There are hundreds of different kitchen worktops on the market. Choosing which worktop to purchase is a massive decision, which will affect your budget, the design of your kitchen, the way in which you will use your kitchen and the amount of effort you are going to put in to maintaining your kitchen.
Let’s look at the different factors in more detail:
Price
Your budget is going to have a massive impact on the types of kitchen worktops you can consider. The most popular, affordable kitchen worktops are those made of laminate. Laminate worktops are available in a variety of designs, colours and patterns. The most expensive kitchen worktops are often those made of granite or those constructed from Corian. Wooden kitchen worktops and those made from stainless steel or glass fall somewhere in between.
Design
If you are designing your kitchen from scratch you will be able to choose from all of the kitchen worktops available – you will be able to choose your worktop in conjunction with the rest of your kitchen. However, if you are adding a worktop to existing units, your choice of worktop will be heavily influenced by the design choices that have already been made in your kitchen. For example, ultra-modern, expensive kitchen units will probably not look great if topped by a low-grade laminate work surface. Choices of worktops must be in keeping with the other elements of a kitchen.
How You Use Your Kitchen
Your choice of kitchen worktops can influence how the layout of your kitchen will work. For example, if you choose to go with laminate worktops you will be unable to place hot dishes directly onto the surface, as it will melt. If you go for glass worktops, you will have to be careful when placing heavy items because of the risk of chipping.
Maintenance of Your Kitchen Worktops
You choice of worktops will also affect the amount of time and effort you must spend to maintain it. Laminate worktops can be maintained really easily, whereas some of the wooden worktops require regular oiling. Glass worktops, which show finger marks really easily, will need to be polished.
All kitchen worktops have their own advantages and disadvantages. We will explore these in more detail in another post. The trick when choosing kitchen worktops is to balance these with your own requirements, lifestyle, personal taste and budget. It is a tricky thing to do, but it is worth making the effort. After all, the choice of kitchen worktop can make or break a kitchen design.