Which worktop for kitchen island?

[Coffeecake01]

I thought it would be a simple and straightforward operation adding a kitchen island to my kitchen. Little did I know.
The island is now sorted but I am completely unsure about which worktop to choose. Laminate, wood, Quartz, solid laminate, solid surface, ceramic?
Any feedback on your own worktops would be amazing!!

What worktops have you got in the rest of your kitchen? And what other finishes such as door fronts, flooring etc. It all needs to work together.

My existing kitchen is basically an off white shaker kitchen with wood effect laminate worktops (already there when moved in) which, actually are super strong and don’t look that bad for wood effect laminate. The kitchen island itself will have off white cabinets same as existing ones.

I wanted to go for a pale green Island with white marble effect Quartz worktop but I’m not brave enough about the green (worried about hating it after a while, even though it’s a nice green.).

I’d prefer if the kitchen worktops and the island worktop didn’t match though. As I’m not crazy about existing worktop

Flooring are white/ marble effect tiles

You can't replace the other worktops so everything is the same?

If you’re keeping the other laminate work tops then I would go for white quartz. Don’t try to match different woods or wood effects as it would look terrible. I’d go for the green! It will look great!

Think about how big the island is - we went for corian because they can manufacture it in one piece, if we had gone for e.g. quartz there would have been a join line

The issue here is if you go for a good one, Ie Stone it’s going to make your existing work tops look a bit shit by comparison. You’ll forever be comparing.

I’d do the whole lot of worktops, you can still mix and match but I’d get them all the same material ie if going for stone get them all stone, even if different colours,

We're doing the island in Silestone, which I think is like quartz but they do marble-ish pale colours. Doing the sides to match too! Which is called "waterfall" - something like this: i.pinimg.com/originals/fa/e2/05/fae205774c02557d4806deb63be9b14d.jpg

And then I've got solid oak on the L-shaped worktop, was nervous of staining but one of our mates did theirs 2 years ago sealed with Osmo oil and swears it's made it completely stain-proof! fingers crossed...

The sink is on the island though so I don't have to worry about water/damp spots, just food splashes from the cooker and I feel hopeful I can keep on top of those!

FWIW I probably would replace your laminate if you're spending £££ on the island worktop - I think even good laminate suffers from a close comparison and risks cheapening your end result.

Good luck :)

Ha ha bluntness! Your post made me laugh! Yes that’s a good point but I don’t want to spend money on the other worktops. Besides I actually love the fact that they are indestructible. They don’t look that bad.
Does anyone have solid wood? Love the look but is it a nightmare?
vinoelle shall I post a picture of the green I mean? It’s from IKEA.
It would make a lovely contrast but I’m so worried about being bored of the colour.

woolymamouth wow, wow, wow. Love it! It’s beautiful.

The only reason I need an island is mainly for extra storage and extra worktop. I’ve got quite a big kitchen but hardly any worktops for food prep. And not much storage either.

Current worktop

In a strange way I actually love them. I think it’s because they’re so tough and good quality.

@Coffeecake01 never be afraid to trust your instincts then, lovely! It's your house after all and we're just a bunch of over-opinionated mumsnet randoms, when all's said and done :)

It does look in the photo and I can see the appeal of an easy life! When I'm doing my yearly Osmo on the real wood I'll imagine your laminate and sigh ruefully, I'm sure.

Find a local Silestone dealer and get a quote for the waterfall sides too - they don't add much, especially to a larger island, and I think they give a real wow factor that's quite special.

Making decisions is not my strong point. I’m so bloody fussy. Over opinionated Mumsnet randoms is exactly what I need! DH happy to go with whatever.
woollymamouth do you already have your oak worktop? I was wondering how you were getting on with them.

Yes I love the waterfall sides. Very very in style at the mo. Clean and neat look.

We've just had solid oak worktops, oiled them twice with osmo and so far so good. But obviously it's new so I'm hot on wiping up any spills etc. tbh though I'm pretty sure I'll come to regret them ! At the moment it's all nice and new but probably won't be thinking that in a years time

I thought the usual thinking is that wood is a No no near the sink and draining board, but fine on the island, especially if you are using a chopping board and there is no sink on it.

I have had probably every type of worktop known to man. Wood, corian, marble, laminate, you name it.

My favourite without doubt is polished concrete. Completely indestructible and looks better as it ages and weathers, so you don’t have to stress about staining it.

I’m doing that always from now on.

Oh interesting @CatherinedeBourgh! I've stayed in a house with "weathered" polished concrete and was just never sure I was getting it clean enough... Bit like wood in that respect?

How does the cost compare? Do you have to get someone clever to custom pour it? Be really interested to know how you go about sourcing it and getting a quote.

I agree marble is a nightmare in a kitchen! Did you ever have Silestone/quartz?

Useful catherinedebourgh. Yes it would be valuable to hear your take on Quartz (and Corian actually).
Just received a beautiful solid walnut wood sample from Worktop express. It looks really tough actually and really good quality.

However now I’m leaning more towards grey/green cabinets and white/marble colour quartz or light Corian.

Like this

Corian was nice, smooth and seamless which made it easy to clean. We had the integrated sink and it cracked, which was probably due to putting hot pans in, but they came and replaced it no problem. Still, made me more tentative about using it subsequently. I am slightly chaotic in the kitchen, and hate having to be careful about what I do.

Quartz I didn't have for long (rental property). Seemed fine to me, but when I subsequently looked for my next house didn’t find anything I liked the look of. I was also a bit concerned about reports that it didn’t take well to direct sunlight, as I now live in a very sunny place. Don’t know how much of an issue this actually is in practice. Sorry, not much to add on that.

In terms of sourcing it I’m afraid I can’t help either as am not in the UK. We’ve actually done one ourselves for an outdoor kitchen which is fun but very messy.

Well, when I say we I mean I did all the fun messing around with concrete colours and dh did the hours of grinding and polishing. Not sure he would be with me in the fun bit...

Forgot to say, a really good thing abour corian is you can sand off scratches, which is great.

In terms of cost, it is pretty much only the labour cost on concrete, so it would very much depend on the local labour cost.

In London I suspect it might work out fairly steep...

We used an online company from Manchester for white quartz....we don't live near there but they come and fit uk wide. Way cheaper than high street places. Is amazing. We have the other way around, wood island and quartz where the sink is. And we have green shaker kitchen. Its amazing, just finished it and we love it. Do it!