Check out our guide on choosing the right kitchen worktops for your kitchen!
Your kitchen is the heart and soul of your home. It’s where you socialise, spend time preparing food and entertaining family and friends. The worktop is one of the most important features when it comes to building and designing the look and feel of your new kitchen so it’s important to ensure the right decision is made.Having chosen a kitchen, the worktop will be the focal point and will be the biggest talking point in any kitchen.
Laminate Worktops
You will sometimes see laminate worktops spoken about in a low budget, cost effective kitchen, but if you get the style and design right, then your kitchen will look incredible. They are a cheaper alternative to Stone, but still very striking and can make your Kitchen look stunning. There are so many design options to choose from, you will be spoilt for choice!
Laminate worktops are hardwearing and low maintenance, however, they must be treated with care as sometimes they can be damaged by water ingress, because they have a chipboard substrate. We would also recommend Hot pans are never put directly onto the surface, as this will damage the worktop. Always use protectors.
If you’re looking for natural look and feel to your kitchen, maybe you want something more traditional. A wooden worktop will provide you with a gorgeous rustic feel to your home.
Wooden worktops are popular, as they give a real homely feel to your kitchen – something that the more modern kitchen styles and designs can lack. With age, wood changes colour very subtly. You can apply different oils to change the colour yourself which can work wonders if your wooden worktop needs that little boost.
Wooden worktops are slightly higher maintenance. To keep them looking as new,it is recommended to oil them regularly, around every 6 months, for the life of the worktop.
The oil actually works in so many ways, it will keep your worktops water resistant, hygienic and it’s also a great way to stop stains or watermarks forming. But remember, never leave any standing liquids on your worktop. If they are not sealed on a regular basis, they can become porous.
When you buy your wooden worktop, check with the supplier or fabricator which type of oil is needed as this will depend on which wooden worktop you choose.
Granite Worktops
Granite is natural stone. It’s very tough and hardwearing. Its own unique patterns are what makes it so different. No two pieces are ever the same!
The unrivalled finish to a graniteworktop is what makes it slightly more expensive in the current market. They have extremely high heat resistance being a natural stone, however, we would always recommend using some form of protection. They are also very highly scratch resistant.
Always check which detergents are best to use to clean your granite worktop, but we would recommend a damp cloth and a very mild detergent. The watch outs are citrus and acidic foods and liquids which may be solvent based.
As they usually come sealed when installed, it is recommended they are resealed every year as this is a porous material.
Quartz Worktops
Quartz is an engineered stone worktop. These are a very popular choice as there are many designs to suit all tastes and budgets. They are produced in batches, which means you can get more than one piece of the same material.
Highly durable, non-porous and scratch resistant make this one of the worktops of choice for any Kitchen.
As they are not natural stone and mixed with a resin, you could not use any harsh chemicals on the surface to clean them. Warm water with a mild detergent will be ideal to clean.
Again, with most worktops, hot pans would not be recommended to be put straight on to the surface as this may damage them. We would recommend some form of pan protector.
Why not search where your local kitchen company is here.
Ceramic Worktops
If you want huge range and stain resistant worktop, then ceramic is a good choice. Scratch resistant and easy to clean makes porcelain the worktop of choice.
Porcelain, however, are susceptible to chips and breaks more so than others. This is also one of the more expensive worktops on the market.
There are so many other worktop types, but we have just highlighted the main ones above. Your dream worktop will come down to your budget and style, and either way, we’re sure your kitchen will be the envy of others.