Remodeling My Kitchen Part II: The Countertops

Buying a new house brings a lot of expenses. I decided to focus first in my kitchen, because is the most populated and popular area in my home. The kitchen in my new home was seriously outdated; I found old cabinets, mismatched appliances and old and stained countertops. I had a lot of work ahead of me, and little money to spend. I had to investigate ways to remodel my kitchen with a tight budget. That is a difficult challenge, but it is possible to accomplish.

I must to say that watching TV do-it-yourself shows helped me a lot to learn how to work around the house. I recommend to everyone who wants to remodel or redecorate their house to watch these shows, they give you very good ideas.

After finishing the cabinets, as I explained in my article about refacing kitchen’ cabinets, my husband and I focused in the countertops.

Our countertops were made with the cheapest laminate, and they were worn out and stained. We had to change them, and we knew that it will be expensive. So we investigated the different types of kitchen countertops, to learn their different qualities and be able to choose.

The most common kind of kitchen countertops’ material is the laminated. Laminate and Formica ruled in the countertops’ world for many years, because they are cheap and easy to install. The problem is that they are not strong and resistant, (don’t place a hot pot over them, please), and they break and stain easily.

People these days love natural materials, as stone, marble, granite or wood. However, there is true that technology advances allowed the creation of new laminated kitchen countertops that are made of high quality materials, and can look exactly as made by natural elements. The brand Wilson’ art has beautiful examples of beautiful and durable laminate kitchen countertops. And Corian countertops are a beautiful and quality choice of artificial kitchen countertops.

If we decide to go for natural material we have a huge spectrum to choose from; Granite makes very popular kitchen countertops, it is beautiful and very resistant, and although not cheap, it is not the more expensive material. The disvantage is that granite’s material is porous, so it can be easily stained.

Limestone is another choice to build your kitchen countertops. It is beautiful and resistant, and being less porous that granite, it doesn’t stain so easily.

If you can afford it, you can install marble kitchen countertops. This is the more expensive kind of countertops, but it is really beautiful and resistant. It doesn’t break and it doesn’t stain, it is visually perfect, although pricey.

For people who want to have a personalized and original kitchen, I recommend they install ceramic tile countertops. You can choose between an almost infinite spectrum of tiles, and play with colors, textures and shapes. And this kind of kitchen countertops is affordable, depending of the price of the tile you choose, and it is to install for yourself. You can buy the whole panels of tiles, and simply attach them to the counters.

I personally like a lot the copper or stainless countertops. They look clean and beautiful. Its malleable quality allows you to play with its shape, giving originality to your kitchen. But you must be careful and don’t cut over them, because you’ll cause dents.

The butcher block is another option for kitchen countertops. It looks pretty cute and warm, and you can work directly on it. The problem is that is not cheap, and it can break and stain easily.

If you have a small budget, (like me), check out the new synthetic materials, as Corian. They look fabulous and they are very affordable.