DAMN, those copper counters look nice. I could see going with some copper and some butcher block.
We are considering moving within the next year of few - tho we may stay longer. So we have an eye on resale, but are not going to do something we don’t love.
We currently have white Corian. It is a fine surface, but if we did it over we would have gone with granite. Perhaps the nicest thing about the Corian is the integrated sink, with no seam. Very nice and clean. And it is easy to scrub stains off. But we have managed to put a couple of noticeable chips/cuts in it, so it is far from indestructible.
I agree that eventually granite and stainless will look dated - doesn’t every look go out of style eventually? But I don’t see that happening any time too terribly soon. And I bet most kitchens get redone every 7-10 years or so. Watch/read anything about the housing market, and 2 of the first words you will hear out of realtors, buyers, stagers, etc are “granite and stainless.” So even folk who do not necessarily love those get the impression that they are the most desireable.
Right now we bought and are awaiting delivery of this stand-alone island with a black granite top and 2 stools to replace our present table and 4 chairs. With all 3 kids away at school it will better reflect the way we use the house now, and will make the smallish kitchen appear larger and fresher.
One designer we spoke with said we will not need to replace our counters as mixing and matching different materials/finishes is currently very fashionable. All of our white appliances are in fine working order, and none of them are ancient. And personally I wish not to replace appliances that are working fine. So we’ll see how it looks when the island comes in and when/if we go to sell. Depending on the cost and whether we think it will make the house show better, we might put in granite counters and stainless sink/appliances. Tho a not-inconsequential part of me says to let any buyers redecorate the kitchen exactly how they wish.
We had the option of tile for the island’s top, but I nixed it for the reasons stated above.
The rest of my aforementioned kitchen – the one I installed the high-end laminate in – was stainless. I hated it as soon as it was done. It already look old. But I have to ask again, when will granite per se ever look dated? Just as with laminate, swap it out for a different granite.
Well it’s Roadfood’s kitchen and copper isn’t to taste.
I understand those greyish black lab tables from high school science classes are considered very stylish right now. The ones impervious to chemicals, bunsen burners, and dissected frogs.
How big is your kitchen? How high are the ceilings? Is it long and narrow or fairly square?
I have a white-ish Corian countertop. I am very happy with it. It’s easy to clean, and I haven’t had any problem with chips or scratches (it’s more than two years old, but I haven’t had any children in the destructive phase yet, so take that for what it’s worth). My favorite bit is the integrated Corian sink with no seaming. I just wipe everything into the sink, and I don’t get gunk in the sink seam. I’d definitely do it again.
We recently remodeled our kitchen. It had a tiled countertop and backsplash. In robin’s egg blue and yellow. Yes. It was horrible.
I wanted concrete, but the cabinets couldn’t support that kind of weight without being torn out and having extra supports added in, so we went with laminate. I’m very happy with it, and it was really cheap, since we did it ourselves. It was a battle to get it in place because the walls were all wonky, but it’s nice.
We also ripped off the backsplash… no tile board. Just glued right to the drywall. My father and I had an idea to cover the holes that the tiles had caused (moisture rotted away the drywall underneath, and taking the tiles off caused it to crumble) and look very cool at the same time: we used sheet metal. So the kitchen is really kick ass looking now.
Laminate is cheap, doesn’t have to look cheap, and can be changed as you change. Who knows? I might get bored with this kitchen and rip it out in ten years. Since my counter only cost $350, who cares, right?
For those who like butcher block I would look into bamboo. Very durable wood (they make cutting boards out of it).
We installed Corian when we remodelled our kitchen in 2001, and loved it. Well, we only lived there for a year before we sold, but during that year we loved it. I know I’m not perfect about wiping up spills and granite can stain, while Corian pretty much won’t. Also, the backsplash can be “coved” (curved, continuous with the surface), so there’s no corner to trap crumbs or need to be caulked, and no seams between sections, like with granite. Yeah, you can’t put a hot pot down on the counter, but I don’t expect to do that anyway!
In theory, you can get integrated sinks with Corian - as in, sink / counter is all one piece; I had zero interest in doing that.
A friend once did some experimenting with samples of silestone (manufactured quartz), granite and corian and found that the silestone seemed to wear better.
Tile: Looks lovely but what a pain! My mother did have a small section of her counter done in tile (separated from the laminate portion by a butcher-block square). It was a lower-use area so not so much worry about food prep / stains / crumbs. The toaster and coffeemaker sat on that section, as well as the decorative canisters etc. If you like tile and have a disconnected area it’s an option but I definitely wouldn’t do tile for a work area!
We installed Silestone in our old house. Loved it - plenty of colors/options so it was aesthetically pleasing, and damn near bullet proof. You could run a sharp knife on it and not do damage. It’s not completely burn-proof (was told not to leave hot pans on it for prolonged periods, but I occassionally took something hot out of the oven and put it on there for a few seconds without issue.)
Our current house has granite…not too bad, but I liked the Silestone better. The granite has to be sealed 2x/year as its prone to staining otherwise. Its also starting to discolor/fade some around the sink faucet, where water tends to pool while I’m washing dishes (I probably should have been more diligent in sealing it).
The Silestone also seemed more stylish to me - its thinner than the granite, which to me looks better, especially if you have a counter with a significant overhang. I think the only drawback vs granite is that it required a seam along the bend over the L-shaped surface…I have a similar setup in the new house and the granite does not appear to be seamed. Not sure if this depends on the capabilities of the Silestone fabricator or not - ours did a good job with the seam, anyway - it was small and barely noticable.
Cost-wise I think they are about the same. I’ve seen some basic granite for less, but generally you’re limited on color/style and the edge types.
I’ve not found anyone but Home Depot and Lowe’s in my area that carried Silestone, YMMV. Seems like the big box stores run 15% off sales a few times per year.
An endorsement for Silestone (or actually the equivalent brand at Lowes, but I forget the name)! I’ve only had my new kitchen for a few months, but I absolutely love it! Corian scratches easily but can be repaired. Yeah right, like I’d ever get around to that. This manufactured quartz stuff has an invisible seam, is antimicrobial, is AFAIK heat resistant and scratch-proof. It cost a couple thousand, but should be maintenance-free.
For those who worry that granite and quartz are fads, well what isn’t? True, plastic laminate hiding rotting particle-board was around for decades. If solid stone goes out of style in a few years, do you really think laminate will make a comeback?
We’ve had Labrador Green granite for four years and I love it. Not a single stain. I like the feel of it too, being a natural product and all. No matter what kind of top you have, you’re going to spend a lot of time wiping it so you might want to go with a natural material.
That said, it doesn’t have the glossy shine that we had expected. It looks much better wet.
Ohhh! Magic Eye counter tops!
That’s gorgeous. I chickened out over making my own concrete countertops and now I’m kicking myself.
I ended up going with laminate. There’s nothing to say about it other than “it’s laminate.” Tile always strikes me as a pain in the ass to clean.
You mention indirectly what I came in here to recommend. Soapstone. The old school lab tables had soapstone tops. They are impervious to heat, liquid and chemicals. They’re not as hard as granite and can scuff and scratch but you can sand and polish them back if you want. They also make soapstone sinks and dish drains that look nice (it is a much easier material to work with than granite). The only real drawback is the lack of color options, gray and green are it though you can darken the surface and bring out some shine with a mineral oil or wax (though they are not needed for sealing at all).
That’s very interesting.
I checked to see if our kitchen was still on the designer’s website. It is. The countertop is Staron and is a synthetic quartz composite. Ours was “Espresso” or some such, and we loved it. HOWEVER, the glossy surface will scratch easily, so you may want to go with a less shiny product.
I’m happy with soapstone but it does require some initial breaking-in (oiling to achieve the finish) and it’s soft so you can’t be too hard on it. You should be cutting on cutting boards anyway.
Aside from that it’s beautiful. It was a dusty dull gray when it arrived and turned a rich emerald green once I started oiling it. And no speckles like granite, instead it has nice veins similar to marble. Pictures here. What I really like about soapstone is that it doesn’t have the tacky glassy finish of polished marble. That always reminds me of the walls in office building reception areas and floors of high-end hotel lobbies.
And I think at 16 feet, you are going to have a seam somewhere. I don’t think they make slabs that long.
Anything you install today is going to look dated in a decade. It’s the way things work.
I installed black granite 5 years ago and have never had an issue with it. I sealed it exactly once and put hot pots,etc. on it all the time. My only complaint is that it’s hard on glasses and Pfaltzgraf type plates because even a passing glance will cause it to shatter or chip. I recently switched from Pfaltgraf to Corel (which I love, btw, because they take up so much less room and are lighter than the ceramic alternatives) because of this.
A lot of kitchens do a variety of countertops now. Matching everything is out. For instance, they’ll have a butcher block countertop next to a granite countertop.
I will also recommend an undercounter mounted seat. I have an over-counter one and it doesn’t look nearly as nice as the undermounted ones. A deep sink and tall faucet makes clean up after big parties much easier.
I too have Silestone and love it. I have granite in the bathrooms, and much prefer the Silestone. You can clean it with anything–Windex, etc. The granite has to have a non-ammonia type cleanser and can have the finish damaged with acids like vinegar. It also has to be resealed. I have Silestone on the countertops, island, and backsplash. Highly recommend it. Depending on where you live, it can be more expensive than granite, though. I think that has to do with shipping costs–we’re a lot closer to where a lot of the granite comes from, so it’s not as expensive to ship it here as opposed to way up north.