Slab shopping

It's time to choose the vanity top. Yesterday I went to a shop that has a huge warehouse space filled with slab after slab of marble and granite and other stones - beautiful! We are seeking two tops for the two master vanities, and one for each of the secondary baths. And hopefully we can score remnants for the small vanities, because remnants = cheaper. We're looking for a white marble top like, maybe, this one (though the mister thinks, maybe, not this particular one)...

I actually snapped pics of three of the four slabs I liked best, but being mostly white, they just weren't done justice in the picture. Anyway, what's really cool is that once you choose your slab, they come out to your house to make templates of the vanity top, then bring them back and you can choose exactly where on the slab you want your top cut out (and they put the sink in too, so you can see how it'll look). They drill the holes for the fixtures, mount your sink and voila: vanity tops.

I always think I know what I want when I walk into places like this, but I'm usually thrown for a loop by about, oh, the second question they ask me. The owner asked if our floors were honed or polished. At times like these it's best just to confess, even though you're thinking, 'why don't I know this??'  Pretty quickly, though, when the owner pointed to one polished slab, and one honed one, I was able to say our floors are honed. Difference, you ask? Polished is shiny/glossy, honed is a matte finish. The slab above? Polished. You're welcome for this little bit of trivia you know you can't wait to use.

And I know just what you're going to ask next and the answer is: whatever you want. You were going to ask if your vanity tops should be in the same finish as your floor, right? Because that's totally what I asked.  I lean ever so slightly toward the polished finish, but then I look at the pictures again and think, well, maybe not. Perhaps the mister will have a persuasive case for one over the other. 

So wait, have you seen any recent pics of the master bath? It's in, though as of these pics it hadn't been cleaned up yet (grout or some other film over everything) For your viewing pleasure, our floor (12" x 24" honed marble tile):

And our shower (6" x 12" black slate with mosaic polished marble at the top, bottom and on shower floor):

Next time we go slab shopping we're taking a tile piece from each bathroom with us, so we can be sure to get the right tone of marble. We need something white/silver, not white/cream. Stay tuned!