What kinds of counters do you have/want?

Are you happy with your kitchen counters? What do you have currently? Do you like them? Would you get them again? What do you think has the greatest resale value added to a home? Do you think granite is past its prime?

Message edited 12/1/2011 10:51:24 PM.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

Silestone. Love it. We put pots right on it, cut with no cutting board, etc. And we dont need to do any maintenance.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

The granite counters were already in the kitchen when we bought. It's one of my favorite things about my house.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

I have white laminate counters - I didn't choose them, they were there when we bought the home. A kitchen remodel is definitely in the future! They are fine for now -- they are not offensive looking, they are just "there"... I have white painted cabinets and light blue walls so it's kind of a clean look. When I remodel, I will get granite, both for function and aesthetic appeal.

As far as resale value, I think granite still adds the most -- it's still the "gold standard" with buyers. Silestone is a good alternative, but has a nice look and similar durability. I think granite is a classic look and there are so many options/colors to choose from. New construction builders and good quality flips always choose granite because it brings the most bang for the buck.

From a design perspective, I like the look of something like concrete, but I think that can be a more "trendy" look and more taste-specific than the universally appealing granite. So I wouldn't choose that if resale value was a primary concern.

For a home in a lower price category, where you don't want to overimprove/overspend for your market -- Corian is a nice affordable alternative. It is cosmetically appealing and makes a kitchen look updated.

I personally wouldn't choose marble for the entire counter top. If you are a baker, or if you have a huge kitchen, you may want to install a marble slab on an island or something. But I have marble counters in one of my bathrooms (again, it was here when I bought the home) and it is so porous and stains easily and you have to be careful with how you clean it. I don't think it would be practical for the kitchen.

Tiles are better than laminate, but can look a little dated (depending on the type and color of the tile). And a lot of buyers don't want tile as a first choice because the grout can make it difficult to clean.

Solid surface is really the way to go to maximize retail value.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

I have soapstone for my perimeter counters and quartzite (not quartz, it's a natural stone very close to granite) for my island.

Love both of them but the soapstone is super easy to take care of and really my favorite.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

Have the cheap laminate I think it is. Hate it. It's pinkish. Cabinets are golden oak so it clashes. I love my home and take great pride in it but I can't wait to update the kitchen Will be doing granite or gemstone. Love look of gemstone but dont know much about it yet. I think the kitchen is the single most important room in house and I wouldn't think twice over spending a pretty penny on it when I can.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

We are basically doing a mini face lift to our kitchen. I had new stainless steel appliances installed on Sunday. It is a smaller kitchen and yes we are looking to sell in the near future. We have beige floor tiles, solid oak cabinets with a basic flat molding around them. They are staying. We are going to put in new counters, under mount sink, faucet and a new back splash.

If you were me what would you put in? We have been quoted almost the exact same price for granite and corian with installation. The price difference is less than $100 between the two.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

I'd put in granite - I feel it appeals to more people.

But you also asked our dream countertop - mine is waxed copper. If I was uber rich and had a live-in cleaning person to make sure it stayed spic and span and do routine maintenance on it.

We're doing another little area in our kitchen and I'm totally getting the waxed copper counter top.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

It also depends on the style of your house. If it's traditional and granite is expected from buyers, go granite, if not then check out corian... save fancy materials like quartz for more modern homes and a bigger budget. Granite is actually less expensive than the better quartz materials I've seen...

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

I HAD old style solid surface. I HATED them.

We were given a gorgeous slab of granite for our Peninsula in Imperial Coffee. I absolutely LOVE it even though I'm usually not a huge fan of granite.

The rest of our counters are currently mismatched plywood pieces until the floor is done and the new quartz ones get installed. It was similar price for granite but I do not love the look of some of the busier granite styles and the darker ones would feel like I was trying (and failed) to match the granite on the peninsula. I love the clean feel to the quartz and the durability just can't be beat! As to what 'most people' like and look for.. I don't really concern myself with that. People are fickle, tastes change and trends come and go. Plus I plan on staying in my house forever if possible. I only look to please me and my family!

Message edited 11/30/2011 12:57:45 AM.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

My DH builds luxury Hamptons homes and 95% of them have marble counters. We did our kitchen renovation on a shoestring budget 7 years ago when we bought this house as a total fixer and we installed custom Formica tops that have a matte finish and resemble some sort of stone on our main counters, our small island has corian in white. They have held up extremely well and in the area we live in we probably wouldn't get a big return on a high end end kitchen.
My next kitchen ( in a different house) will have soapstone counters with a butcher block island.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

my house came with corian, its def better than laminate IMO but i'm not crazy about it...i honestly don't know what i would prefer though, i think granite since it seems to be the most popular for re-sale but depending on how long we stay in our house that could change - who knows what might be "in" in 5, 10, 15 years...when my house was built in 2005 corian was pretty popular down here in FL for some reason and we saw it in a lot of houses we looked at but i never saw it in NY...i like granite, i like quartz....we'll probably end up doing an inexpensive granite within the next year or so...

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

We have granite. It's only like a year and half old and it already has a few chips in it. But we still love the look of it

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

granite

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

We'll do quartz as soon as we fully renovate our kitchen. My dad does custom kitchens and has great things to say about it, so we'll probably choose that, even though we probably won't get the money back out on it.

Re: What kids of counters do you have/want?

I have granite in my kitchen.

I am currently doing a bathroom and we did slate because granite didnt go with the tile. I never thought I would like anything but granite but the slate looks really cool and different, in my opinion.