Granite (European Granite & Marble)

Choosing granite countertops for your kitchen or bathroom isn’t just about choosing a slab; you need to pick a finish, too!  While color and veining attract the eye, the surface finish determines how the stone feels and performs in daily life. 

Whether smooth and reflective or textured and organic, each finish creates a different tactile and practical experience. Understanding these differences can help homeowners choose a granite surface that suits their lifestyle as well as their design vision.

Polished Granite and Its Refined Touch

A polished finish is perhaps the most recognizable. This smooth, mirror-like surface highlights granite’s natural color variation and intricate patterning. Light reflects evenly across the surface, giving kitchens and bathrooms a bright, luxurious feel. The polish closes the stone’s pores, improving its resistance to stains and moisture.

When touched, polished granite feels cool and slick, a feature many homeowners love for countertops where cleanliness and smooth handling matter. It’s a finish that combines elegance with durability, providing an easy-to-wipe surface that maintains its shine for years.

Honed Granite and the Beauty of Soft Texture

For those who prefer a subtler look, honed granite offers a matte or satin finish that softens the stone’s appearance and touch. This texture feels velvety rather than glossy, giving it a calm, understated character. The honing process removes the reflective sheen but keeps the stone smooth enough for easy maintenance. 

A honed finish works well in contemporary kitchens, spa-like bathrooms, or areas where a muted aesthetic fits the atmosphere. While slightly more prone to showing fingerprints or water marks than polished granite, its tactile comfort and sophisticated quietness make it a popular choice for modern homes.

Leathered Granite for a Natural Feel

Leathered granite strikes a balance between rugged and refined. This finish, achieved by brushing the surface with diamond-tipped tools, gives granite a soft sheen and subtle texture that enhances its natural grain. The result feels pleasantly tactile; smooth in some areas, lightly ridged in others. 

Leathered granite has a unique ability to highlight the stone’s organic qualities while maintaining a clean, professional look. It resists fingerprints and hides smudges well, making it a practical option for busy kitchens or high-traffic spaces. The sensation of running your hand across a leathered surface connects you to the stone’s natural origins, creating warmth and depth in the environment.

Flamed Granite and Its Distinctive Grip

A flamed finish transforms granite through intense heat that causes minerals to burst slightly on the surface, leaving a textured, slip-resistant result. This rougher feel makes it ideal for outdoor kitchens, patios, and entryways where safety and grip matter. The uneven texture enhances traction while maintaining the stone’s strength against the elements.

In design terms, flamed granite provides a bold, rugged character that contrasts beautifully with smooth metal fixtures or minimalist surroundings. Its coarse surface evokes the durability of natural terrain, giving exterior areas both function and personality.

Choosing the Right Finish for Daily Comfort

Each granite finish offers a different tactile experience that influences how a space feels to live in. The polished surface brings brightness and polish, the honed version introduces quiet elegance, the leathered option adds a touch of warmth, and the flamed finish delivers practical resilience. 

Beyond appearance, surface finish affects comfort, maintenance, and the way you physically interact with your space every day. By considering how the stone feels under your hand and how it functions over time, you can choose a finish that enhances both your home’s design and your daily experience. To explore options and see how different finishes can transform your space, contact Olympia Stone today about your project!

What comes to mind when you think of a granite countertop? A heavily speckled red and gray expanse of stone? A light cream-colored background stone with soft charcoal veins? A sleek black countertop with shimmering mica chip swirls? With granite, so much is possible! 

That’s why many homeowners find the choice of granite more than a little overwhelming. Here’s what you need to think about when making this decision.

Consider The Color Language Of Your Kitchen

The first thing to think about when selecting granite is how the color will interact with the rest of your kitchen. Granite comes in a wide spectrum of tones, including white, beige, gray, brown, and black. A light-colored granite can brighten up a smaller kitchen or enhance a clean, open concept design. 

On the other hand, darker shades offer contrast and drama, especially in spaces with lighter cabinets or plenty of natural light. Neutral tones like taupe or gray can strike a balance between subtle and bold, blending well with a variety of design elements.

Think About Movement And Pattern

Granite is formed deep within the earth, and its natural formation gives it veining, speckles, and swirls that vary from one slab to the next. Some granites have a uniform pattern that feels calm and consistent. 

Others have bold movement, with striking veins that flow across the surface. The visual texture of the stone can create a focal point in your kitchen or act as a supporting feature depending on your cabinetry and backsplash choices. 

If your design style leans modern and minimal, you may prefer something with a fine-grained or consistent pattern. If you want to make a statement, look for slabs with bold contrast and dynamic flow.

Learn About Your The Finish Options

The finish of your granite slab affects both the appearance and the tactile experience. A polished finish brings out the depth of color and adds a glossy surface that reflects light. This can help brighten up the space and create a more refined look. 

A honed finish offers a soft, matte texture that feels grounded and understated, ideal for casual or rustic kitchens. There’s also a leathered finish, which adds subtle texture and a slight sheen without being overly reflective. 

The right finish depends on how you want your countertops to feel and how much maintenance you’re willing to manage day to day– and the good news is that regardless of finish, granite countertops are always going to be low maintenance. All they need is soap and water for cleaning and an occasional re-sealing.

Match The Thickness To Your Kitchen Style

Granite slabs are typically available in two main thicknesses: around 2 centimeters and 3 centimeters. Thicker slabs offer a more substantial, bold profile that works well in spacious kitchens or contemporary designs. Thinner granite can appear sleeker and more lightweight, and it’s often a good fit for minimalist styles. 

Edge detailing can also change the way thickness is perceived, so it’s worth considering how you want the countertop edges shaped. A thicker slab with a clean edge can look strong and architectural, while a thinner slab with a more decorative edge can feel delicate and refined.

Test Samples Against Other Design Elements

Granite countertops are a serious investment that can last a lifetime, so you need to make sure that you’re happy with how the stone you choose looks in your home. And that means samples! 

Bringing granite samples into your space can help you get a sense of how the stone will behave under your lighting and next to your cabinetry, flooring, and appliances. The same piece of granite can look completely different depending on its surroundings. 

Lighting especially can affect how the veining or speckling appears, and how warm or cool the stone looks in context. This is a good step to help you feel confident that your final selection brings the entire room together in a way that feels intentional and cohesive.

Start With High-Quality Materials From Olympia Stone

Your new kitchen deserves a surface that’s as strong as it is stylish. Granite offers a natural beauty and durability that few materials can match, but finding the right type requires attention to tone, texture, and detail. 

Olympia Stone provides an expert-curated selection of high-quality granite slabs to help you build a kitchen that reflects your style and stands the test of time. Contact us today for a free quote and to make a showroom appointment to find the granite that’s right for your project.

Open-concept homes allow natural light and movement to flow freely between rooms, making the space feel larger and more connected. In this type of layout, surfaces become central features, drawing the eye and defining function. 

Granite countertops, with their solid form and organic detail, help anchor the kitchen without breaking visual continuity. Their presence is structural, offering weight and purpose that gently separates zones without closing them off. Here’s how to use them to make your open-concept space feel more cohesive and comfortable for the whole family.

Flow Matters 

The beauty of an open floor plan lies in how easily one space shifts into the next. Furniture, flooring, and countertops must work together to avoid jarring breaks. Granite supports this fluidity by adapting to a variety of finishes and tones. 

In transitional or contemporary homes, it serves as a natural link between the utilitarian functions of the kitchen and the comfort-driven feel of the living area. A unified material palette can guide the eye smoothly across zones while letting each space maintain its role.

Using Color To Define Without Dividing

Color plays a major part in defining open spaces. Granite offers a broad range of hues and patterns that help create visual anchors, no matter what style you use in the kitchen. A darker counter surface on a central island might suggest where meal prep happens, while a lighter perimeter surface ties in with nearby walls or window treatments. 

When the right color is chosen, granite does more than stand out; it balances boldness with subtle transition, linking distinct zones without creating hard edges.

Edges, Overhangs, And Social Design

Countertops in open layouts often do double duty as gathering spots. A breakfast bar, for instance, becomes a social hub between the kitchen and the living room. The shape and overhang of the granite can influence how welcoming that transition feels. 

Rounded corners can echo softness in nearby furniture, while straight edges introduce clean, defined lines. Granite’s strength lets it support cantilevered designs with minimal bracing, helping the surface float between zones in a visually pleasing way. 

And its ease of maintenance means that it’s an easy choice for both of these commonly used rooms.

Lighting Accents The Surface

Lighting changes everything in an open-concept space, and granite surfaces reflect those shifts beautifully. Pendant lights over an island highlight pattern and texture, while ambient light from large windows brings out the subtleties in the stone. 

When selecting granite for a space like this, it’s worth thinking about how it will look in morning light versus evening shadow. The play between stone and light enhances the feeling of depth and connection throughout the home.

Think About What The Eye Remembers

In a closed-off kitchen, the countertop can feel like a backdrop. In an open-concept plan, it becomes a centerpiece. Visitors will notice the surface from multiple angles, so selecting granite that offers visual interest from afar as well as up close makes a difference. 

Veining, mineral specks, and surface finish all contribute to the long-term impression the stone leaves. The right choice can tie together furniture, flooring, and even ceiling treatments, creating an experience that feels intentional from every angle. 

Let Your Space Speak With Confidence

Granite brings both cohesion and contrast to open-concept living spaces without overwhelming them. When chosen thoughtfully, it becomes a visual and physical connection between the rooms where life unfolds. 

If you’re ready to explore granite options that will have a dramatic impact on your home’s flow and function, reach out to Olympia Stone today for a free quote for your countertop project!

When you’re building a new bathroom or renovating your current one, stone countertops are a common element. But while quartz countertops or marble countertops (for that truly luxurious spa feel) might be common in the bathroom… how about granite? 

We often think of granite countertops as a kitchen feature, but you can use this durable, versatile stone just as easily in the bathroom! At Olympia Stone, we’ve seen how granite can elevate everyday spaces, from vanities to shower surrounds, with lasting impact.

Why Granite Works in Wet Spaces

Bathrooms experience a lot of daily wear. They are exposed to constant changes in humidity, frequent water use, and a wide range of products that can stain or degrade surfaces over time. 

Granite’s natural resistance to heat and moisture makes it especially well-suited to these conditions. When sealed properly, granite is less likely to absorb water or develop mildew, making it a dependable option for bathroom walls, floors, and counters.

Shower Applications and Custom Features

In shower areas, granite works best when used in larger slabs for walls or custom-cut panels. This reduces grout lines and gives the space a more unified appearance. With its dense structure, granite holds up well to repeated exposure to steam and water, provided it’s professionally installed and routinely sealed. 

It’s also a popular choice for shower benches, niches, and accent walls, where both durability and visual appeal are important. Because granite comes in a wide range of colors and veining styles, it offers flexibility whether you’re creating a calm, spa-like retreat or a bold, dramatic look.

Granite Beyond the Shower

Beyond showers, granite countertop slabs add sophistication to vanities, tub surrounds, and flooring. Each slab is unique, which gives homeowners the chance to create something truly custom. Lighter granite varieties can brighten a smaller bathroom, while darker tones can provide contrast or anchor a more modern design. Finishes like polished or honed surfaces allow for further customization based on the level of shine and texture preferred.

Granite is also an excellent choice for bathroom backsplashes and window sills, adding a cohesive look throughout the space. For radiant floor heating systems, granite works well due to its thermal conductivity. 

It stays warm underfoot and adds comfort without compromising durability. In guest bathrooms and powder rooms, granite elevates even the smallest space with a touch of natural elegance. Since it pairs well with a wide variety of tile, metal, and wood finishes, it’s easy to incorporate granite into both traditional and contemporary design styles.

Expert Help for Lasting Results

At Olympia Stone, we help clients select the right type of granite for their bathroom needs, taking into account function, aesthetics, and maintenance preferences. With proper care and expert installation, granite remains one of the most reliable and attractive options for wet areas. 

If you’re considering using granite in your shower or bathroom, reach out to Olympia Stone for a free quote. We can help you use granite to its fullest potential in your bathroom!

When it comes to granite countertop care, you might assume that it doesn’t really need a lot of TLC. After all, it’s created when molten lava cools. If it goes through that intense geological process just to come into existence, how much can you really do to it? 

While you’re right in thinking that granite doesn’t need too much care, there are certain things you need to do to make sure that your granite countertops stay gorgeous for decades to come. Today, let’s take a look at some common mistakes when caring for granite countertops, and what to do instead.

1. Using Harsh or Abrasive Cleaners

One of the most frequent mistakes homeowners make is using cleaning products that are too harsh. Products containing vinegar, bleach, or ammonia may seem effective for tough stains, but they can etch the surface over time, leading to dull spots and discoloration.

Instead, opt for a pH-balanced, stone-safe cleaner that gently removes grime without damaging the surface. Mild dish soap and warm water work well for daily cleaning. And for really, really tough stains, a paste made out of baking soda and water provides the mild abrasion and scrubbing power you need without being so abrasive that it wrecks the finish. 

Regular use of the right cleaning products preserves the protective seal and ensures your countertops remain glossy and smooth. Your fabricator can also recommend specific cleaners that are safe for your particular granite, helping you avoid guesswork when choosing maintenance products.

2. Ignoring the Need for Regular Sealing

Granite is naturally porous, meaning it can absorb liquids and stain if left unprotected. What’s more important than stains, though, is sanitation– remember, most granite countertops are in kitchens and bathrooms, two spaces that need to stay extra clean. If liquid can penetrate the stone, so can bacteria. 

The frequency of sealing depends on the type of granite and how much daily use the surface experiences. A simple water test, where a few drops of water sit on the countertop for 15 minutes, can indicate when resealing is necessary. If the water absorbs into the stone, it is time to reseal. Consult with your granite fabricator to ensure you follow the best schedule for your specific countertop.

3. Allowing Spills to Sit Too Long

Granite’s durability does not mean it is completely stain-proof. Letting spills sit on the surface for too long increases the risk of permanent staining, especially with acidic or oily substances. Wine, coffee, and cooking oils are common culprits that can seep into the stone if not cleaned promptly. Wiping up spills as soon as they occur is a simple but effective way to preserve the stone’s integrity.

4. Using Countertops as a Cutting Surface

Although granite is scratch-resistant, it is not completely immune to damage. Using the countertop as a cutting board may seem convenient, but sharp knives can leave small scratches or wear down the sealant. Additionally, cutting directly on granite can dull your knives over time.

Always use a dedicated cutting board to protect both your countertops and your kitchen tools. This simple habit preserves the smooth surface of the granite while extending the lifespan of your knives. Taking this precaution ensures that the countertop remains a flawless centerpiece in your home.

5. Placing Hot Items Directly on the Surface

While granite can withstand heat better than many other countertop materials, direct contact with hot pans or baking sheets can weaken the sealant and cause cracks or discoloration. 

This risk is easy to avoid– just remember to use trivets or hot pads under cookware to add a layer of protection against heat damage. 

Proper care for granite countertops does not have to be complicated, especially when you have professional support. At Olympia Stone, we are here to help you maintain the beauty and durability of your investment. Contact us today for a free countertop consultation!