Stainless steel work tops and splashbacks?

[ohhifruit]

If our house buy goes through (looking like 4 weeks) we will be ripping the kitchen out straight away and replacing it PDQ as DC4 due in May.

I'm drawn to worktops which are all one colour and certainly something light and bright as the kitchen is north facing. I don't like quartz, granite etc. or anything sparkly or swirly in anyway whatsoever and I've had disasters with wood in a couple of places.

After pawing a few different worktops I think I might like stainless steel but I know zero about it apart from I'd go for a stainless steel sink over anything else any day of the week.

Is it easy to keep clean? Does it LOOK clean? Does it scratch? Any vague idea on price? Is it easy to fit?

Well if my stainless steel hob and oven are anything to go by then yes it scratches and is a bugger to keep streak free.

This is the kind of look I'm going for, although no open shelves because they would drive me mad.
www.housetohome.co.uk/house-tour/picture/step-inside-an-arty-converted-dairy-home-in-west-london/4

Oh dear Lagoonblue how long have you had it for? Does it get very smeared?

It scratches badly but overtime develops a patina. If you want something that looks perfect stainless steel isn't for you.

stainless steel will scratch easily but develops its character. It can take a lot of abuse.

cleaning is best with damp cloth and a bit of fairy for grease.

Its a great kitchen surface but ensure you get a good steel fabricator to do it. Too many bodgers about.

We had an IKEA stainless steel worktop in my work kitchen. I loved it - it really suited the office space (arty). I thought it was really practical and I wanted the same for our house but DH prefers something else.

It did develop a patina of course but it always felt really clean and easy to maintain.

Thanks for your replies.
I had always imagined I want a country kitchen but I'm being swayed by high gloss modern look and I thought stainless steel would be a funky way to add a bit of personality and if it develops a patina it would work well with out mid century style elsewhere in the house.

I just redid our kitchen and was keen on stainless steel tops and the sort of look you are after OP.
I didn't as it was going to cost thousands and I worried it would date.
However, didn't want a fancy worktop as feel that is foolish with an MDF kitchen.
In the end went for a pale grey laminate which cost very little and looks great. I'm very please.

What colour worktops do you have moondog? What kind of tiles etc.?
I'm really struggling with what you use in a high gloss kitchen. I thought maybe light grey lower units, white top units, white matt metro tiles with grey grout and either mustard (but poss too dark) or mint green paint and accessories.
A bit like this kitchen (scroll down) www.79ideas.org/2013/01/small-home-in-grey-shades.html#.UvqM9WTV-7Z

I can't help much because I am in the same boat as you, trying to find out information - but I love the look of it! And so hygienic!

I can help with what not to do with high gloss, though. I currently have a nastily cheap high gloss white kitchen with black fake granite worktops. It was in the house when I moved in. It does not work and I hate it, the contrast is just too strong to work in such a small space (and my kitchen is tiny). I think with a very modern look it really matters that everything is fitted very well (which mine is not).

Interestingly, stainless steel is not hygienic. It looks hygienic but bacteria lives on it just fine. The ripping out of brass doorknobs/touchplates/lightswitches and replacing everything with stainless steel has been disastrous for infection control in hospitals. The NHS has just starting putting everything back!

Copper is the most bactericidal metal surface you can have. It kills MRSA in 20 minutes (lives on stainless steel for over a month).

Pale speckled gret work tops-rather like a wild bird egg I think. Metro tiles with grey grout. The units are not high gloss though. I like the pics you linked to very much but am mindful that this look might date fast. My walls are a neutral F&B and I have no other decoration bar a very big Edwardian glassed in cupboard and bifold doors looking out on a green field. I really love it.
Yes have heard that about NHS but in context of plastic as opposed to brass and copper.

I need a cheap laminate worktop - like the idea of a grey one, not too speckly or sparkly. Any recommendations?

All I know is we rented a house for a year with a free stand Ikea kitchen that had large stainless steel surfaces. Oh the time I spent cleaning the bastard area to a streak free shine otherwise it looked dreadful. Never again.

We are looking at kitchens now and I am going for a butler sink, oak work surfaces and white or cream metro tiles. The kitchen is Heritage Grey from Wickes although we will probably be buying the same through Benchmarx.

How does baby oil clean stainless steel? Does it kill bugs? Tell me about baby oil's amazing anti-bac properties!

I've got a stainless steel double sink and drainer and one day I'm gonna rip that stained up bastard out by its bollocks. Why they named it 'stainless' I'll never know