Counter Top Ideas For Kitchens

As so many of us know, the kitchen is considered by most professionals to be the hub of the home  for many families in Sedona and around the world. What's more, the kitchen island can serve as the pivot center integrating the kitchen to the great room and public places. Here are two very common counter top questions.

1. Counter top Shape and Use;  The home owners for this Sedona remodel need a kitchen island that has room to spread out for food prep, storage for cooking utensils and pots and pans, room for entertaining guests, and space for casual dining. A parabolic shape is used on the public side of the peninsula island to soften the transition from the living area to the open kitchen. A gracious over hang serves to allow for bar stools for family and friends. While the shape and dimensions are carefully detailed in the construction drawings, it is sometimes necessary to monitor the countertop template on the job site to get a perfect shape before the actual fabrication. Interior designers often serve the role of job site supervision or construction compliance for home owners who are not comfortable with this level of attention to detail.
2. Counter top materials:  Granite, quartz surfaces, solid surface, heat resistance, scratch resistance, stain resistance, anti-microbial properties, durability, countertop costs, countertop thickness ¦these are the issues that swim in our heads when we embark on the design of a new kitchen or the remodel of an existing kitchen. The basic difference on materials is that granite is a natural rock that was once molten, taken from the earth, cut in the slabs and polished for use, while solid surface countertops are products engineered to perform like granite but a bit better! Quartz surfaces are made of sophisticated resins with stone particles imbedded to help the performance and add beauty.Granite countertops are often chosen because they offer great beauty; they are somewhat heat resistant and somewhat scratch resistant. If you seal them properly they will resist most staining although some granite is less stain resistant, so ask questions before you select. Granite costs ranged from expensive to VERY expensive depending on the rarity of the stone and where it was found.Countertop trends have moved away from granite in recent years in favor of ideas that emphasize other elements of kitchen design.Solid surface quartz countertops on the other hand have a different kind of beauty. The have less character ┬¥ so they give more flexibility to the selection of back splashes and cabinet wood materials without competing. Interior designer will often recommend them when the cabinetry and back splashes are dominant features in the design. Quartz surfaces outperform granite when it comes to heat, scratching, staining and anti-microbe properties. The cost of quartz surface is equal to medium grade granite. Quarts countertops are available in thick versions at a similar cost to thinner granite, allowing for the thick edge ┬¥ often without the extra laminating costs associated with granite.