You can replace the laminate countertops with some nice-looking pre-fab laminate slabs from the big box stores for a few hundred dollars. I'd definitely do that over granite, which will tend to look like lipstick on a pig. Some people do actually like oak, and others won't mind it, so if there are no scratches on them and you can clean them so they sparkle, update the hardware and put new laminate down, that may be the biggest bang for your buck. A lot depends on what your competition looks like, of course. If, to compete, you feel you do need to do more than make them shine, then I think painting or staining would be a good idea if you can make it look nice. The choice of light vs. dark depends on the lighting in your room. If you can post photos we can vote.

You need to do some homework. Every material has it's pros and cons, and it all comes down to what you are willing to live with. "Best" is completely subjective. Frankly, if my DH had not felt so strongly about our using a "higher end" counter top (we ended up with engineered quartz) I would have done a laminate. They are durable, warm, soft, and very inexpensive. Completely low-maintenance if you are not careless about using them. Our quartz will be fine, and looks fantastic, but we spent nearly three times what we could have spent on a high-end laminate. IKEA has some DIY laminate for incredibly little cost if you are willing to put in the effort and will buy you plenty of time to do some research on your countertop options. Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA wood and laminate countertops

I have Pental lattice, it reads white but has some very fine caramel veins if you look up close. I have had it 2 months now so not long, but have not notice any staining and with moving in the the house and all I have not kept things as clean as I normally do and things have sat on it over night. I cleaned up some blueberry syrup that had dried on there. A smear of grape juice. My husband sat an aerosol can on it that had rust on the bottom and that came right up. So far so good.

You do not need to stack two 2cm slabs on top of each other to make it look like you are using 4cm thick slabs. You only need a small amount of extra material (1-2â inches depending on edge type) to beef up just the outside edges of the counters. Laminated or mitered edges are very common here in So. Cal., where most stone and quartz is sold in 2cm size, rather than 3cm. The fabricator will put a 5/8â thick plywood subtop that is a little narrower than the finished counter size on top of the cabinet. Then the 2cm slab counter is put on top of the plywood. A narrow strip of the quartz is attached just at the edge of the counter to hide the edge of the plywood and make the whole counter look thicker. For standard 24â deep cabinets, the finished counter width with overhang is typically 25.5.â I donâÂÂt know what brand of quartz you plan to buy, but Caesarstone slabs are 56.5â wide, Hanstone is 55â wide, Silestone is 54âÂÂ, Cambria is 55.â (Some brands sell wider âÂÂjumboâ slabs if you have deeper counters.) Assuming a 55â wide slab, two 25.5â deep counters will use up 51â (plus a small amount of loss in the cutting process), leaving the few inches you need for the edge strips. You should need the same number of slabs whether you use 2cm or 3cm material. The thinner material will cost less, which should offset the increased labor cost for the laminated or mitered edge. I am going to try to attach pictures that show the different types of edges.