Martha Stewart: Kitchen counter tiles can be cheaper, but take a little work

Published 10:21 am Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Q: My husband, a skilled tile installer, wants to save money on our kitchen counter by laying granite floor tiles (with a minimal grout line) instead of a custom slab. What do you think?

A: The trouble with tile is you’re going to be washing that counter constantly. A friend had a ceramic-tile counter, and the wear and tear was too much. But granite tiles are significantly less expensive than a slab, so you might want to try it.

You’ll have to use cutting boards on top for chopping and rolling, and pounding meat may pose a problem. A big slab of granite will take the pounding; tiles will loosen, even with a board on top.

Here’s what you can do: Get a few resin cutting boards, like the ones used in butcher shops. They come in a range of colors and are fabulous. Put some rubber surface protectors underneath so that the boards are raised slightly. That way, the granite tiles won’t take all the pressure.

Q: I was given an antique brass bed, and it has a spotted patina. How can I restore and maintain its luster?

A: First, find out if the bed has lacquer on it. Try brass polish; if it doesn’t work, the brass has been lacquered. To remove the spots, the bed has to be taken apart and then stripped, cleaned and polished. If you lacquer it again, the brass ultimately will lose some of the lacquer, and the spots will return.

Instead, I have my brass beds stripped, cleaned and polished, and then I let them be. I never lacquer. Ideally, if you could keep a bed freshly polished, that’s best. But that’s a hard thing to do.

Q: I installed cork flooring in my kitchen years ago. It has held up well but looks dull. How can I get a shine?

A: I don’t know what kind of cork you put down, but I have a cork floor in my guesthouse in Maine and had one in a kitchen years ago. I love them and use a paste wax, such as Butcher’s, to wax them — just a thin layer to start. It might take a couple of applications and a lot of buffing, but the floors will look beautiful.

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