My parents installed granite countertops in a remodel after my dad caught the kitchen on fire. The opted for granite, and they have never regretted it. Mom loves putting hot cookie sheets or casserole dishes right on the counter and chopping vegetables and nuts without a chopping board. They don't stain, and my dad enjoys cleaning it with windex.
They chose a more neutral granite with green and sandstone-colored flourishes. It is classy, not dull, and has stood through years of wear and tear associated with raising seven children.

You clearly spend a lot of time in your kitchen.
You should have tools and surroundings that make that time as pleasant and productive as possible.
It sounds like you really want granite
Get granite

We recently replaced our laminate counters with granite and have never regretted it. It's such a beautiful surface and makes a significant visual impact in the room. It will also increase the resale value of your house quite a bit. Go for it!

I personally have a nice neutral laminate and though I would love to have granite the cost for doing my very large kitchen is more than I want to invest. I prefer to use my money elsewhere. My countertops do the job just fine.

What a great topic!! Can't wait for readers' comments. When we remodeled we used laminate, looks fine 10 yrs later, altho I have ALWAYS wished we could have afforded a solid surface. Now we are considering replacing the laminate with something solid. And I would be interested in knowing what others use for a back-splash with a solid surface. I hope you get your solid surface--it should add value to your home, and I hope I get mine, too!! Thanks for your interesting columns over the years.

You shouldn't chop or slice directly on your solid surface counters. It will dull your knives. Use a chopping board.

Also, we like our new laminate counters and are glad they don't last forever. Nothing stays in style forever.

We are building and would love to do granite- we had it in a former house and LOVED it. It was new venetian gold and hid EVERYTHING- crumbs and all. We've also had Corian- but I like the shinyness of granite better. However, laminate is all the budget allows this time- gotta "act our wage" I guess. But if you could swing granite- do it!!!

Side note- it doesn't hurt the granite to cut on it, but it will dull your nice knives.

I installed laminate 10 yrs ago and now wish I had something else. The color is fading around the sink area, and the seams are visable. How about granite tiles? I've heard they are much less money than the solid slab.

Over 20 years ago we remodeled a kitchen using Corian and enjoyed it. In our present home we considered granite, but our home was built in 1926 so we finally decided to use 4" white tile with thin grout lines and a 4" tile backsplash. We love it. I find myself thoroughly cleaning and de-junking the counters after every meal just because everything looks and feels so clean and bright. Our cabinets are the original pine painted a glossy white with modest wood trim pieces. It's all very clean, attractive and soothing. Six months later, my wife is pleased to see me working so consistently in the kitchen and enjoying it. The only downside is that that recessed (flush top) sinks don't work with tile. I don't like cleaning over that big ridge around the sink. We also replaced the floor with a medium brown hard wood. Our kitchen is small but beautiful. We'd love to show it to you.

We did a kitchen remodel last year and after 17 years of laminate, we decided to go with granite. I had no problem with the laminate, it served us well, but the pink color needed to be changed. Granite is much more expensive but after careful research and consideration, we chose a beautiful granite that reminds me of the colors of the mountains in northeast Provo. The clincher for me was a comment made by a neighbor who had remodeled with granite three years ago. She said: "It's made by God. It doesn't get much better than that." I love our granite and have never been sorry we chose the "look of the mountains" for our house. It is functional, beautiful and worth the cost. If you choose a timeless look that pleases you, you can't go wrong. Good luck.