Choose The Right Worktop For Your Kitchen With My Worktop Comparison Guide
Mandy Moore’s home designed by Sarah Sherman Samuel. Photography by Trevor Tondro.
I’ll confidently chat away about paints, primers and filler. Interior trends I’m always up to date with and I can reel off places to buy great side tables. Yet, when a client asked me to advise her on what would be the best worktop for her new kitchen, I will hold my hands up to the fact that I was pretty stumped to give her an answer there and then. There is such an array of material choices and things to consider, getting your head around it all can feel like a total minefield. For example, what can be considered top, middle and low price for a kitchen worktop? Do all worktops require maintenance? Is an accompanying upstand always an option? Just what is Silestone anyway?
Trying to do some basic research on the positives and negatives of worktop materials on the internet just wasn’t cutting it. There is a lot of ‘selling’ and not much advice on why a particular worktop may not suit certain purchasers’ needs. Real marble may look stunning and would be perfectly suited to the busy person who eats out most of the week, but it might not suit the enthusiastic cook as oils and spices stain the porous surface.
Let’s also not forget that a worktop can be a huge investment that can add value to your home; making the wrong choice for the way you live might have huge consequences. With all this in mind, what I thought would be helpful would be to have a list of the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ to each material as a reference point; a comparison guide for each worktop and its level of suitability for your home. I did a ton of research and created the guide below:
To create this comparison list I watched a lot of Instagram stories and YouTube videos by kitchen suppliers and worktop manufacturers, but one of the best things that I did was to ask my Instagram followers if they had recently renovated or installed a new kitchen/worktop and ask for feedback. I wanted to know if what they purchased was worth the money, if they felt they made the wrong (or right) choice, and list any problems they encountered. Hundreds of people very kindly sent me messages and what was so interesting from the feedback is that most suffered the same issues with each worktop material. By far the most people happy with their worktop choice chose quartz or granite; the least happy and those who felt they had made the wrong decision chose hardwood.
Hardwood
Image credit: deVOL Kitchens
A hardwood worktop is made from strong, solid wood such as oak or iroko and it is particularly at home in a country kitchen paired with shaker style doors. Compared to stone and man-made worktops options, it is a relatively inexpensive option that looks warm and inviting, as well as being a timeless natural material. However, the level of care and maintenance it needs is probably just too much for some as it involves constant and consistent sanding and oiling to protect it (we are talking a good few times a year). It especially suffers when it comes into contact with water, so it is advisable not to install it around the sink area. All this sanding and oiling should be taken into consideration with your budget - if you do not have the time to keep doing this yourself, paying someone to do this for you will really add up.
Other considerations are if you are someone who likes to give your worktop a good bleach: hardwood cannot take such abrasive cleaning methods. Also, if you are a bit clumsy and put down a hot pan while distracted you’ll end up with a nice big burn ring! Yet, if you had your heart set on hardwood, it’s not all bad news! If your worktop does get damaged then a really good sand down will bring it back to life, and if you decide to change up the colour of your units you can always re-stain your worktops to match. I was also informed that if you pay a bit more money there is also the option to get your worktop pre-soaked (saving yourself a lot of time and effort).
Minerva
Photo Credit: Swoonworthy
The huge pull with a Minerva worktop is that it looks like real stone (especially marble), yet, unlike marble, it comes under the ‘mid’ price range (rather than ‘super high’). Minerva is of medium to high resilience against damage and is quite widely available (you can buy it from DIY stores such as Homebase). What I would recommend is that if you are interested in Minerva, hop on over to Swoonworthy’s blog as she wrote some amazing posts on why she chose and installed Minerva worktops, plus another on how they are holding up one year on.
Marble
Image Credit: Rue Magazine
Marble - the material of ultimate luxury. As a natural stone, no two slabs are exactly the same. A marble worktop in a kitchen looks absolutely beautiful, yet it is eye-watering expensive and is known to stain quite badly. Spices, curry sauce and red wine will all leave instant marks that cannot be removed, so you need to weigh up how important the look and cost is in relation to how much use your kitchen gets.
Granite
Image Credit: Raspberry Flavoured Windows
Granite was one of the materials that most people told me they were really happy with. This natural stone can really take a beating and Rach who blogs at Raspberry Flavoured Windows told me she had happily owned hers for 18 years: “Plonk a hot pan on it, make pastry on it, it’s brilliant. It doesn’t stain and all in all it has more than paid for itself”, says Rach.
Granite does need treating on occasion (yearly is advised), with the only complaint being that it left a lot of finger marks and smears (I have black granite in my own kitchen and find that Method daily granite cleaner works a treat).
Quartz
Image Credit: Caesarstone
Quartz was another worktop material that people were really happy with. The durability factor played a key part, as well as being a man-made material which allowed it to be cut more intricately to fit around difficult spaces (such as bay windows).
This Silestone worktop belongs to @pink_at_twentyone and won the ‘Best Kitchen Transformation Award 2018’ by Real Homes magazine. Photo credit: Kasia Fiszer.
Dekton
Image credit: www.dekton.co.uk
If you want something completely robust to everything: non-combustible, fire and ice proof, as well as completely scratch and stain proof (the key word here is ‘proof’ rather than ‘resistant’), then you should be looking into Dekton. In fact, the only time I have seen it installed in real life is in a cookery school! It is five times stronger than granite (even though it can come as thin as 8mm) and can also be installed as one full piece with no cuts or joins. As good as this sounds, it’s never going to be perfect; I was told that edges can often chip if heavy objects are dropped on it, while it’s also known to crack (this doesn’t surprise me as I ordered two Dekton samples in the post and they both arrived in pieces). Yet, I’m sure if it is installed by a professional (you can’t DIY Dekton), then you’d only encounter this if you were really unlucky. As such an industrial material it might perhaps be too harsh for some for a family home, but check out the Entzo and Aura collections for a softer, marble-like look.
Corian
Photo Credit: Sapphire Spaces
What Corian has over other materials is the ability to be moulded to create a sink and upstand with no joins for a seamless, polished look. However, you get what you pay for, and this makes Corian at the top end of the price spectrum (although it will add value to your home). A form of plastic rather than stone, it is easy to clean, but it is not as durable as Granite or Quartz to scratches (it’s also worth mentioning that it’s not heat-proof and can dent if you drop something heavy on it). A Corian worktop owner told me via Instagram that what she loves about it is the lack of the ‘ting’ sound when you place glassware on the surface (which is what you get with stone). If you like to host friends around your kitchen island or can be aggravated by certain noises, then this is something worth considering.
Cement
Photo credit: Matthew Williams for Remodelista
Hands up if you thought having a cement worktop would be a cheap option? Me too! In fact, far from it, it is really expensive! I literally thought you had basic cement mixed and poured into a template in your kitchen - but that is a myth. Concrete counters are precast elsewhere by hand to your specification; because of this, you get a lot more choice with your colour and edge shapes, but you pay for having so many options and it being bespoke. Concrete has to be sealed to protect it, but once it’s in it’s pretty robust (although expect hairline cracks - concrete is not for the perfectionist). If you like the urban look of concrete but want something less rough and ready, Caesarstone sells 9 urban/concrete-inspired finishes that look just like the real thing (but with the added benefits of quartz).
Stainless steel
Image credit: Roundhouse Design
When I think of a stainless steel worktop I think of a restaurant kitchen or a canteen. I think it takes a really good kitchen design for it to work in a home (which Roundhouse Design do perfectly in the image above), but the pros are that it’s really hygienic as it is so easy to keep clean. It’s also resistant to acid and other penetrables (so if chopping boards are not your thing, then this is a great mid-price option).
Laminate
This laminate worktop comes from Howdens and belongs to Vicki who writes the blog Wheel Chic Home. Image credit: Wheel Chic Home
Laminate (as with vinyl) has improved dramatically in terms of technology and appearance. Some laminate is now so good, you’d never think it was laminate. I was pleasantly shocked and surprised when Vicki from the blog Wheel Chic Home sent me a picture of her laminate worktop (pictured above) with all its glossy, shiny loveliness. Laminate by far is the cheapest option with little maintenance required (plus you can install it yourself saving further costs) but you need to be careful with it: scorching hot pans will melt the surface, while chopping on it without a board will cause severe marks.
So, there you have it: 10 worktop materials, 10 pros and cons. I really hope it has helped you narrow down a material you might want to look into further, or provided a starting point to what might work for you in your own home. I’d love it if you could leave your review or add any comments about the worktops featured in the guide (or list any other worktop materials not mentioned!) below to contribute to the article and help other readers with their worktop decision (but no companies selling products please! You will have your comment removed.)
I’d like to thank a number of people who contacted me via Instagram and whose comments and points I used within this article: @gaylechapman, @aidenkenny, @clockingorff, @cjbrough , @helgamcsituation, @gemmamacken, @charlottekelly, @spacelikethis, @itskarenalexander, @raspberryflavouredwindows , @wheelchichome, @liznylon, @hollyd20, @pinkattwentyone @claire @samsnewpad @jillieobug, @mrsmcee74, @housfolk, @srgibbon, @skirtingboardsandchandeliers, @that.middle.place, @catherinedavis70, @interioradored @xoxbexxox, @suzeevan
