The best kitchen worktop

[agnesrose86]

Can you tell me what is the best kitchen worktop for busy family life? I would love something very pale or white but is this madness with 3 little boys? Also thinking about wood but worried about the up keep, stains and water damage. Would love to hear if anyone has something totally beautiful but bomb proof.

Beautiful kitchen Marmite. With apologies to OP for hijacking, can I ask if that is a drawer fridge you have. Have been looking at the Hotpoint one but it's a bit unusual so I'm looking for feedback.

No problem Maudie, I am always doing that :-).
Out of interest, would you recommend getting silestone from anywhere in particular? Is it generally more expensive to get it from the same place as units? I really want a Harvey Jones kitchen but know it's going to be pricey. Depending on the cost of the structural work I need to do I might have to go for ikea or local joiner for units.

I have Corion. It is expensive but 5 years later it's still fab. You can put things straight from the hob or oven onto it. It can also be shaped and grooved. Mine has been shaped as a drainage area for the sink and a breakfast bar. The only thing that stains it is turmeric but bleach deals with that. Don't ask how much it cost I don't remember.

Thank you Maudie. It's not a drawer fridge - not sure what one of those is?! We have a side-by-side American fridge.

Thanks for your reply, wish I had room for one of those. But back to the thread, still dithering over the worktop but have definitely decided against wood.

The man-made stones are pretty much bomb proof as they take all the positive aspects of natural stone (looks, strength etc) and then adds in engineering to make it completely scratch resistant and virtually impossible to stain (you'd have to really go out of your way to make sure it gets stained) and the upkeep is minimal.

Wood looks wonderful but a busy lifestyle ends up with polishing being put off every week for 2 years.

Laminates are great too and they are considerably cheaper than any stone option but as always if you've got that little extra to spend then the aesthetics of stone trumps laminates.

Throwing a spanner in the works here with choices - glass and polished concrete are other options too but far fewer suppliers out there and a little more expensive.