Countertop Selection Down to Final Three
moosemac
4 years ago
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khrisz
4 years agoRelated Discussions
If you were choosing three different counter surfaces...
Comments (35)Ahhh Liriodendron you and I have the same ideas as to crazy-quilt kitchens that fit an old house. Our 1890 bungalow was just begging for a working kitchen with multiple surfaces that spoke to their uses and origins. On the sink and cooktop run I have teak. My cabinet maker called a friend who had 2 pieces left and was able to secure them and make them into a countertop for me. I have an antique soapstone sink mounted in the sink run. Don't know what kind of soapstone. It came from the salvage place I used in New Hampshire. That is 2 . The baking run is made of 2 remnant slabs of 30" wide soapstone from the salvage place I used in New Hampshire. I have no idea what origin. That makes 3. The coffee counter is Sylacauga Alabama marble. It has a lot of history. It was a piece salvaged from a building in Columbus GA, 45 min away from us. I found the piece in a field, in a pile of salvaged stone out in the country near our home. The man had purchased all that he could find at a GA salvage yard and let me pick out one piece I could carry home. I love it. It has the original beveled edge placed to the front. That makes 4. My movable island work table is a utility piece from Tabco tables and has a BB top and galvanized metal shelves. That makes 6. My adjacent sunroom/potting room seen from the kitchen , is where I do a lot of utilitarian cleaning up and prep of messy things when I am canning etc. I have a different soapstone, don't know what kind, that has a lot more veins but it looks wonderful with the huge Alberene soapstone sink. This sink has the metal makers-mark still affixed to the front. That makes 8. In the center of this room is a small antique work table that I purchased from a friend's flea market shop, it is made of oak and has a porcelain white metal top. So that makes 10. I too derive much pleasure from the collectedness of each piece and its history, although I don't have the wonderful personal history that you are so lucky to have. I look forward to seeing your kitchen and delight in reading your descriptions. c...See MoreHas anyone used this? Countertop selection tool
Comments (14)Well, I don't have a wand, but I will say that I think laminate is great stuff. I've never been sold on granite (ducking projectile tomatoes) and laminate gives you so many choices...so many colors! Here are some questions to think about. 1. Do you want light or dark? A light countertop is easier (on the eye) to work on and will brighten your kitchen more than any other element. More functional light is reflected off horizontal surfaces than vertical surfaces, countertops particularly since they are closer to windows and artificial light sources. Dark counters are very fashionable right now. Dark wood, dark granite, dark soapstone. It's mostly done with white cabs, but you see dark counters almost everywhere at the moment. Very elegant. Would this look suit the style of your kitchen and your home? 2. Do you want something that mimics a natural material (like granite or wood) or something that says "Hey, I'm plastic and that's okay!" Think boomerangs! As for the wood look, that's being shown in a lot of high end kitchens where I suspect nobody cooks! ;-) But a deep dark warm wood-look laminate could be fabulous and very up to the minute (without the upkeep of real walnut!) 3. Do you like to see or not see toast crumbs? IOW, do you want your counters to hide the bits and pieces of everyday life or do you want something very clean looking so not a crumb escapes? 4. To bring out the natural richness of your oak cabs, think about the opposite side of the color wheel...blues because they are directly opposite orange, and greens because they always look good with wood. 5. What is your style? MCM? You need boomerangs! Soft Contemporary? Maybe a finely speckled stone look alike. Country? Traditional? Tuscan? If you have a particular style, look at other kitchens in the same or similar style and try to mimic what they are using. If you haven't been to the Finished Kitchens Blog, you should look there for ideas and inspiration. Don't get freaked out by the big-ticket things you see over there (!) just see what appeals to you and make a note. Remember, you can get a neutral countertop material and do the color thing with paint. It's less risky and better for resale if that looms on your horizon. Or you can do a bit more color on the floor, which will also hide some dirt, and then pull that color into a lighter countertop material with a melange of color, including hints of whatever color you choose for the floor. After you have thought about these questions, you should be able to eliminate a lot of choices and start to zero in on what you want and need. Then, go to a store that has lots of samples. Maybe not a big box store...I don't know if they have a full representation or not. (You can ask.) See what draws you eye and see if it meets the criteria you set by answering the questions above. Order or borrow samples to live with for a while. When you're down to a couple of choices, get a bunch of chips and line them up so you can try to replicate a larger area. Good luck and keep us posted!...See MoreFinalizing the quartzite countertops! PICS - Input needed
Comments (22)Hi Pip: I absolutely love both of your choices and I really don't think you could wrong with either one. We have chosen Madre Perola for our own countertops (unfortunately our kitchen will not be done til January so I can't post any pictures for you) and our flooring will be limestone look porcelain tile (12 x 24") in a nutty colour called Noce, It looks fabulous with the countertop. Now backsplash..... yikes - that's another thing - but I do like your chose of BS. I also think that there is enough gray in the Madre Perola that a gray floor tile will also look great. Is your floor tile much darker than the countertop as my initial thought was that a medium gray might be nice to kind of ground the room, although your espresso cabinets will also help to do that. We're doing an island in a dark stain with a slightly creamy white cabinet. Haven't the finished kitchens on this site been such a wonderful help! As much as I want the kitchen to look wonderful, I still need it to be practical. Were you able to get a sample to do stain tests on them? This may be the deciding factor for you - if one performs better than the other. On another post I stated that our sample Madre Perola performed great re red wine, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, mustard, etc. Do you know how the White Princess holds up? Anyway, like I said earlier I think both are absolutely beautiful choices and I look forward to hearing what you decide....See MoreHelp me select a marble counter for my bathroom.
Comments (6)Quality Calacatta is harder to obtain. You need to work with good suppliers for this. You can expect variation, as with any natural stone, but we are seeing, and perhaps due to the mining and availability right now, that there are strong variations. As for pits and chips, well that would not be acceptable. We are wrapping up a very long project and one of the baths is all Calacatta. The countertop will also be Calacatta (carefully selected from our trusted supplier and matched to the tile) but it isn't installed yet so no pictures. Here's some in progress photos. Note the third pic where we stacked the trims pieces in front of the field tile. The trims on the right were a good blend but the left was void of veining and not a good match. As a contractor with relationships and "buying power", we were able to shade all our tile in a dry lay out and return the unacceptable for replacements. You will always have SOME variance so you need to tolerate and expect this. But based on our experience we are able to discriminate between "expected" and unacceptable. It's a beautiful stone and dramatic statement if you can get it right. Good luck with your project....See MoreStephanieM
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