If you’re torn between cultured quartz and cultured marble, here’s the truth: both are engineered, non-porous, and tough. The deciding factor is the vibe you want in your space. Quartz reads clean and modern. Marble feels classic and warm. In Ogden, Sand & Swirl manufactures locally, installs in-house, and backs your project with a 5-year warranty—typically scheduled 4–6 weeks from final measure.

Is Cultured Marble Out of Style or Still Popular?

If you’re planning a bathroom remodel, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Is cultured marble out of style or still popular?” With so many materials available—like quartz, tile, acrylic, and natural stone—it’s easy to wonder whether cultured marble is still a smart design choice in 2025.

The short answer? Cultured marble is not out of style. In fact, it’s more popular than ever in Utah. Today’s cultured marble combines timeless elegance with modern manufacturing techniques, making it a favorite for homeowners who want beauty, durability, and easy maintenance.

Let’s take a deeper look at why cultured marble is still in style—and why it may be the perfect choice for your next project.

What Is Cultured Marble?

Cultured marble is a man-made material composed of natural marble dust and resin. It’s poured into molds to create custom shower surrounds, countertops, and vanities. A protective gel coat is applied to give it a glossy finish that’s waterproof and easy to clean.

This combination of beauty and function makes it especially popular for bathroom remodeling projects. Unlike tile, there are no grout lines to scrub, and unlike natural stone, it’s much more affordable and customizable.

Why Cultured Marble Was Once Considered “Outdated”

Let’s address the elephant in the room—cultured marble had a bit of a reputation problem in the early 2000s. Older versions were often limited in color, featured yellowing over time, and were paired with outdated bathroom fixtures. Many homeowners associated it with the pinks, off-whites, and golden hues of 1980s and 90s homes.

However, times have changed.

Why Cultured Marble Is Popular Again in 2025

Today’s cultured marble is nothing like the versions of decades past. Here’s why designers and homeowners are choosing it again:

Modern Colors & Finishes

Manufacturers now offer a wide variety of colors, veining patterns, and matte or gloss finishes. From clean white marble to soft greys, natural tones, and even quartz-inspired looks, you can match just about any style—from farmhouse to modern spa.

If you are looking to remodel your bathroom in 2022, you should know about the current trends that will make your bathroom look modern and beautiful!

Standard vs. Custom shelves and niches

I think it is important to mention that there are many people who choose to use standard shelves and niches, like soap dishes, in their shower. There is nothing wrong with a standard shelf or niche, but I find that people default to the standard only because they aren’t sure what options they have.

In our showroom, you will find many examples of custom shelves and niches. These can easily be built into the framing of the walls and will create the space you want or need in your shower for storage. Our team will also help you with any of the technical things you or your framer will need to know to make the custom cubby space in your shower.

Use the space for decoration

While thinking of the practical use of a cubby or niche in the shower, you should also think about the look of your shower. A custom cubby or niche could be a way to create beautiful accent designs in your shower. You might choose to use a decorative tile to add a splash of color or texture in your shower or you might choose to use a different color of cultured marble or stone to create a beautiful look. You also might use the same color to give a beautiful unity to your shower.

Come visit us for ideas!

No matter whether you are ready to start a bathroom remodel project or you just want to get some fresh ideas, I invite you to visit our beautiful showroom. We continue to update and create new displays to help you visualize the possibilities in your home.

At Sand and Swirl, we have a wide selection of Carrara marble, granite and other natural stone countertops if you’re looking to modernize. Here are a few additional themes our design pros can offer on fusing contemporary style with older, traditional homes – both in terms of aesthetics and functionality.

Transition and Balance

Now, unless you’re virtually tearing down a given space of the home and rebuilding it from scratch, it’s important to maintain some balance between the home’s traditional style and your new modern themes. A term designers use here is “transitional,” referring to blending elements of both styles in intelligent, practical ways.

Luckily, many traditional homes were designed with practicality in mind. For instance, if your home has classic ceiling beams, these are both functional and aesthetically pleasing elements you can keep while upgrading to a granite or marble countertop, backsplash or even stainless steel appliances. Mix and match between modern and traditional furniture to continue to strike this balance.

Importance of Solids

While it’s tempting to go with patterns and specific designs in every new area, it’s also important to keep some solids involved – too many patterns overwhelm. If you’re looking to add texture, the best way to do it is though metal appliances and various finishing formats.

When infusing marble or granite into the design, consider neutral solid colors. These are subtle looks that fit with both modern and traditional themes, allowing for that same transition factor we discussed above.

Accent Additions

Once you have a solid balance struck between your primary themes, it’s time to get creative and consider various accents and how they’ll complement things. If the home still leans a bit toward the traditional side, maybe you paint a bold cent wall or install a piece of modern furniture to mix it up. On the flip side, if you’ve already included several new modern additions and don’t want to take things too far, consider neutrals or limited accents that will tie the theme together without pushing too much further.

Backsplashes, in particular, are perfect areas for accent. They involve just enough space to get creative, and you can choose between covering a single side or even as many as three backsplash sides for certain types.

For more on transitioning your home’s design from traditional to modern, or to learn about any of our cultured marble or granite countertop materials, speak to the staff at Sand and Swirl today.

Low Maintenance vs. No Maintenance

Before we go into some of the tips to maintain your cultured marble, I wanted to clarify that there is no such thing as a NO maintenance option when it comes to bathrooms.  Although cultured marble is one of the easiest surfaces to maintain, there is still some light maintenance that needs to be done to keep your bathroom looking amazing.

Squeegee daily & clean weekly

One of the simplest ways that you can keep your cultured marble looking like new is to squeegee daily & clean weekly.  The process for cleaning cultured marble is quite simple:

1. Wet down the cultured marble with a mild liquid cleaner (no gritty products like Comet)
2. Rinse and squeegee or towel dry

It couldn’t be any more simple than that. However, we have come across many examples of what your shower may look like if you do not clean it regularly.

Keep drains clean

As you use your shower, hair and other debris can go down inside the drain and become lodged.  If the water is not draining correctly from your shower, you will see build up forming on the cultured marble around the drain.  Remove the drain cover and use a pipe snake to remove any debris that may be clogging the drain.

Inspect Caulk Regularly

It is important to note that the caulk used to seal the seams of your cultured marble needs to be inspected regularly and may need to be replaced.  As caulk ages over time, it can crack or separate, allowing water to get in behind the cultured marble.  This could lead to mold growing in your bathroom.  To prevent this from happening, you should inspect the caulk around your cultured marble every year.  If you do notice a crack in the caulk, use a caulk remover tool and then reapply a new bead of mildew-resistant caulk to seal the area.  We have tubes of mildew-resistant caulk that we recommend using in our showroom.

Conclusion

That’s it!  It really is that simple.  If you follow the above tips of maintaining and cleaning your cultured marble, your bathroom will enjoy many years of looking like new.