Durable and Timeless Materials

[Matt Kitchen]

I just finished BP podcast ep. 48 and the guest gave a lot of good advice, but one piece he gave that stuck out is that he buys durable materials that aren't just "trendy". They withstand the test of time financially and physically. In you experience, what kinds of materials have you used that match this description? Anything cosmetic, from flooring, cabinets, paint, countertops, etc. (Not looking for quartz and Brazilian hardwoods. The price of the duplex is $120k)

[Johann Jells]

One person's "timeless" is another's cliché. But I like old school looks in my century old rowhouses. Porcelain tile kitchen floors and splashes, dark granite counters, medium tone "shaker" wood cabs. natural wood is easier to touch up with Old English when damaged. Black granite counters like here NEVER show stains, and even my own kitchen of "Brown and Tan" granite has had oil bottles break on it and shows nothing. 

Baths get white subway tile walls with black trim and pinwheel tile floors. I mostly use regular 8-10 mm laminate in oak pattern if I don't have a finishable floor. I want people to say in their heads "oak floors", not "what the hell is that weird wood floor?"

FWIW, the bath ceiling is plastic tile in a drop grid.  There are 3 baths in a stack, this way the inevitable leaks don't destroy drywall, and the plumbing underneath is accessible.