Any home magazine published this year is certain to feature an article or advertisement with photos of a kitchen or bathroom with white marble. White is the new black, and the popularity of White Carrara, Statuary, and Calacata marbles is showing no signs of waning.
On a recent episode of "Selling New York" on HGTV, one of the selling points of a multi-million dollar apartment in Manhattan was the "Calcutta" marble bathroom. (If they want to call it Calcutta, it's fine with me; just keep asking for it.) Many of the apartments featured in the show boast of recent professional remodels, and it's no surprise that the NYC designers choose white marble kitchens and bathrooms to add elegance and value to the properties.
My favorite TV Italian chef has a Calacata kitchen island in her home from which her show is shot, which is not surprising since Italian households have had White Carrara or Statuary marble kitchen tables since the invention of cappuccino and biscotti. I could cry when I think of what became of my Roman mother-in-law's White Carrara worktable where she used to hand-roll her pasta and share espressos and cigarettes with her sisters - after she passed away, her daughter Liliana remodeled the house and got rid of all of the traditional Italian furnishings and gadgets. (I grabbed a few post-WWII tea towels and trattoria ashtrays, thankfully.) Having grown up with that aged and worn marble-topped pine table, Liliana couldn't appreciate its value and threw it away. I'm not sure if she would make the same choice today - Italians are finally experiencing a resurgence of "vintage", and it's about time they showed some appreciation for their abundant resources, although that puts me at a disadvantage next time I try to haggle at Porta Portese.
White marble is elegant, classic, and timeless. A White Carrara bathroom at home is akin to having a spa experience everyday. A Calacata kitchen island is a work of art. It takes courage for those of us who actually use our kitchen counters to allow the marble to wear and age, but my mother-in-law and her generation would have never fussed over a few nicks and scratches. They were too busy rolling out the pasta.
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