The kitchen counter is a busy space.
All of your food preparation is done here. It must be easy to clean and sanitize. It should reflect your personality by being colorful. You want to select a counter carefully and deliberately. It is a major upgrade and large expense, you need to do it right the first time.
There are any choices to make in selecting counters. Do you like a natural stone, an engineered stone, wood, tile, Solid Surface Acrylic or Laminate?
Natural stones have a depth and beauty of a polished surface that is hard to match, like granite, limestone, and soapstone. They must be kept cleaned, sealed and waxed as they are porous and will become discolored if not properly cared for.
An engineered stone comes in many beautiful colors and blends of rock and uses quartz as a filler and a resin to bind it together. They are very durable to heat, scratching and discoloration. It is easy to clean them do not require waxing.
Solid Surface Acrylics come in many different colors such as Corian or LG Hi-Macs, they are a fabricated counter. They are durable and easy to clean. You can take a fine sand paper of 400 grit or higher and lightly sand out the stain if the surface becomes discolored. They can be bonded together to make a seamless counter and the sink can be built into it.
Wood counters such as teak, maple, cherry, walnut or mahogany have a gorgeous look and feel to them but they require upkeep and care to keep them looking good. They can be scratched, burned or stained, so you must be careful and take care of them.
Tile counters are durable and can be assembled in many different colors, and sizes. They are easy to clean, but the grout between the tiles need to be sealed. This grout can become stained and is hard to keep clean. The tiles can be broken or chipped, so you must take care of them.
A concrete kitchen counter can be built in your kitchen in any shape you want. You build a form to hold the wet concrete until it dries. It is labor intensive and requires some knowledge and skill to make a quality counter. It is porous so it must be sealed and waxed to keep it from staining.
Laminate, such as Formica or Wilsonart, is durable and comes in many styles and colors. It is stain resistant, but can be burnt. It is easy to take care of and to clean.
