Your choice of a kitchen countertop depends on more than your color and texture preferences. Your kitchen lifestyle and budget are key factors too. A hardworking countertop is ideal if you do a lot of cooking. If entertaining is more your style and many of your meals are catered, a beautiful presentation surface may be best. Paul Currie, editor of Cowles Creative Publishing's Kitchen Planner, outlines the options, from the least expensive to the most costly. Laminate countertops, the least expensive choice, are available in a huge variety of choices -- not only solid colors and patterns but also many shades and textures (figure A), some that even look like wood. They're relatively durable, but you shouldn't set hot pans directly on them or cut on them -- always use a cutting board. Sheets of laminate are glued onto a particleboard subsurface, and home centers will prepare countertops to your measurements, making installation a do-it-yourself job. Tile comes in many colors, textures and sizes (figure B). Prices range from relatively inexpensive for sections of small tiles on a mesh backing to high-priced hand-painted tile (figure C). More expensive pieces, such as border accents and handmade tiles, can be made affordable when used as accents placed in a field of less expensive one-color tile. Tile is quite durable but is hard on knives and not designed as a cutting surface. Small tiles, with a lot of grout area, are best for a presentation area; in a work area, cleanup would be a chore. Butcher-block countertops are a common favorite (figure D). Available in a choice of thicknesses, they can be installed by the average homeowner and refinished by sanding when the surface becomes nicked and scratched. Cost depends on the thickness and type of wood, but butcher block is not an inexpensive countertop choice. Solid surfacing is much thicker than laminate, and the color goes all the way through (figure E), making it a good choice for layering different-colored sheets to create a colored edge band. Very durable (some say practically indestructible), these countertops could outlive your house. A solid-surface countertop can be used as a cutting surface but is tough on knife blades. If scratches do appear, simply sand them smooth. Installation of solid-surface countertops is not a do-it-yourself job: leave this one to the professionals. Bakers have always loved natural stone for rolling out dough. A popular option today, granite and marble countertops are often chosen for their beauty and are widely used for presentation. When stone is used as a work surface, it's necessary to use a cutting board for chopping. Natural stone countertops are available in a wide variety of choices (figure F) and are expensive but worth it, if your budget permits. Nothing can replicate the look of stone. Once used only in commercial kitchens, industrial-looking stainless-steel countertops are now popular in homes (figure G). Although stainless steel is very expensive, it is both beautiful and durable.
RESOURCES :
Kitchen Planner
Author: Better Homes and Gardens
Order this title from Amazon.com.
Kitchen: Decorating Ideas & Projects
ISBN: 0696211149
Author: Linda Hallam (ed.)
Order this title from Amazon.com.
The New Kitchen Idea Book
Author: Joanne Kellar Bouknight (Taunton)
Order this title from Amazon.com.
The Taunton Press Inc.
Website: www.taunton.com
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