Thinking of giving your kitchen a little makeover and not sure what worktop to get? While certainly a less glamorous consideration than the best flame for the stovetop or bespoke Japanese knives for the block, worktops can make or break the feel of a room, so they need to be right. Although made from all types of material, granite and quartz are the most popular, so chances are you’re choosing between these two.
Replacing your kitchen worktop isn’t a decisions to be taken lightly. For many of us, the kitchen is the most important room of our house. It’s where the good stuff goes down; where we cook for our friends, eat with our family, test our baking skills and beyond. If your kitchen is the heart of your home, it should be a space you love and nurture.
To ensure you enjoy spending time in your kitchen, you should make sure that it suits your personality and sense of style, even when it comes to kitchen counter tops. With this in mind, and with the help of Trend Transformations, here’s our IDEAL guide to selecting the right worktop for your kitchen.
Colour & Style
Granite and quartz worktops both offer versatility, a sleek look and sophistication. But what’s the difference when it comes to colour and style?
Granite worktops are 100 percent natural and quarried from pure stone, which is then turned into slabs and polished for installation. They have a unique, one-of-a kind surface that can’t be replicated, and as such have a luxury appeal in the kitchen.
However, as a result of the way the stone is formed due to the cooling and solidifying of all those molten materials, granite comes in a fairly limited range of different colours and patterns. Nonetheless, there is no denying the beauty of this natural stone.
Quartz, on the other hand, is not 100 percent natural. The worktops are made from crushed quartz mixed pigments for colouration and resin. Because of this, quartz comes in a wider range of colours than granite and can be customisable to suit the design and colour scheme of your home.
Maintenance
Granite and quartz both need to be cleaned with hot water and a mild detergent. However, granite has a porous nature, which means it can stain if you’re not vigilant with cleaning spilt liquids. It can also harbour harmful bacteria. A less strenuous way of maintaining granite worktops is by using towels dipped into a soap solution; a more gentle approach, sure.
Your granite countertops should be resealed once a year, to ensure that they last. However, because quartz is not porous and completely solid, there is no need to have your countertops resealed – therefore in terms of countertop care and maintenance, quartz requires less.
Durability
Both worktops are extremely durable and there isn’t much difference in the strength of them. However, if you wanted to choose sides – and let’s face it, that’s why you’re here – then quartz is actually harder.
While both are heat resistant (that is unless you take a blowtorch to them) and can withstand the heat of pots and pans without any damage, as mentioned above quartz is also nonporous scratch-resistant, and practically maintenance-free, giving it the edge in the durability stakes.
Cost
If you’re looking for a cost comparison, we have to be honest here; it’s not a one price fits all situation, and the cost really depends on the quality of the material that you choose.
However, let’s not beat around the bush; generally speaking, it’s a lot cheaper to install a quartz countertop than a granite one. If you’re looking to get around the heavy price tag, granite and quartz toppers, which simply fit on top of your existing worktop, are available.
Read: 5 tips for maximising the space and sociability of your L-shaped kitchen
Worktop Overlays
Speaking of durability and cost, another option available to you which can help with both is the use of worktop overlays.
Worktop overlays are pieces of material that are professionally shaped to fit comfortably over your current worktops. This means no remodelling necessary! These overlays sit neatly over your existing countertops and only take hardly any time at all to install. This means you get a brand new look to your kitchen, without the hassle.
You can choose which material you’d like to use for your overlay too ,with quartz and granite both commonly used here.
If you haven’t got time to commit to a full scale demolition and remodel then an overlay is right for you. Worktop overlays only take a day to install which makes your life that much easier. Result!