Black kitchen countertops?

[Fishypants]

We have ordered a kitchen which is white gloss, with sparkly black quartz countertops (as attached) . Not to everyone's taste but I liked the contrast.

I've just seen on another thread that black countertops are the work of the devil himself, as every smear/crumb/ stain is visible. I thought the sparkly bits might camouflage crumbs?

Is this true, and if so, what worktops would you recommend that are low maintenance but look good? We can amend order so any good suggestions?

[sunshinesupermum]

I've had these. No problem whatsoever! Go for it they look fab.

[Moknicker]

Yes unfortunately this is true. We have this in our house and its really hard to get it to look spotless.
The next time i did it I got black but with big flecks of different color. That worked better. Its a cambria waterford quartz. HTH. Our kitchen is white as well.

[thegcatsmother]

We had black countertops in a rental in belgium in both the kitchen and the en suite. They are indeed the work of the devil, and if you have them, do not rest anything that might leave a mark on them for any length of time.

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

I read that other thread as I was sitting at my black sparkly quartz island surrounded by my white cupboards.

I love it, I have blue walls-farrow and ball blue ground-and it is so fresh and pretty.

These things are all personal opinion and you're the one living in your kitchen so only you have to like it. I find the thought of dark blue cupboards gloomy but each to their own!!

[Bunowen81]

We inherited black sparkly worktops when we bought our current house and I love them. They don’t show up every crumb and are really easy to clean.

I wouldn’t have previously chosen them if I was designing a kitchen but I’m a convert now. Go for it OP.

[Ridingthegravytrain]

We went from black awful granite (in that it only looked nice after being buffed) to a streaky grey piracema and you can’t see anything. Love it

[PrettyCherryBlossom]

I have them and hate them, they show every crumb, speck of dust, water mark etc and are a nightmare to keep looking lovely. If I had plenty of time to devote to keeping them clean they may be ok, but it’s not practical for me with a full time job and kids. I love how they look when they’ve just been cleaned but it doesn’t last long! I definitely won’t get them again and I warn all my friends to avoid black if they’re getting new worktops.

[Mosaic123]

We had blue pearl granite for 10 years. Didn't show a thing. You' could feel crumbs but not see them. I've ordered Cambria Levven for my new place with white cupboards. Hope it's similar in use.

[imissthesouth]

You have to keep it IMMACULATE or it'll look awful, they are really beautiful though, your kitchen looks really nice

[SauvignonGrower]

We had black sparkle granite in our old house and it was wonderful. Didn't show stains or dirt. We now have matt smooth black and it is a complete nightmare.

[WoolyMammoth55]

Black sparkle is the marmite of kitchen worktops! :)

We're at my FIL's house with his black sparkly granite worktops (which were here when he bought the house). They feel lovely but only look good for 10mins after I spend an age cleaning and buffing. As soon as I make a cup of tea there's visible splashes of water, water rings - every speck shows up. I am actually cooking from scratch less and making more ready-meals because the cleanup is THAT bad!

So I'd personally never get them myself. In our kitchen we're going for oak on the L-shape and marble-look quartz on the island where the sink is. I'm HOPING that both those options will be more forgiving of busy family life!

[Fishypants]

Seems as one poster said they really are marmite!

Will check out the suggestions made. Thanks!

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

We have matt black granite & never would again, though I love the look & didn't want anything that reflected the ceiling lights into my eyes, so we avoided gloss.

It stains if you so much as look at it. The only way to make it look good again is to use expensive stinky stuff that I'm allergic to, so we don't. Somehow, marks fade away or soak through it, but that takes forever & of course more marks appear in the meantime. I cut up some oranges last night & splashed some juice on it: instant marks.

I wonder what will happen to all these marble/granite worktops when they go out of fashion (& they weigh a ton). Someone needs ot come up with a recycling idea for them. What will the next big thing be?

[Saz12]

I’ve black quartz (quartzite? ) worktops. Windows are north facing and beside worktop, soft water area.

Completely forgiving of crumbs, smears, etc. They look fabulous if I’ve sprayed and polished. If I’ve just wiped them over they still look good-but not as deep a shine.

I don’t get why people complain of smears etc with them! I’m not Mrs Hinch cleNing standard either (at all).

[ncdtoday123]

I've got black ones with sparkles in, I had no idea some people disliked them so much. They're very good in that you can't see crumbs on them and they always look clean and smart

[SpringSunshineandTulips]

We have black sparkly granite and I love them! The trick is to buy a granite cleaner and shine it up. Looks gorgeous and only takes a minute. Crumbs don’t show up to us either. I would recommend.

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

We have a black sparkly granit floor in our family bathroom! Put there by previous owners. Looks good when cleaned and polished with a dry cloth (does not happen very often)

[snowone]

I inherited mine and it's bloody awful. It's been so badly looked after, it's chipped and marked and it drives me insane! It's hard to clean to a sparkle unless I resort to glass cleaner. Can't wait to see the back of it

[Haggisfish]

I have black granite and love it. Easily
Wiped shiny again and nothing stains it.