New and Classic Options for Kitchen Countertops
Kitchen countertops come in dozens of materials, hundreds of styles, and thousands of color and pattern combinations. Choosing the right countertop is a pivotal decision for your home’s design and décor scheme given the significant amount of square footage occupied by kitchen countertops. Furthermore, kitchen countertops are not cheap—generally requiring substantial investment in the range of 10-15% of the total kitchen budget. With so many choices, Expressive Homes has summarized the key properties and attributes of each countertop surface to help you make the best choice for your kitchen.
Most Popular Choices
Granite
Perennially popular natural stone; beautiful and durable; versatile, classic, and luxurious. Properties of granite countertops.
Quartz
Engineered stone bursting into the countertop scene; durable and nearly maintenance free; myriad of color choices. Properties of quartz countertops.
Wood
Natural wood is beautiful, warm, and inviting; mixes well with other surface materials; great for cooks who do a lot of chopping.
Stainless Steel
Maintenance free; most sanitary surface type; impervious to heat; provides a commercial or industrial feel.
Concrete
Endless shape, color, texture, and style options; high strength and durability; industrial and modern, but can work well in a kitchen.
Glass
Visually stunning; non-porous; easy to clean; available in many colors, textures, and patterns; unique and contemporary.
Solid Surface
Seamless construction, including integration with sinks; can be made to mimic natural stone; many colors choices and patterns available.
Laminate
New technology and style options are driving a fresh look at laminate surfaces; economical; enormous variety.
Porcelain
Made from natural clay, glazed, then fired at high temperatures; much harder than granite; gaining popularity; available in slabs
More Stone Choices
Lavastone
One of the hottest, newest, and most exclusive materials on the market; shiny or matte finish; beautiful crackled finish.
Marble
Timeless and elegant; softer than granite and less durable; develops patina; great for pastry chefs or working with chocolate.
Quartzite
Natural stone option; very hard and durable—more so than granite; light neutral colors and beautiful veining.
Soapstone
Highly durable; dense; impervious to stains; bacteria resistant.
Travertine
Natural stone with neutral colors; high porosity makes it better suited for flooring than food safe surfaces; sealing and proper care is a must.
Limestone
Naturally beautifully; very porous and heavily dependent on regular sealing.
Slate
Not just for flooring, slate can also be used for countertops; lower maintenance and higher affordability compared to other natural stone.
Onyx
Better for backsplashes due to susceptibility to scratching; translucent and can be backlit for dramatic effect.
More Metal Choices
Copper
Develops a brown / black / green patina with time and use, great for backsplashes and accents; has antibacterial benefits, softer than steel.
Zinc
Softer and less shiny than copper and steel; has antibacterial benefits; develops a blue-gray patina.
Bronze
An alloy of copper and tin; harder than copper; develops a brown / black patina.
Pewter
Softer than zinc; an alloy made mostly of tin with hardening agents; develops a gray or charcoal patina.
Brass
An alloy of copper and zinc; harder than copper; develops a brown / black patina.
Green and Eco-Friendly Choices
Bamboo
Highly renewable material due to extremely fast growing plants; durable.
Cork
100% sustainable as cork trees need not be cut down to be harvested; soft; naturally resistant to bacteria.
Seeta
Made from the hulls of sunflower seeds which would otherwise be thrown out as agricultural waste.
Recycled Paper
Surprisingly durable; made from post-consumer recycled paper, binding material, and natural pigment.
Recycled Glass
Eye-catching and unique, can be used with clear acrylic binder or embedded in concrete.
Alkemi
Made from post-industrial scrap waste such as flakes of aluminum as a byproduct of machining and milling processes.
Ceramic
Susceptible to cracking; better for backsplashes; less dense and less durable than porcelain; commonly used for tiles.