Stainless steel counters - how do they look after use?

11 years ago

We are planning on using White Macaubas for our counters. Cabinets are slab with walnut veneer, while fridge & freezer columns, range & wall ovens are stainless. Floors are a stone look porcelain in shades of cream and gray (Emil's Keystone in iron). We will need just over 2 slabs if we do all the counters in WM. If we buy 3 slabs, there will be a lot of waste of an expensive stone. I will have to use the same material for our bathroom counter & there will still be waste.

The back wall of the kitchen (separate from any other cabinet/counter runs) has 3' of counter on each side of the range, with fridge and freezer colums on the ends. My KD suggested using stainless steel counters in this area, so we will only need 2 slabs of WM for the rest of the kitchen. I had mentioned the option of using a gray or black stone in that area, but she suggested SS to avoid introducing another random material in the space. I think SS counters would look good and appropriate next to the SS range in the cooking zone, but worry how they will look after a little use.

So, after that long introduction, the question is how do SS counters look when they are not new? DH tells me the SS counters in restaurant kitchens look terrible because the material scratches so easily. We always use cutting boards, but a child or guest could make a mistake. DH is concerned just putting down a pan or bag of groceries could scratch the counters. Keeping the counters covered with a large cutting board or trivet all the time defeats the sleek look I am trying for with this kitchen. If you have SS counters, please tell me how they look with use.

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Comments (9)

ginny20
11 years ago
My neighbor had SS counters from the original owner of her 1940 house. A conservative estimate is that they were in at least 40 years before she redid the kitchen in the 2000's. They had a patina, like my 50-year-old SS sink had. But they were very functional and attractive. She loved them. I was in her kitchen often, and I never thought, "gee, these counters look beat up." You'd want to get a finish that is already sort of brushed, I would think.
rococogurl
11 years ago
I have them -- they are 9 now so most everything that might have happened to them has. The only thing with SS is that you must accept scratching. Over time, there's a patina from that.

I've also had marble, granite and wood counters so I have a strong basis of comparison. These are, by far, the easiest to maintain and the most carefree -- nothing a microfiber cloth can't solve. They absorb nothing so anything that spills on them is irrelevant.

As a regular practice I don't put super hot pots down directly on the counters but I didn't do it on marble or granite either. I have done it with no problem on occasion.

Around a range I really wouldn't want anything else. I did love my marble counters in the previous kitchen so if you have some stone seems like the best of both worlds.
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Moccasinlanding, thank you - I wondered if I could just take a picture of it. Now, however, the deadline has passed and I'VE DECIDED WHAT I'M DOING. Whew! Actually I didn't decide. I told my contractor who showed up this morning that I CAN'T DECIDE and am going completely crazy out of my head bonkers not being able to decide between stainless w/ marble subway backsplash or soapstone w/ beige subway backsplash. So I told him to decide for me and I'd be happy either way (and if not happy, it would be default tell me that I really wanted the other thing)! So HE chose stainless w/ marble. He said black counters are too ubiquitous these days, and dark (potentially depressing), and that we can add more warmth by replacing our kitchen island top with butcher block (it's currently stainless). To answer your question about our floors, they're wood. Yesterday I found an interesting online piece about a woman's original 1912 or 1913 kitchen - showing pictures - having one counter w/ steel on it. It appears to me to be zinc or pewter, and it was in a pantry-type room that had U-shaped counters, the connecting counter being the metal one. The other two were made of old dark wood. Stainless was invented in 1913 (amazing how many things were - including refrigerators!) and so I feel good enough about doing a period kitchen in stainless as long as all else looks old-fashioned for the most part. And as long as I can contrast w/ lots of warmth in other ways - particularly re. wood. The marble should help w/ that too I hope. Can you tell I'm trying to convince not just you guys but myself, too? ;) Here's the link that shows that woman's original 1913 kitchen (I can't help but feel sad that she changed it - and also some of her choices - but to each her own. Plus she wrote that it was meant to be a temporary fix only): http://www.fromtimespast.com/RestorationJournalTheKitchen.htm Third pic down shows the metal which you can see much better if you use your computer to zoom in on it.
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I agonized over this when we did our kitchen 3 yrs ago, and again this past winter when we finally updated the refrigerator. (We had kept the glaring white one when we remodeled because it was only 3 yrs old at the time.) I ended up going with everything stainless. I have 2 kids (6 yrs old & 11 yrs old) and a messy husband. The hardest appliance to keep looking good is the dishwasher. It is just touched/handled so many times and stuff just drips. I was surprised with the stainless refrig (with water & ice to the door) that it stays looking pretty good. I had a "training session" for everyone when it arrived and we all try to use the handles. Nonetheless, about once every 2 - 3 weeks, I end up using a SS spray and wiping everything clean. (I drape old towels over the adjacent cabinets and on the floor because of overspray.) In between times, I can usually lessen smudges by a slightly damp miracle cloth. So, if I had to do it again, I would definitely keep the SS stove and range because of the "restaurant look" from a design standpoint. I would try to do a cabinet-covered dishwasher and refrigerator though. Good luck. (BTW, since I already had all the other appliances in place when I shopped for the new refrig, I didn't go with a ss look-alike because I didn't think it would match closely enough to the stainless that I already had.) --DJ
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sochi
11 years ago
I've had my current SS counters for almost 2.5 years, plus 4 years with SS counters in my previous kitchen. I love them for all the reasons rococogurl mentioned. Yes, they scratch, but they develop a nice patina that no one notices. In our previous kitchen DH did stress about scratches for the first month or two after installation. They are so user friendly in all other ways that it far outweighs the light scratching, IMO.
User
11 years ago
You either embrace patina or you don't get stainless. the lovely melding together of all of the scratches and signs of use is what gives stainless it's true charm.
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: 7' Antique stainless counter and sink on Ebay
kaysd
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you all. It is nice to hear how user friendly they are. Nonporous counters next to the range and fridge sound good. Of course, if I could truly "embrace patina" I would probably be getting the white and blue marble slabs I have been ogling for 2 years instead of quartzite.

I never put a hot pan down on my granite counters. I usually have any empty burner to use as a landing spot, or if not I can grab a trivet from the drawer. I did see one SS counter that had raised metal strips next to the range, like a built-n trivet.

I would definitely get the SS in a brushed finish. Do you think a linear or circular brushed pattern would be better?

Hollysprings, that counter is awesome - I love the way the runnels fan out.
rococogurl
11 years ago
Patina is not all the same LOL. I had a grownup weekend guest decide to fingerpaint during a visit. It was done on my kitchen counter with no worries whatsoever.

I have brushed and they are very thick.
aliris19
11 years ago
I was thinking of using SS for a laundry counter -- any issues there? TIA
User
11 years ago
For a laundry counter, I would just get a free standing restaurant work table so laundry baskets could be stored under the lower shelf and the soaps etc could go on the lower shelf. It will be a lot cheaper than a stainless counter, even from a local metal fabricator. Frankly, the high cost of the stainless is it's only drawback to me recommending it more often.
aliris19
11 years ago
Oh wow, GD - what a great idea for a counter! As it happens, this is exactly what I was planning on designing in ... [any chance I could -- pretty please?! -- get you to look at my pleas for laundry room design help???? And I wasn't even sure how to get those shelves underneath -- what a great idea! Though...

drat. Actually it was as a sink cab that I was thinking about using a SS countertop. Not that I have the slightest idea about the cost of this. Could I be getting fine Italian marble comparably priced do you suppose?

Stainless steel counters - how do they look after use?

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ginny20

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Stainless steel counters - how do they look after use?

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