Overwhelmed when it comes to choosing a kitchen countertop?
We have experience with several different kitchen countertop materials...
...and we all have our favorites; for Francesca and Michelle, it’s marble, Sarah and Christine favor stainless steel, Julie likes laboratory countertops, and I’m partial to soapstone.
Concreteworks in Oakland, CA, offers a wide range of concrete kitchen counters, including sustainable concrete blends with high recycled content such as fly ash and rice husks.
CONCRETE
Photo courtesy of Levenson McDavid.
From Janet: If I have another kitchen remodel in my future, I will look into hard-wearing concrete kitchen counters, as used in this kitchen by architect Ken Levenson.
Photo via Sunset.
An option worthy of serious consideration: the eco-friendly Squak Mountain Stone Composite Countertop. Coated with a food-grade acrylic sealant and buffed to a sheen, the material is stain resistant and warm to the touch.
Christine‘s countertop of choice is stainless steel.
STAINLESS STEEL
Photo via Messana O’Rorke Architects.
The thin flat top stainless steel countertops in a kitchen by architect Jerome Buttrick have an appealing modern look and offer a cost savings over the traditional practice of wrapping the counter edges.
Photo via Charles Luck Stone Center.
QUARTZITE (LUCE DE LUNA)
A marble lookalike minus the maintenance: the quartzite stone called Luce de Luna resembles marble but is is a bit less porous and therefore less susceptible to staining.
Francesca‘s kitchen prep area features kitchen counters made of statuary marble (they’re whiter than Carrara marble and feature bold gray veining).
MARBLE
It’s important to choose slabs carefully and be sure to mark the seam areas, so that the variations match up pleasingly (this often requires several trips to the stone yard).
Michelle has just finished a remodel.
Photo via Justine Hand’s Design Skool.
SOAPSTONE
My kitchen counters over the years have included granite, stainless, wood, and soapstone (a favorite for its color, feel, heat-resistance, and durability), as pictured in this Maine cottage renovation by architect Sheila Narusawa.
Perfectionists take note: Soapstone will show signs of wear and will develop a patina over time.
WOOD
Wood countertops, as featured in this Los Angeles kitchen by Aqua Vitae, lack the heat resistance of some of the other options, but offer a warm-to-the-touch organic feel.
Ikea offers the affordable oiled-beech Numerar Wood Countertop, which comes in precut lengths.
Julie used laboratory countertops in her Mill Valley home.
SOLID SURFACE COMPOSITE
Corian is a solid surface countertop made from a durable nonporous acrylic polymer that comes in over 130 colors. For more on white countertops, see Tile & Countertop: New Pure White.
Used in custom projects by Henrybuilt, one of our favorite kitchen-design outfits, Finnish-made Durat is a polyester-based solid-surface material resistant to wear, humidity, and chemicals.
The popular and highly-rated quartz-based CaesarStone countertop is made from ground quartz that is non-porous...
...scratch resistant, and highly resistant to stains. Finally, get more ideas on how to evaluate and choose your kitchen countertop in our Remodeling 101 Guide: Kitchen Countertops.
