Uptown: The Countertop Decision

I still haven’t quite decided about the kitchen countertop. Annoying. I think I’m close though. Here are the issues.

1. I thought that I was going to just go for quartz but then I started hearing things about marks, chips, and stains.

2. So then I went back to thinking of laminate as I thought it could be a great affordable temporary option. But then, by the time you pay for installation, sink, etc., it’s not really cheap-cheap. It’s just the cheapest option but not actually really dirt cheap, you know?

Formica-countertop-colours

Formica

3. So then I went back to thinking that if I was going to spend money on the countertop, I might as well go for Carrara marble as I know what my sister/brother-in-law and my parents paid for theirs (both have larger kitchens than mine) and, in fact, the price seemed to be comparable to quartz. But when I got the quote from my Kitchener-Waterloo kitchen people, it was way higher than quartz…aka…not really in my budget.

Carrara-marble

Carrara marble

4. So here we are now, I’m rethinking quartz. Friends on Twitter were kind enough to pass along some positive views of quartz to help me out. Maybe quartz really is the wisest move for the moment. I’d go for the plainest of the plain – no sparkles, flecks, or any of that jazz. I’ve picked one out but I can’t remember its manufacturer. I should know this, right? If I go for quartz and my espresso maker leaves a mark on it, I’m going to be very annoyed. Just sayin’.

quartzCaesarstone

 

Uptown: Quartz Questions

I think I may have settled on quartz as my new kitchen countertop option. I definitely don’t want acrylic/plastic or granite. I would love carrara marble but a) I’m not sure it’s the right choice for this home and b) I don’t know any carrara marble dealers in KW. I think I will be happy with quartz. It will hold up well and it will look sleek with my existing cabinets and backsplash tiles. That said, I have yet to make a decision about what pattern to get. I have already narrowed down my options to only white varieties. And I have eliminated the fake marble and the very snowy patterns from the list. These are possible contenders:

1141-l

Caesarstone Pure White

4600-l

Caesarstone Organic White

Aurora Snow-Hanstone

Hanstone Aurora Snow

bianco-canvas-hanstone

Hanstone Bianco Canvas

Hanstone-Swan-Cotton

Hanstone Swan Cotton

Any advice? What is your countertop made of? Do you have quartz?