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What you Need to Know About Kitchen Countertops

In most households, the kitchen is the busiest room. Besides being used for cooking, kitchens are used for other purposes. For example, they are used as meeting spaces and even go-to serve as dining areas in homes without formal dining rooms.

Because so much time is spent in the kitchen, it is worthwhile to invest in them.

Kitchen renovations are high on many homeowners’ to-do lists, and once they commit to remodeling the room, they face a slew of considerations.

When remodeling your kitchen, you must decide which countertop material to choose. If this is where you are, here is a list of popular possibilities that will help you with that selection:

Quartz

Quartz is a low-maintenance and long-lasting countertop material. Quartz countertops are normally 94 percent ground quartz and come with a honed, sandblasted, or embossed treatment, making them appealing to homeowners with various notions about the perfect aesthetic of a kitchen countertop.

If not appropriately treated, quartz can crack, and edges and corners can chip with time. When you are in the market, go for countertops with rounded edges to reduce the possibility of chipping.

The costs of the countertops vary depending on region and product availability, but quartz is normally roughly the same price as natural stone.

Laminate

Laminate countertops are appealing to frugal households. The beauty of them is they are simple to install. Laminate countertops are available in various colors, textures, and styles.

Laminate countertops are also long-lasting, which allows frugal homeowners to stretch their budgets even further. Laminate worktops are simple to clean, but knives can permanently harm them, so always use a cutting board when preparing meals on laminate.

Although laminate is water-resistant, extended moisture exposure at seams or edges can cause swelling or warping. To prevent this from coming about, ensure that sinks are properly sealed. You also should avoid leaving wet rags or sponges on the surface.

Granite

No two slabs of granite are alike; this individuality has traditionally appealed to many homeowners. Heat, cuts, and scratches don’t affect granite too much, though this stone, like quartz, can split around edges and corners. So you need to be cautious when handling it.

Granite is a long-lasting material that can survive for decades if properly cared for. Granite is also nonporous, making it resistant to microorganisms.

Because granite is porous, you should seal it regularly to prevent stains. The frequency of sealing varies based on the type of granite and the sealer used, but it is wise to seal your countertops every 1 to 3 years.

To tell whether your countertops are ready for sealing, sprinkle a few droplets of water on the surface of your surface. If the water beads up, the seal is intact, but if the surfaces absorb the water, it’s time to reseal the stone.

Butcher block

Butcher block countertops are one of the more unusual alternatives available to homeowners. Butcher block countertops, sometimes known as “wood countertops,” are composed of fused wooden strips.

Butcher block is one of the more economical materials, but the final cost will be determined by location and availability.

Butcher block countertops are highly sensitive to fluids; therefore, you should limit the countertops’ exposure to moisture.

You can protect the butcher block countertops against bacteria and warping by sealing them soon after installation. Though butcher blocks can be difficult to maintain, many homeowners believe the unique aesthetic is worth the extra effort.

To have an easy time with your butcher block countertops, thoroughly seal them before using them. The best sealing material to use is food-safe mineral oil or a specialist butcher block oil.

The best way to do it is to allow a generous amount of oil to seep into the surface for several hours or overnight. Repeat this step every few weeks to keep the protective seal intact.

You also should oil your butcher block countertops regularly to prevent dryness, cracking, and staining. The frequency at which you oil the surfaces will depend on usage, but as a general rule, apply a light coat of mineral oil every 1 to 3 months or when the wood appears dry or dull.

Marble countertops

Many people liken marble to granite, but the two are different. Marble is a metamorphic stone, unlike granite, an igneous stone formed by crystallized magma.

While granite has a Mohs hardness value of 6-7, marble has a level of around 3-5. This is because marble is formed when pre-existing limestone or dolomite is subjected to high heat and pressure, causing calcite and carbonate crystals to reform.

Although marble is still a robust and long-lasting choice for kitchen worktops, it is softer than granite or quartzite, which means you must be more cautious about cleaning, maintenance, and the things you expose it to (acidic compounds, staining agents, and so on).

When in the market, choose a Carrara or Calacatta marble for its extraordinary beauty, adaptability, and unrivaled luxury appeal.

Concrete Countertops

While quartz, granite, and marble counters are popular among designers, concrete remains an attractive alternative, providing flexibility and creative potential that other materials cannot match. If you are looking for a unique kitchen centerpiece, a custom concrete countertop is a choice that gives you complete control.

The appeal of concrete is that it doesn’t limit you on how creative you can get. You can color it in various ways, pour it in any size or shape, and inlay it with other materials to create patterns beneath its surface.

For example, you can put shells, glass, metals, and other materials to give it a unique, appealing look.

While the countertop gives you room for creativity, you should be cautious so you don’t go overboard and detract from the natural beauty.

This calls for you to avoid extreme colors such as pink. You also should use timeless hues and patterns to ensure that the countertop remains functional even as trends come and go.

While concrete kitchen countertops Raleigh are easy to install, avoid installing them yourself, especially if this is your first time. Instead, let a professional help you out.

Tricks to Keep Your Kitchen Countertops Clear of Obstructions

Keeping the top of your countertop clutter might feel like a never-ending battle. This is because kitchens are the center of most homes, hence they rapidly become a catch-all for all the random things that don’t have a home anywhere else.

When you combine that with their practical function, the surfaces quickly get overrun with junk.

What is the best way to keep your modern kitchen counters clear? You need to make tiny but significant adjustments rather than making large commitments.

When the clutter becomes unbearable, it’s tempting to believe that a major kitchen renovation is required, but as any expert organizer will tell you, it’s the simple improvements that make the most difference.

Adopting a few basic habits and incorporating them into your normal routine will most benefit keeping your kitchen countertops tidy rather than just the short term.

To help you out, here are methods and suggestions for clutter-free countertops that you can immediately implement in your home.

Give your homeless items a place to live.

What’s the first step toward a clutter-free kitchen counter? Providing a home for all of your possessions. It’s all too easy for a stray utensil or a stack of letters to become permanent fixtures on your surfaces, but the key is not to let them stay too long in the first place.

You should allocate them a home. Begin by making room in your cupboards. You should collect anything lying about on worktops, shelves, and tables, and assign it a place. Label the shelves or containers so everyone in your house knows where to return the items.

Get countertop organizers

It may seem obvious, but investing in some creative organizer purchases is one of the finest ways to organize a kitchen. There are some kitchen organizers that no one should live without, from sliding countertop gadgets that make it easier to access your heavy equipment to a good old-fashioned spice rack to keep all your ingredients contained.

Countertop organizers help to ensure that everything in your kitchen has a place. When you lack systems of organization and don’t know where to place things, they’re likely to wind up in general locations, like countertops, where they make the surfaces dirty and ugly. You don’t want this, do you?

Put the dirty dishes in the sink.

We’ve all been guilty of stacking dirty dishes by the side of the kitchen sink or allowing them to accumulate on a spare countertop – especially if you don’t have a dishwasher. Unfortunately, this is a proven way to have cluttered surfaces.

To avoid this, place the dirty dishes, mugs, and glasses straight into the sink to keep your counters clean and neat.

This will keep them out of sight and urge you to wash them once the sink is full, preventing a washing-up marathon later on.

Keep the appliances you don’t use out of the countertops

Countertop gadgets like toasters, coffee makers, and air fryers can make meal preparation much easier, but only when they’re not taking up too much space. If your counters are cluttered with gimmicky equipment you rarely use, put them away when not in use.

Thankfully, it’s a quick and basic task.

Most people rarely use the crock pot, standing mixer, or automated drip coffee maker (they prefer pour-over coffee). Appliances take up important real estate, so consider storing them in a cabinet and enjoying the extra space they generate.

Have a kitchen command center.

Everyone has that one area of the kitchen island or the spot in front of the windowsill where they keep their daily essentials. These can be things like keys, glasses, and letters, which easily pile into small clutter. When it’s been a fixture on your kitchen counters for so long, getting rid of it is easier said than done.

To keep your countertops clean, create a designated drop zone for these often-used things. This could be anything from a fancy catch-all dish to a box or shelf. 

A command center will help you keep your paper, keys, spare change, bills, and school assignments off your kitchen’s surfaces.

You can create a command center in a corner of your kitchen or near your entryway by adding hooks, magazine folders, calendars, and whiteboards. It’s all on you and you don’t have to complicate it. 

Have a one-touch rule.

If you want to break bad habits with your belongings, decluttering ideas can be life-changing, and the ‘one-touch’ tidying guideline is ideal for kitchen counters. This rule does exactly what it says on the tin. If you pick something up, you have to return it.

Returning an item after using it reduces clutter and saves time.

You should make it a routine to return items to their proper places as soon as you have finished using them. For instance, if you run the dishwasher overnight, unload it as you wait for your toast or oatmeal to be ready in the morning.

That way, anytime you use a glass or another dish, you may rinse it and immediately place it in the dishwasher.

Have a kitchen closure routine.

Kitchens get more traffic than any other room in the house, and while they’re a social hub for the entire family, there has to be a point where you draw the line.

Set a bedtime boundary when everyone should vacate the kitchen so that you can work on it.

You should load and run the dishwasher every night, wipe down the worktops, table, and appliances, put your belongings away, and quickly sweep or vacuum the floor.

You could even go the extra mile and arrange the breakfast table for the morning.

Follow these steps, and before you know it, your entire family will be on board with your structured habits, and clutter-free granite countertops Raleigh will soon become the standard in your kitchen.