Stone has become the craze in most of the kitchens across the nation. Whether people are putting in lower-cost cabinets or going all the way up to the more expensive cabinets, stone by far is the most chosen material for counter tops. How have we arrived at this, you might be asking? Natural materials are taking over our thoughts and homes over the last ten years. The richness of natural stone can be replaced by nothing, even the newer finished laminates. Americans want real, and there isn’t much holding them back anymore. Even if it is just on the island in their kitchen, they feel like they have the best of both worlds.
So the big question amongst consumers that I hear most often these days is, “Should I use real stone (granite or marble) or should I go with quartz?” I find most often that today’s clients have no clue what quartz is, only that they see it in a lot of magazines and on social media sites. Their friends and neighbors also talk a lot about it, but they still haven’t the slightest clue what it is. Quartz is a man-made material that is put together with ground-up quartz material and put together with a resin. It is a non-porous material that manufacturers fabricate in their factory, also creating all of the gorgeous colors and patterns. Most people that want quartz specified instantly for their home project love the material because it is a non-porous substrate that falls into the category of being green because of the recycled material used.
Quartz colors have come a long way since inception when there were only a few granite-looking colors. Now they have colors that not only look like real stone but are so much more consistent in look and color over real granite or marble. When it comes to the marble-looking quartz colors, they are so much better with wearing of the product over its rival, marble. LG makes a color called Rococo and at first glance, you would think it was Carrara marble. Real marble is a very soft stone that scratches and stains very easily. Nobody wants the maintenance of it anymore.
So when it comes to the big decision in your life with granite or quartz for your new space, I recommend thinking color first, if the green or non-porous advantages of quartz don’t wet your whistle foremost. Colors and your taste in style always rank at the top of my list when making most material decisions. From there I like to pair people with what will not only suit them best but also give the space that glitter and sparkle that will please their own eyes for years to come. There are so many materials and decisions to make when updating your space, so make sure you work with a professional who will not only guide you but drive you down the road to making the right decisions financially and tastefully. There is nothing worse than saving a buck and in the end not being happy with your buying decisions. We have a saying here at our showroom: good design costs no more than bad design. Dream first and the rest will fall right into place!

Bon Appetit!
Tim Holick

This entry was posted in Countertops on July 8, 2015 by THblog.