Back to the Kitchen

Wow, what a weekend...yes, spring is here! And with that comes the desire to fix up my house. We are back to thinking about our kitchen again.  It's for real this time... my husband started sanding the cabinets!

We've been debating what to do with the kitchen since it may get ripped out if we renovate the whole house. So we're looking at it like this... what would make our kitchen experience better right now? Easy... get rid of the tile counter!  I can't understand why anyone would want a work surface that's uneven with grout joints to clean?!

Unfortunately, it's the only element that would be difficult to reuse if the kitchen gets moved.  But even if we only get a few years out of it... I think it's worth it.  I'm tired of saying, "Someday I'll enjoy cooking when I've got a good work surface!"   So over the weekend I hit the internet for some counter inspiration. We're thinking about gray or black cabinets, so that's where I started...



These cabinets look great with the white Calcutta Gold marble counters.

Lisa Epley Design: Image from Decorpad 

Another beautiful white marble counter with black cabinets... I like that it's thick with minimal veining.

Jeff Lewis Design: Image from Decorpad

We may go with dark lower cabinets and light uppers.  Here the island is in a different material that blends beautifully with the floor.  And another bright counter (looks like I'm leaning towards white!).

 

James Michael Howard Interior

We're thinking about subway tile for the back wall since it's economical and would tie into a white counter.  (And we have two boxes sitting in our shed!) Here are nice full walls of subway tile and they've used different colored cabinets.  I would prefer white grout instead of gray to minimize the tile pattern.

Image from Decorpad

These are actually dark brown cabinets, hmmm....

Image from Decorpad 

We're also considering a manufactured stone like Silestone or Caesarstone... which could be considered a 'green' option.  It is easier to maintain and more durable than marble, but mostly I like it for the consistency in color and the potential for a substantial slab edge...

Silestone: Image from Seven Seas

Caesarstone: Image from Re-green

I've read up on marble maintenance issues and found a good discussion on Apartment Therapy.  One other consideration for us is reuse.  If the kitchen does eventually get ripped out and we go with marble, I might cut up the counter for a bathroom vanity or a baking area in the new kitchen (yeah, 'cause I love making pastry?!).



So what do you look for in a kitchen counter?  I'd love to hear what you like and don't like about the material you slave over every day!  Well, at least that's how I feel.