Oh please help me with my worktop again

[PersisFord]

I’m useless. I have ordered a matt white handleless kitchen from DIY kitchens and was so relieved to have made that choice...but now I am TOTALLY STUCK for worktops and floors and everything. I have just about got the budget for quartz worktops and was thinking of a pale grey concrete look....but the kitchen is north facing and I’m worried it will suck in all the light like some kind of Dementor. But the sparkly ones are all so....sparkly. And the non-sparkly grey ones look like the skanky laminate I have just merrily waved off in the skip. And I have lived in about a million rental properties and the mid-greys all look like the standard worktop put into a BTL property. And I painted this whole house grey when we moved in and have FINALLY got rid of it so I have a bit of anxiety about grey again.

I wish I had gone for coloured units so I could have a white worktop....but I didn’t.

I want to love my worktop. Other people love theirs. I have spent MANY HOURS in showrooms looking at near-identical squares of quartz. Pinterest is failing me. Please help!!

Another try!

Stainless steel scratches and marks so easily, which is fine in an industrial kitchen but not yours. I too would go for wood in this north facing kitchen.

Pinterest is your friend for research....

www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/530721137310766665/?lp=true

Apologies for the slighty random order, but I'm sure you get the gist!

VERY pretty Jemma!

I know what you mean about the wood, but I have lived with wood worktops before and I know in my heart that I will not do the requisite oiling and they will feel sticky and waxy and unpleasant. I have feral small children and was hoping with a quartz worktop and tiled floor that I could just sluice the whole thing down at the end of the day and shut the door on it. I hated my old tiled floor....but when I dropped a massive bottle of fish sauce on it and it went everywhere I was very grateful to be able to irrigate it thoroughly and not worry about it getting too wet. In my head, quartz will be similar.

I’ll try and post some photos from Pinterest of things I like....

The pictures are pretty bad but I just love the space I have, especially with the children. The quartz counter always seems to look clean even when it isn't and we went for laminate just because I am so damn clumsy, I'd be clearing up glass every day if I had tiles (we had tiles in there before the refurb)

We have something called Zenith on our breakfast bar, it's basically a solid laminate. Its very strong and has similar properties to quartz (which we also have in another part of the kitchen). Is a thinner profile that most worktops so it looks smart and modern, or at least I think it does!

Yes please Persis - please post any that you find, I am desperate for some inspiration! I am planning on having wooden floors so I wasn't really going to have wooden worktops plus like you I have young children and think that quartz is the way to go - it's just trying to find the right shade/supplier - anyone (along the lines of the grey theme)? Sorry, if I've hijacked your post Persis but this feels like a big decision and a costly one to get wrong.

Hijack away daphne, we are all in this together!

This is my favourite....

And this

We have white gloss units and a bright white quartz worktop which is complemented with a bright red glass wall and light oak amtico flooring. It's beautiful and I think that everytime I walk in.

WRT supplier, the last salesperson I spoke to said that the ones manufactured in Asia are, in his opinion, not as good quality. He also said no point paying for caesarstone/Silestone unless it’s for a specific colour as the other brands (arenastone, unistone, some others) are just as good

CLB that sounds amazing! A red glass wall?!?

Kitchen company made a mistake fitting the kitchen and this was their fix - wish I'd have thought of it first!

Wow!!

this is a useful little toy....

White on white looks okay actually

I’m now feeling a bit put off wood OP

Now thinking maybe a slightly off white or light grey / beige worktop

I do love the look of wood though!

It looks better in the natural light really shines, even though it's north facing

My kitchen is north facing too 🤔

Well I will say once more and only once - I have had in various houses , wood , granite , corian and stainless steel ( first time I had the very polished SS one - wouldn't do that again the more brushed one now ) and now for me stainless steel every time - or at least for where you can want to put a hot pan down or needs to take a bit of heavy duty work.

I went through the whole butler's sink with wooden & Granite work tops thing - looked fabulous but a beggar to keep up really harder work to clean and keep nice ) Corian - don't even mention it to me - see below ) Now have SS worktop with integrated ( i.e. moulded into it SS sink ) & SS on island as well.

Corian just makes me shudder. I know I know people swear by it & you can have it sanded and filled if an accident but too scary for me. I had a ( in a bigger kitchen ) A corian worktop but I had a SS sink at the time. Constantly monitoring where people put hot pans ( others will have less feral family than mine ) Friend of mind had a moulded corian sink and she said "never again" - too hard to keep clean.

I should say that my kitchen is v small compared to many shown above , but the slightly brushed SS looks really nice and v practical. So because my kitchen is small , I can put a pan down pretty much on any surface & fine. ( one v small run with sink in it , small island with hob etc ) Once cleaned it looks nice I think.

Well I think I have made my point Mine is with dark wood lower units and a few white overhead units.

Well whichever PersisFord - I wish you well - I like lots of kitchens - trouble is I can only have one at once

I am with you on the SS - it’s beautiful and practical and I love it. But it is a very definite look....and I can’t get it past the management. I will DEFINITELY have a stainless steel sink though, butlers sinks give me the heebie jeebies.

Look at these stainless steel worktops!

We have oak. Been in 5 years. Still looks Fab even round the sink and maintenance free.

We bought it unsealed and had it varnished with a clear Matt varnish called sadolin pv 67 which is used for bar tops so food grade.

It looks as lovely as the day it was put in. I don't really understand why people think wooden worktops must be oiled instead of varnished.

My rental oak worktop was varnished....and the tap leaked and water got underneath the varnish and the wood went mouldy.

White quartz no sparkly bits. Ensure the White isn’t slightly green/tinged.