Details and Design

Silestone is a material my wife and I have seriously considered for our kitchen, for a lot of the reasons you set forth here. But with my woodworking abilities, my heart is really set on a wood countertop. I don’t know if I’ll get the courage to go after something that ambitious (I’ve never done one before), but it’s really my first choice.

Ah-hah – telling comment above by Robert Foltz re the range of concrete (of course, I am biased being a concrete designer…). I agree, quartz is a great product, and no wonder it is the fastest growing surface option on the market. It is some tough stuff and performs to beat the band, all the while looking very smart. I keep going back to the heart of the matter; if you want to design soul and personality into an environment, concrete can’t be beat – it has integrity, individuality, and it is a designer’s dream; make what you want of it – really, whatever. Quartz is great – but it is what it is (manufactured) after all – concrete is what YOU want it to be. End of soapbox. Indulgences.

I’m with you sister! Don’t get me wrong ~ granite is nice but I struggled with the movement that most granites have. To me it was just too busy. I love quartz and the ability to place a complex backsplash with it. With all the wonderful product out there for backsplashes, I’d rather have that be prominent with the counter clean, quiet, and functional. I have to admit though ~ I love glass countertops a lot too!
Paula Grace ~

Well, son-of-a-gun, call it kismet. I honestly write my blogs a week or more in advance, and I just this moment posted a blog on Concrete Detail, which is a New England-based company. I came across him because he commented on one of my blogs, and when I tracked down where the comment came from, I was intrigued with his site and decided to write a blog on his company. What I find myself particularly liking about Concrete Detail is the simplicity with which they approach their medium. They are able to do those glorious countertops with colored glass and wonderful dyes that make it look like somewhat like a river flowing through one’s kitchen. Ah, hell…….that would have been a slick title for the blog: “A River Flows Through It.” But I digress!

The point I started to make is that Concrete Detail does wonderful things in a simpler mode, which allows the countertop to make a more comfortable union with the kitchen in which it resides, which is what I personally think the countertop should be doing. Some of the time. It’s like everything else in life, I guess. There are no real hard and fast rules, just feelings that certain materials used in conjunction with certain others brings to one’s perception. Sometimes the countertop is absolute, total, unmitigated WOW; other times it is more conservative, effortlessly blending in with its environment. Which should be it be? Well, it just depends.

In any case, I found their work to be most stimulating. Were they in my area, I might well consult them when it comes time to install a countertop. But only if I decide to chicken out on the wood countertop that is really my preference!

Great informative post, it was nice to see it broken down in detail and shown with great images. I love the sophistication and whole look of the bath with the blue Lagos, gorgeous space.
It is interesting to see where the trends go and in what areas. xo

Michigan stones are a suppliers, manufacturers & exporters of Granite, Marble, Sandstone, Granite tiles, Granite slabs sand Granite kitchen tops in India
pavers

You have a picture of a dark grey countertop by Cambria with a marble backsplash. Can you tell me the official color name?

Thanks,
LaNae

Good Post !! We are manufacturer & exporter of varieties of natural stones.

Quartz is a fancy new corian if you ask me. The beauty of granite is in it’s variation. Quartz is a trend, granite is a mainstay, soon quartz will be cheap, but granite will always hold more value.