I love when a project includes countertops or some other opportunity for stone. The counters were going to be the first part of this design to actually get installed, because we wanted them safely in place before cabinet painting began. So, we wrote to the stone fabricator we’d worked with on several projects before and really enjoy working with, and set an appointment to go look at granite options.

We knew we were looking for granite to get a good combination of price and durability, and my initial inclination was to find a stone that was fairly light to contrast the darker base cabinets I was leaning towards in my design. Even before our appointment, our contact at the stone fabricator suggested a few options to look at – including White Cloud granite. This stone is also often called Silver Cloud, and the names are very fitting, since the white stone has swirling veins of light and dark grey that look like a stormy sky.

While we were at the fabricator looking at slabs, we actually started leaning toward Piracema as our pick – it’s very similar to White Cloud with swirling gray veining on white stone. The Piracema options we saw there had a bit more contrast between the veins and the base stone than the White Cloud did, and that little extra bit of drama started to sway us.

We also learned we love a leathered finish on granite. The texture of the finish means that it’s a unique and very warm, natural feeling finish that shows the stone’s color and pattern. It’s more resistant to staining than honed granite, and more forgiving when it comes to water spots or smudges than polished granite. We fell in love with it – and then needed to actually find enough of it for the kitchen. We weren’t actually sure that we would be able to find Piracema in a leathered finish at the stone suppliers that work with our fabricator – and adding a leathered finish to a slab without it would definitely break our budget.

When we went to the stone supplier, we looked at the polished Piracema – and they also had leathered slabs of White Cloud! Both slabs in the gallery above are White Cloud. This is why looking at the actual slabs for a natural stone is so important. We were already excited to see that these slabs had that contrast that initially pulled us toward the Piracema granite. Then, they showed us more sections of that same slab, using a slab lifter that honestly blew my mind a little bit. The differences between the two White Cloud slabs we looked at were very subtle, but since this is a major investment for the kitchen, I’m glad we took the time to really consider all the details. In the end, we ended up picking that leathered slab of White Cloud, and it made a huge impact in the kitchen design.

Another thing to keep in mind when picking natural stone (or any stone with a lot of pattern, really) is how it will be cut based on the template for your countertops. That’s our template for the longest continuous stretch of countertop, sitting against the slab we picked. See how the veining mostly runs along that longest section? We really wanted that alignment to further elongate that long countertop piece. The kitchen could have had a very different look if the template were lined up differently.

I do really love how these countertops came out. We added matte black iron supports underneath this peninsula edge, since we were keeping the same overhang of the previous countertop with a much heavier material. I think the leathered finish and the wavy dark veins make a neutral-toned stone still make a dramatic statement. Best of all, that effect is achieved with a very durable material like granite that will hold up to banana bread baking and cooking family meals for years to come.