Kitchen Counter Top Material

[usctrojancpa]

So I'm going to be doing a full remodel of my kitchen (white shaker cabinets, Bosch appliances, new counter tops).  I'm not sure what kind of counter tops I should get.  I've been eyeing Quartz instead of Granite or Marble/Crushed Marble.  One of my friends told me to looking into Corian.  I'd like a low maintenance counter top that I don't have to seal and worry about staining.  Which counter tops should I look at getting? 

 

[qwerty]

http://www.msistone.com/orange-countertop-showroom-distribution/
http://www.msistone.com/quartz-collections/

Definetley Quartz. You won't have to worry about anything. Just install and never look back. Go here. Large selection of quartz slabs. Although they only sell to contractors. But you can't see to get a good feel of what the slab will look like on your island.  A lot of places will only have 4 inch x 4 inch samples which is hard to visualize how a slab will look. We got Arctic  White prefab countertops here for our master bath.

The pacific salt looks nice, seems to have a good amount of darkness to offset the white cabinets.

 

[jumpinjacks]

I myself used quartz, which is engineered aka crushed up then made into a slab vs granite or quartzite which is 1 piece of stone. There is no maintenance for quartz, no sealing or anything like that, just wipe it. Granite takes a little more care, we've had to seal the granite vanity in the bathroom once or twice so far.

Quartz does seem a little more modern if you're into that transitional style. great thing about shaker style cabinets is they are pretty versatile. Corian seems ok, but with stone, they can laminate the edge to make it look thicker, I don't think you can do that with Corian. I attached a few photos of our kitchen mid remodel then once all is done, sorry the quality of the pics are kinda crappy. In hindsight, I didn't do much research, but I would have heavily considered quartz that looks like marble (look w/o the baby-ing of natural marble).

Here's also a good guide to bullnose, which can really dictate the look. http://www.cambriausa.com/designs/Edge-Profiles/

 

[jumpinjacks]

Sorry my pics are too large to post, PM me if you like to see more. I got white shaker cabinets too.

 

[jumpinjacks]

With appliances and bin pulls/knobs, island off to the left. Ignore the white blotch, tried to erase my junk on the island.

Sorry, new to the picture format here. You can delete the post right above this, I have no idea how to delete it.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Thanks guys, Quartz it is.  Now the color....my paint is a neutral/contemporary light grey with a touch of silver.  I think I should probably get a color that compliments the paint.  Jumpinjacks, check your PM.

 

[usctrojancpa]

http://www.msistone.com/orange-countertop-showroom-distribution/
http://www.msistone.com/quartz-collections/

Definetley Quartz. You won't have to worry about anything. Just install and never look back. Go here. Large selection of quartz slabs. Although they only sell to contractors. But you can't see to get a good feel of what the slab will look like on your island.  A lot of places will only have 4 inch x 4 inch samples which is hard to visualize how a slab will look. We got Arctic  White prefab countertops here for our master bath.

The pacific salt looks nice, seems to have a good amount of darkness to offset the white cabinets.

I do have a contractor (he's remodeling one of my rental properties) so he can go there and buy there.  Thanks Qwerty.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Kitchen is finally done.  ;D  White Shaker cabinets w/soft close hinges, medium grey Quartz counter top, slate mosaic back splash, and bosch appliances.  Leveling out that breakfast bar area to make it one big attached island counter space opened up the kitchen even more.  Also got rid of the range and replaced it with the cooktop and built-in oven along with the moving the microwave into the pantry cabinet to the right so that I could install a nice hood vent.  I'm very happy with the results.

 

[aquabliss]

Nice!  It even has a heavenly aura to it.

This is my favorite color combo.  Dark floors, white cabinets, grey counters.

 

[madhandles]

Looks good!  Any before pictures?  Just curious, did you replace the whole cabinet or just the doors?

Kitchen is finally done.  ;D  White Shaker cabinets w/soft close hinges, medium grey Quartz counter top, slate mosaic back splash, and bosch appliances.  Leveling out that breakfast bar area to make it one big attached island counter space opened up the kitchen even more.  Also got rid of the range and replaced it with the cooktop and built-in oven along with the moving the microwave into the pantry cabinet to the right so that I could install a nice hood vent.  I'm very happy with the results.

 

[eyephone]

ScTrojan doesn't do rehab style.

Just curious, did you replace the whole cabinet or just the doors?

Kitchen is finally done.  ;D  White Shaker cabinets w/soft close hinges, medium grey Quartz counter top, slate mosaic back splash, and bosch appliances.  Leveling out that breakfast bar area to make it one big attached island counter space opened up the kitchen even more.  Also got rid of the range and replaced it with the cooktop and built-in oven along with the moving the microwave into the pantry cabinet to the right so that I could install a nice hood vent.  I'm very happy with the results.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Looks good!  Any before pictures?  Just curious, did you replace the whole cabinet or just the doors?

Kitchen is finally done.  ;D  White Shaker cabinets w/soft close hinges, medium grey Quartz counter top, slate mosaic back splash, and bosch appliances.  Leveling out that breakfast bar area to make it one big attached island counter space opened up the kitchen even more.  Also got rid of the range and replaced it with the cooktop and built-in oven along with the moving the microwave into the pantry cabinet to the right so that I could install a nice hood vent.  I'm very happy with the results.

Here's the before picture of the kitchen before the wood flooring got installed.  The cabinets were full replacements (full wood) which I got from Builders Surplus (see how they are taller on the wall).

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[usctrojancpa]

Nice!  It even has a heavenly aura to it.

This is my favorite color combo.  Dark floors, white cabinets, grey counters.

Haha  I should have turned off the dining room light (guess I don't have a future in photography) as it caused some glare.  Here's a better picture of the cabinets, counters, back splash, and wall color.



One problem that I ran into was that the old cabinet bottom came out 4-5 inches further from the wall than the new cabinets so I had to remove the wood flooring from the kitchen area and replaced it with wood look ceramic tile.  Turned out pretty nice.

 

[Perspective]

Nice. Our kitchen is very similar with white shaker cabinets (maple so that they can be painted later, if desired), light sparkly gray quartz counter (looks like there's broken glass in it), and medium brown hardwood floors. I like the euro pulls, but we went with dark gray metal knobs and pulls.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Nice. Our kitchen is very similar with white shaker cabinets (maple so that they can be painted later, if desired), light sparkly gray quartz counter (looks like there's broken glass in it), and medium brown hardwood floors. I like the euro pulls, but we went with dark gray metal knobs and pulls.

Thanks.  I saw the cabinet pulls at one of the model homes and took a pictures.  Found them at Home Depot...I got the 4" ones for the kitchen cabinets and 3" ones for the bathroom cabinets.  They are full stainless steel and not cheap...$5 and change each for the 4" ones and $4 and change each for the 3" ones.

 

[lnc]

Wow, nice! 

That's big difference between before and after. Good job man. 

 

[Perspective]

Just closed escrow. So here's a pic of our very similar kitchen. The counters are quartz that look like there are tiny pieces of broken glass in it. Glass tile splash. Gun metal gray knobs/pulls.

 

[Irvine Dream]

Just closed escrow. So here's a pic of our very similar kitchen. The counters are quartz that look like there are tiny pieces of broken glass in it. Glass tile splash. Gun metal gray knobs/pulls.

Congrats.  Kitchen looks very nice.  I really like 3 things in there:

1) cabinets all the way to the ceiling.  Good touch with the glass.
2) Stand alone Refrig that looks like a built in.  Good design by IP.
3) Can see nice big tree through the Kitchen window.

 

[aquabliss]

Congrats Perspective, looks great.  I really like your sink but my favorite part is that you put your wood floor (which looks awesome by the way) throughout your great room.  I did this in my previous home and everybody told me to split with tile in the wet area but it looks way better to have it cohesive throughout the downstairs.

 

[Perspective]

We upgraded to paint-grade maple cabinets (mdf center inserts) throughout the house. This will allow us to have the cabinets in any area painted in the future.

Not visible in the pic is a beverage center on the other side of the island, with two cool zones: one on the bottom with two wine racks, and a larger zone above for beer (maybe other beverages too?).