The kitchen counter is a busy space.
You prepare all of your food here. You want it to be easily cleaned and sanitized. It should be colorful and reflect your personality. The selection of your counter should be done carefully and deliberately. It is a major upgrade and expense, so you must do it right the first time.
What kind of counter do you want to select for your kitchen. Do you want a natural or an engineered stone. A wood surface, tile, Solid Surface Acrylic or Laminate counter?
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 Acrylic such as Corian or LG Hi-Macs is a fabricated counter that comes in many different colors. It is durable and easy to clean, if the surface becomes discolored, it is easy to take a fine sand paper of 400 grit or higher and lightly sand out the stain. It can also be bonded together at the seams so that it looks and feels like one continuous counter. Even the sink can be built in with out any seams. It makes a lovely counter.
Wood counters have a gorgeous look and feel to them such as teak, maple, cherry, walnut or mahogany but they require upkeep and care. You must take care of them as they can be scratched, burned or stained.
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.
You can build a concrete counter in your kitchen in any shape you want. A form is built to hold the wet concrete until it solidifies. It requires a lot of skilled labor to make a quality counter. The concrete is porous and can stain easily so it must be sealed and waxed.
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.
