Our kitchen is a total transformation and probably my favorite room in our house. I couldn’t be more pleased with the materials we used and the choices we made. When I think back to the great countertop debate and how many showrooms we visited, I can’t imagine ever putting anything but butcher block in our kitchen. It’s so warm and lovely and absolutely necessary against all the shiny metal and slick white surfaces. And I don’t think there could be anything other than that gorgeous polished marble for a back splash. It’s stunning!

But in choosing marble and butcher block, we’ve also opened ourselves up to two materials that require a little maintenance. So this past week, we experimented with the mineral oil treatment I talked about here. A little sanding, a clean surface, and a couple ounces of mineral oil and I was pretty impressed with the result. Our countertops are glowing! It did darken it a little but what’s even nicer is it seemed to make the variations between the planks pop. You can see all the light and dark tones now.

And for the marble, we knew we needed to seal the surface since marble is so porous and even with a polished surface, it could absorb stains. After one coat of sealant, water was beading nicely. An even line of silicone caulk between the marble and the countertops gave a perfect finish. It’s amazing what a difference these little finishing touches make!