Kitchen Countertop

Whether you’re designing a new kitchen or remodeling an old one, choosing the right kitchen counter surface that suits your lifestyle is one of the most important design and decorating decisions to make. However, selecting a new kitchen counter surface can be a challenge due to the wealth of countertop options available today. Moreover, the decision you make will not only affect its functionality and visual impact in your kitchen, but it will also affect the time and expense of installation, so you can’t afford to make the wrong choice.

Selecting the right countertop surface for your kitchen depend on certain factors, including the overall style of your home, your taste, and the expected level of use. Your best choice is one that offers great aesthetics and matches with your lifestyle without hemorrhaging your bank account.  In this post, I am going to share with you five tips to help you find the right counter surface for your kitchen.

Let’s get started!

Assess your expectations and start from there

Before you rush out to select a kitchen counter surface just because of its looks, you need to sit back, do a little assessment on what you expect from your new kitchen countertop and write them down. Also, you need to assess the way you live as well as the needs and lifestyle of your household before you select a countertop material, color, or design for your kitchen. For instance, you have kids that make jelly sandwiches and peanut butter regularly on the countertop; they may not want a white granite surface.

Similarly, if you, your spouse or kids cook a lot, then you’ll need a counter surface that will still look good and last long even after undergoing the daily punishment of your cooking lifestyle. If you fall within this category, then the durability of the surface is your most important factor, so look for counter materials that will last without the need for so much tender loving care. Here, quartz (engineered stone), granite, and laminate are good choices.

If you’ve set your heart on a certain look and feel, then the aesthetic and visual impact of your countertop is your most important factor. Here, natural stones like marble and granite are good choices, but they require enough care and maintenance to keep them functional. While giving your kitchen a luxurious and sophisticated look is certainly a thrill; you should not ignore practicality and think that your counter surfaces will be immune to the daily punishment you dish out to it.

Be realistic; let your lifestyle and expectations play the major decisive role. If you’ve set your heart on a certain surface or look, but it does not match with your lifestyle, or that of your household, chances are that you’ll find another counter material or surface that does.

Decide on the level of maintenance you can handle

Some countertops are very resilient and require less maintenance effort than others. For instance, surfaces like laminate, Porcelain, lava stone, and engineered stone (quartz) does not require periodic sealing for them to retain their nice look. Whereas, wood counters and porous counter materials like marble, limestone, soapstone, and granite require periodic surface treatment and upkeep like sanding or sealing to keep them looking nice (or you live with the consequences).

Also, porous materials are not entirely immune to stains, so you’ll have to be careful when using them or entertaining your guests. That is why you should assess different the imperviousness of the options you have to stains as well as the level of effort you are willing to put to your countertop maintenance before you make your final decision.

Go for what you can afford

Although good counter surfaces can be very expensive, you’ll still find an affordable material that’ll go with your budget without having to drain your pocket. However, you should keep it in mind that a good countertop is a good investment that can help to increase the overall value of your home. So, you should be prepared to increase your budget if necessary.

If you’re on a budget, you should probably look for affordable and easy to maintain materials like laminate. And if you can afford materials like marble or granite that’ll add a definite wow factor to your kitchen, then go for it! However, you should consider the cost and level of maintenance required.

Mix and match

Unable to decide on a single counter surface? Then mix up and match different surfaces. Since the strength and cost of counter surfaces vary widely depending on the type, design, color, and rarity of the surface you choose, you can take advantage of this and mix up different counter surfaces in your kitchen.

For instance, you can reduce cost by using affordable material for the island while you use a more delicate or sophisticated material for less use area or areas you’d love to show off. You can even inset another counter surface into your kitchen counter for specific tasks. Marble is common for baking as is butcher block for chopping. If you need a new kitchen countertop and more information or help in finding the right countertop for your kitchen, please visit slabmarket.

Select the design and color that match your style and overall home décor

Once you’ve decided on the right type of counter surface for your kitchen, it’s time to choose the design and color. When choosing the right countertop design and color, you should match it to the style and color scheme for your kitchen. Always remember that your taste may change, and you can repaint your kitchen (or your entire home), so you should match the countertop design and color with the furniture, accessories and other major elements (like the cabinetry and flooring) of your kitchen.

Consider a kitchen counter surface with splashes or veins of your favorite color as this will help to keep your options open. Also, you can consider going for counters with decorative edges like ogee, egg, bevel, bullnose, and radius (which can be a bit more expensive) or those with standard square edges which is more affordable.

Final words

Finding the right countertop surface for your kitchen can be a challenge. Fortunately, you can avoid the hassles of finding the right counters for your kitchen when you’re well informed (armed with the right tips) and have a realistic assessment of your needs and expectations.

I hope this article has opened your eyes to some of the aspects you need to consider when selecting a kitchen countertop.