We redid our kitchen about 15 years ago and chose a cream colored Corian with integrated sink. I do have a few minor cracks in the sink at this point, but so what - who is looking? I personally prefer the clean look of it to speckled granite, but that’s just my personal preference. I also used the same Corian for an adjoining powder room (integrated sink) and for a master bath remodel (though I have really cool sinks there that look like they are from a Roman bath - saw the sinks and designed the room around them, so needed a neutral countertop).
I do personally think the darker granites can look dated but there are people who would say the same thing about my Corian.
I had a Corian knock off for 18 years in this house…and loved it. White. But I went with a white quartzite sink, undermount this time. Love it even more.
I’m a fan of SS double bowl under mount sinks. I’ve had mine for years and it still looks good. I’m doing the same thing in the house we’re currently remodeling.
As far as counters, my aesthetic preference is Carrera, but I’m reluctant to use Carrera due to staining and maintenance issues. I’m neither a fan of really busy or dark granite nor Quartz that resembles marble. Most of the latter looks too fake to me although it seems to be continuously improving. I will probably go with a whitish or light gray Quartzite.
The comments about Soapstone not appealing to younger buyers are interesting. After years of all white kitchens (which I love), I’m seeing an increasing preference, especially among young buyers, toward dark counters and the use of black in the kitchen.
We just did countertops/sink in January. We got leathered granite, because husband hates “shiny”. The leathered has a completely different look than polished. I love it so far!
However, the pattern we got (White Torroncino) has a whole lot of movement. We’re getting ready to redo the backsplash to a very solid neutral to counteract it.
We did a Blanco single bowl undermount stainless sink, and added the grid at the bottom (as mentioned upthread).
Granite and undermount stainless, I think for about 10 years now. I love the granite, I really do but lately I do admit I’m a little tired of it. I think I’d do soapstone. I don’t like quartz but I know it gets high marks for durability. It just looks like fake granite to me. The beauty of the granite is that it was found in nature. Our house is 32.5 years old and this is the second countertop. It will be interesting to see if we ever update the kitchen again or if we sell as a “fixer upper”, LOL.
I have no upper cabinets–we opted for windows and light in the kitchen and put in a large walk-in pantry with lots of cabinets. Countertops are light green honed slate (American slate from Vermont) and I have a stainless steel (16 gauge single bowl) undermount sink. Put them in 13 years ago when we built our house–they still look great.
My new kitchen has carrara marble and it is stunning but boy is it touchy. I’ve lived here for a little over a year and I’ve alrealy had them professionally cleaned and resealed for $700. I think it is going to be a yearly maintenance task to keep them in pristine shape. And citrus permanently etches them so you have to be especially vigilant when working with that.
But boy are they beautiful. It really makes me happy to work in this light and bright and beautiful kitchen.
ETA: $700 to clean and reseal is not just for kitchen; I have it in four bathrooms and on a landing area too. Lots of it in this house!
Did granite 15 years ago and still just love it. Mine has tons of colors in it of beige, cream, black, has an Tuscan feel to it. Where I love the all black granite is on a bar in the kitchen, I think that looks elegant with all the glasses, bottles and lighting.
@nottelling – who, i.e., what type of professional, did the resurfacing/resealing of your carrara marble? I have used carrara in three bathrooms, including the master, and I need professional help. Did you use a GC or a tile guy or simeone else?
Carrera marble is popular around here with white cabinets. But I think all the people who have them don’t really cook. I never see dust on my kitchen counters because they all get dirty every night!
Both my mother and my mother-in-law had Corian counters with the integral sinks and I don’t remember any cracking problems. They were both avid cooks and I am sure poured the pasta water into them regularly.
The person I use to clean and reseal my carrara marble has a stone and marble cleaning service; that’s all they do. It is an involved two-day process and involves taping plastic over everything in the room other than the surface to be redone. They come out great!
We have Cambria Quartz and a stainless undermount sink. Franke, I believe. Still going strong 10 years (gasp!) in.
If you go stainless, deep bowls and a very heavy gauge are a must.
I clean the sink with either bar keepers friend or a miracle maid cloth. Counters are cleaned with Mrs Meyers countertop spray.
I will never, ever, ever have another kitchen without an undermount sink. Our current kitchen doesn’t have one and it drives me crazy. We remodeled the kitchen in our old house and put in granite counters. I loved them. We sealed them once and never again. After 11 years, they had no stains or scratches. You can take a hot pan directly from the oven or stove and put it right down on the granite without a trivet or hot pad. You only need to clean them with white vinegar.
The key is to get granite in a pattern you like. If it’s too dark or plain, every crumb and streak will show.
I agree with @Consolation that your kitchen should please you, not some future buyer. I really don’t care what the trendy materials are. In my next house, the counters will be granite (or similar stone) and the sink will be undermount!
Wow, go to a garden fair and come back to all these helpful suggestions! We are not planning on moving for at least five years, maybe ten. Our house was built in the 90’s and has those light oak cabinets that many people disdain but they look warm and homey in our house, especially on a sunny day. The reason that I got swayed away from quartz was the salesman. He said that quartz is harder to repair if something happens to it and that it cannot take having something hot put on it. I’m not very worried about the heat thing as we have laminate now and never set a pan on it but I am worried about chips and cracks. He said granite can polished down and repaired more easily.
I am going to go through this thread again and make notes. I am now convinced that I want an undermounted sink. I already know that I don’t want a lot of movement and I don’t want a solid color. I learned about solid colors with carpeting; solid colors show everything!
I must be the only one who isn’t sold on undermount sinks. A friend was cleaning hers recently and realized that a lot of nastiness had accumulated under the lip.
We have stainless integrated kitchen sink with integrated drain boards on both sides. We LOVE it! We also have a matching deep sink that is stainless. We have Corian counters and backsplash behind the cooktop. It’s whitish with some veining for interest. We have been very happy with our kitchen for the entire 26+ years we’ve had the house. The kitchen was remodeled about 7 years before we bought the house, to instal the Corian.
One issue we do have is we have some small cracks around the cooktop because the old stove was overheating before we replaced it. We have also been told the Corian around our cooktop was improperly installed or it should not have cracked.
We have put hot things directly on the Corian with no ill effects, but have started to be a bit more cautious after reading we shouldn’t put very hot things on it and now put them on the stainless steel drain boards instead.
@greenwitch - I’m going to countertop stores with a friend who is on the same mission. She absolutely hates undermount sinks for that exact reason! @HImom , this may be dumb but is there a difference between undermount and integrated sinks?
Yes. An undermount sink is made of different material than the countertop. As in a stainless steel sink under a slab of granite or formica. An integrated sink is made of the same material as the countertop. It is all one piece. That can be done with the Corian and quartz.