How To Choose The Perfect Worktop For Your Home From Gunter & Co: Part 2
More guidelines, advice and kitchen worktop ideas from London interior designer, Irene Gunter.
Everything about the choice of a kitchen worktop is important. Kitchen worktop materials can vary hugely in colour, pattern and practicality. There’s also the very obvious fact that the worktop, alongside the cabinets, is the most visible part of the kitchen. The worktop will make a dramatic visual impact every time our clients and their guests step into that area, so we always make sure that the choice of worktop is very carefully considered. In our previous blog, we discussed worktop options that age and patinate over time, today we discuss options that provide a consistent aesthetic over the years, with hardly any wear and tear over time.
Quartz worktops are very popular at the moment … Quartz is a tough, engineered stone. The worktops are made from up to 95% natural quartz which is mixed with resins, polymers and pigments to give colour and pattern. It’s scratch and stain resistant, so is a very popular choice for hard-working kitchens. I’m very particular about the style of quartz we use or suggest to our clients – we like a design with personality! There are some that look like marble, which suit our needs very well. Quartz also comes in longer lengths than some of the natural stones, so it’s a good choice for extra-long runs of worktop or for big islands. One of the advantages of quartz is that the colour runs all the way through the body of the worktop – so if there’s a sink cut-out, the colour is the same throughout the thickness of the worktop. This applies to solid marble and granite too, as well as solid surface materials such as Corian and HI-MACS by LG Hausys – the colour is constant throughout.
Another question that we often have to answer is ‘what is the difference between quartz and quartzite?’. Sometimes people think that these two materials are the same, but quartzite is different to quartz. Quartzite is a natural metamorphic rock that is mined out of the ground, slabs are cut, and then precisely cut into worktops. It’s a beautiful stone, often resembling marble and granite, but it’s ever so slightly porous, so it has to be sealed. Compared to marble, it’s far superior and our clients who have used this have not detected any stains or marks over the years. Quartzite is usually supplied with a honed (matte and very smooth) or leathered (very slightly textured and less likely to show finger-marks) finish. It’s rarely seen with a polished, glossy finish.
Sintered stone is a new-ish version of quartz, is often seen as cladding on commercial buildings and is used for large-scale projects as it can be produced in huge slabs. It’s manufactured from natural materials, and we usually specify it as a plain colour. We’ve seen a lot of it in commercial premises and it’s now becoming popular for the residential market too. It’s a discreet, elegant and simple product that adds subtle sophistication to a project. If possible, it’s even more durable and hard-wearing than quartz, pretty bulletproof according to our clients!
There are practical details to be considered, such as whether there is to be a matching upstand or will the worktop just be used for the horizontal surface. I like the continuity of an upstand, but it has to be slim and elegant! Of course, it depends upon the rest of the wallcovering, whether it’s paint, paper or tiles. For a pared-down, chic styling, a discreet upstand matching the work surface is a perfect solution. We rarely opt for a short upstand though, and usually match it to the underside of the wall-hung units for a sleek and seamless look.
The depth (as in the thickness) of the worktop has to be balanced with the overall style of the kitchen. For minimalist schemes, very slender (10-20mm) worktops look wonderful, especially when the surface protrudes beyond the cabinet. Chunky versions aren’t going to go out of style either; up to 30-40mm depth will add a solid, traditional look to a scheme. It’s also possible to add an edge/surround to a worktop to make it look thicker or more decorative than it really is. It’s a great design detail to make an island look more imposing and dramatic.
We design our own kitchen projects, working with a selection of bespoke cabinet makers who in turn have their own recommendations for stonemasons and work surface fabricators. Consequently, we are often introduced to new products or told about slabs that are available in Brazil or Portugal or Italy … And that’s when it gets interesting and the photographs start whizzing backwards and forwards! We love discovering new suppliers as well as working with our favourites and it’s always exciting to embark on a new kitchen project and start the process of finding the perfect work surface.
Some of my favourite work surfaces and some top suppliers to check out:
Quartz: Look at Caesarstone for great colours, there are also exterior versions too. We often opt for https://www.classicquartzstone.com/
Quartzite: Try https://geraldculliford.co.uk/ and https://mglw.co.uk/
Sintered Stone: Look at Dekton by Cosentino, and Neolith or https://www.lapitec.com