I love my Granite Countertops

I have black granite countertops with sparkly bits in. They are one of my favorite things in my whole house. I really enjoy using them on a daily basis.

I'm a real fan of good design and function - must be both, not just one or the other. And granite countertops tick both boxes very well. 

I love my granite countertops because:

• After 6 years they still look as good as they did on the day they were fitted
• I can put hot pots and pans straight onto them without having to worry about trivets cluttering up the place
• I can work with pastry and other foods straight onto the countertop giving me a big work surface when I need it
• I have grooves cut into it to act as a dishrack - this means I don't have to have a dishrack taking up space and can use the space for other things too when I'm not drying dishes. 

We had a new kitchen built for our house 6 years ago. I designed the kitchen layout and took a long time deciding whether or not to buy granite countertops. They were a large proportion of the overall budget of the kitchen. 

We're careful with money but more concerned with value for money that getting the cheapest option. I'd previously had kitchens with cheaper countertops and they had always looked scruffy after a couple of years. 

We planned to make this house our family home and stay here for a very long time. I wanted a kitchen that would last. For me, that was the deciding factor. I wanted my kitchen to still look good in many years time and I didn't want the hassle (and expense) of remodelling the kitchen every few years. So although granite was a more expensive choice up front, long term it shouldn't work out more expensive plus I'll have a gorgeous and very practical kitchen for that whole time. 

So surely there are some problems with granite countertops? Well there are certainly some things you need to be aware of:

• These countertops are made from hard granite. Drop a glass onto the surface and it is likely to shatter. Consider carefully if you are prone to dropping things!
• Some granite surfaces are prone to smearing and tricky to clean. I think this is worse if you go with a single color, mine is mostly black but with gray and sparkly bits in it, I think that has helped. 
• It's expensive! Yes, this isn't the cheapest option. If you are on a very tight budget then this may not be the time to splash out on granite (I didn't have it in my first kitchen because we only planned to stay a few years and the additional cost didn't make sense.)

You can get kitchen cleaning products designed specifically for granite countertops that should give you a streak-free result.