appears glossy) and honed (i.e. it appears matte).

A kitchen countertop with a polished finish keeps the space looking brand-new for an extended period of time. Modern kitchens look good with sleek finishes. A glossy surface will help your kitchen appear brighter as it reflects light.

A honed finish is best if your kitchen countertop has historically been prone to scratching and etching as the matte finish makes the surface more scratch-resistant. Even if there is a scratch on the surface, it will not show as the matte surface does not reflect light.

A variety of colours and patterns are available for your Toronto home’s marble countertop. Marble slabs with distinctive patterns are available in both white and brown varieties at MaxSpace Stone Works. Take into account your priorities as well as the marble’s colour, veining, and finish when making your selection of slab. MaxSpace Stone Works will ensure that your marble kitchen looks and feels beautiful.