Calacatta Marble Kitchen Countertop

Granite, Quartz & Marble Concepts For Your Home

Granite Countertop Thickness: 1cm, 2cm or 3cm?

Posted by Nelson Wong on Mon, Oct 15, 2012 @ 04:50 PM

For many years, 2cm Granite and quartz was the “go to” thickness for counter tops.  Many times, especially in kitchens, the edge is laminated to a 4cm edge. This size edge is perfect for framed cabinets since that thickness edge can cover the gap between the top of the cabinet and the cabinet door.  Even as cabinets became frameless, 4cm edging is still popular.

 

Image Courtesy of http://bit.ly/kTaFfD

But what about people on the cutting edge? What thickness of counter tops are they interested in?  For the last few years, thick counter tops with 6cm – 20cm mitred edges was popular. On islands, the thick edge and material would also go down the side of the cabinets to the floor to create a thick side panel. This gave the counter top a thick and substantial look.  This is still very popular in North America.

Caesarstone - Blizzard 2141 (Image Courtesy of www.caesarstone.ca)

 

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In Europe the emerging trend is to go with super skinny counter tops – 1 cm thickness material. This look is sleek and modern.  It goes along with the whole integrated kitchen/home idea that is so popular right now.  Appliances are built to be hidden from plain view or its appearance as muted as possible. Likewise, counter tops are becoming more subtle in terms of material thickness.  Latitude currently has various 1CM Silestone and Caesarstone materials in stock and acrylics such as Corian and Staron come in 1CM  only (traditionally, Corian and Staron edges are built up to that thicker looking edge).  It is a new look that is making its way into modern designs.

Image Courtesy of www.bolli.com

I love the clean look of the thin counter top, but whether or not I would decide to go with that or another look would depend on the overall look of the house.  The styles in the home would have to work together.  Thinner counter tops would look better in smaller kitchens to make the space seem bigger and as you can tell from the picture above, will look good in a larger space as well. Thick, 4cm – 6cm” counter tops may make a small kitchen feel more closed in.

- Nelson Wong

2cm granite with a 4cm edge

 

 

Topics: Quartz Kitchen Countertops, Countertops, Kitchen Renovation, tips for counter tops, Granite Fabricator, Granite countertops, Kitchen design tips, kitchen design, rennovation, renovation

Now the Look of Calacatta Marble with the Durability of Quartz

Posted by Bob Gilson on Mon, Aug 13, 2012 @ 10:20 AM

Calacatta Marble looks great in a new kitchen.  Unfortuantely, like most marbles, it is a soft material prone to chipping, staining and etching.  Within a year of installtion, most Calacatta Marble kitchens look well used and abused.  As a result, homeowners are advised to avoid Calacatta Marble countertops in their kitchens and this stunning marble has been relegated to bathrooms.

For all you Calacatta Marble lovers, here is a new kitchen design tip!

Diamastone has just introduced a new product, Nature Calacatta that is a stunning replica of Calacatta Marble.  Nature Calacatta is a man made quartz material that resists chipping, staining and etching.  Like all quartz materials it is durable and maintenance free.

Marble is a counter fabricator's nightmare.  Even though we use special diamond marble blades to cut the material and handle the material with extreme care, we inevitably end up with breakage either in the shop, transportation or installation.  When fabrication or installation breakage happens, we are then left trying to match the marble from differnet slabs in the same block or a new block.  It's never a happy story for the designer, the fabricator or the home owner.

Recently we had the opportunity to make a counter top from Diamastone's Nature Calacatta quartz.  Wow, what a dream material.  Not only was it easy to work with, it was a dead ringer for calacatta marble!

We left a sample of the Diamastone Nature Calacatta on our Calacatta Marble table in our showroom for everyone to see.  Over the course of two weeks we had marble distributors, designers, sales people and home owners all mistaked the sample piece for the same Calacatta Marble material used for our showroom table. (Just for the record, our showroom table has coffee stains, etching, chips and cracks in it but we love it anyways.  If someone from Diamastone is reading this blog, we would love a sample piece so we can replace our table top.)

Topics: Granite, marble, counter tops, counter top, Countertops, Kitchen Renovation, Quartz, Kitchen design tips, Marble vs Quartz, Aqua Bianca Marble, marble vanity, marble countertop, granite vs marble, Calacatta Marble

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