Marble, granite, quartz: choosing stone for how you live

Natural marble is porous and reactive. Lemon, turmeric, wine and oil will mark it, and in an Indian kitchen all four are in daily circulation. That is not an argument against marble — it is an argument for knowing what you are agreeing to, because a marble counter will develop a patina and you will either love it or resent it.

Granite is harder, effectively non-reactive and far more forgiving of heat. Engineered quartz is non-porous, consistent slab to slab, and needs no sealing — but it will scorch under a hot pan and cannot be repolished on site the way stone can.

For flooring the calculus changes. Marble underfoot is cool, ages beautifully and can be repolished decades later. For a bathroom, ask specifically about the finish: honed or leathered surfaces are considerably less slippery wet than polished, and this matters more than any other consideration if there are children or elderly people in the house.

Always see the actual slab, not a sample. Stone varies enormously within a quarry, let alone between them, and the piece you approve should be the piece that is cut.

Always see the actual slab, not a sample.