Kitchen Worktops
One of the key elements of any kitchen is the Kitchen Worktop, the product that arguably sees the most wear, tear use and abuse during the lifetime of the kitchen!
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Its vitally important that, as with everything else in the room, the worktop area should be planned to work ergonomically for the user, create areas of useful function, have the durability best suited to your use case and, of course, look stunning in compliment to the rest of the room.
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We work with all the major brands, products and materials and we can advise as to which is going to best suit your room (and your budget) and the care, upkeep, and best use that the chosen surface will require.
Stone
A stone worktop, usually Granite, is one of the most luxurious and desirable finishes for a kitchen work surface and, conveniently, is also one of the most durable.
Available in a vast array of colours, textures, and finishes (not just shiny black!) Granite is an incredibly hard material, resistant to scratching, heat damage, and most impact damage and can be cut, shaped and polished in a wide variety of ways.
Its drawbacks are that it does have visible jointing (although with quality installation teams and intelligent design, this is normally achieved to a minimal degree) and can be weaken in lateral, unsupported stretches.
It really is a beautiful material and probably the most common option for Kitchens today.
Other stones are occasionally used in a kitchen, including Marble and exotic stones but these are of limited use due to being susceptible to staining, marking or damage. Care most always be taken when looking at these more exotic materials but they can add real flare and texture to the right design, when used wisely.
Man Made Stone
With a variety of major brands available (Cosentino, Silestone, Dekton) , man-made stone hold all of the properties of natural Stone like Granite but with consistency and vibrancy of colour that does not suffer from natural variation. It can also include unusual finishes such as mirror pieces and heavy textures unseen in the natural products.
Its drawbacks are also similar, but it is an ever increasingly popular option.
Acrylic
Acrylic based resin products, originally popularised by Dupont with their Corian product, are incredibly flexible and strikingly beautiful materials that offer seamless, hard wearing and exceptionally smooth work surfaces, useable in a wide variety of applications.
They can be cut, shaped, bent and formed as well as seamlessly jointed so the range of options available to us as we design your kitchen with one of these materials is immense.
We work with both Corian and LG HiMacs and both offer a comparable product with an interesting and varied range of colours and finishes.
The only real drawback is that the surface is not suitable for cutting on (NO worksurface truly is for many reasons), can show scratches and is not appropriate as a work surface in dark colours and strong, bold tones.
Real Wood
There really is no other material with as much depth and character as real wood and can be incredibly beautiful if used wisely.
It offers an enormous amount of flexibility as a work surface and brings warmth to a space like nothing less.
Choosing the right wood for the job is important as is the right colour and the most important factor is to ensure our customers are aware of the ongoing care and maintenance involved.
Wood is a natural material with a wide array of variation, and it can be scratched, stained, dented, and damaged. For some, this only adds to the charm and character of the surface and most damage can be fixed or sanded out. For others, it can be a strong reason to steer away from natural wood.
Laminate
Laminate worktops have been around since the 1960s in various guises and, despite often being seen as a cheap, less desirable options, can today be used to create striking spaces with excellent durability and a lower cost than many other options.
Pronorm offer their own Laminate worktops, manufactured to an incredibly high level of quality, that look amazing, offer a wide range of colours and textures and can be fitted with incredibly slim, barely noticeable joints.
It can be susceptible to scratching, heat damage and chipping but you would have to try particularly hard to really damage them.
A note on chopping boards
We recommend that chopping boards (Ideally wood or plastic are used with ALL Worktop surfaces – Wood, Laminate and Acrylic will scratch, Granite & Acrylic will blunt your knives and generally, it is best practice from the level of hygiene too.
Splashbacks
Wall finishing is key to creating the look and feel of a fully finished kitchen and there are a variety of ways to do it.
With most worktop materials, they can be continued up onto the wall with little effort and can achieve a striking, full on finish for the space. Not all are best suited for behind a hob, though and it can be overwhelming.
We also frequently use Glass for an easy to clean, beautifully finished option and it is available in an almost endless array of colours and finishes from Mirror to imagery.
Tiles are a traditional (although also modern) finish that can really set off a design, adding a sense of texture and pattern toa space. A huge number of tiles are available, and we will help you choose the right ones for you.
Painted walls are also an option and there are an ever-increased number of other alternatives too. Ultimately, finishes like this and the choosing of the right ones are a key part of any kitchen design and something we will guide you through.