apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

mmm... I have butcher block tops in my white and modern kitchen. I love them, they really warm up the space. On the other hand we sealed ours so we don't use them for cutting and we're a little neurotic about upkeep. (not that they need that much) They're also pretty affordable.
Not sure what your budget it but for a white modern kitchen I say a quartz surface. No upkeep at all and they are so durable.
Look into the brands silestone and cesarstone for some more modern color choices.

The most beautiful countertop I ever used was soapstone. Gorgeous depth of colour and was somehow warm, despite being stone. Unfortunately, it is extremely high maintenance...but a girl can dream, right?

My office (architecture) likes to use Caesarstone in modern kitchens. It's easy to maintain and has all the qualities of granite and the nice even colour and texture of a man-made material.

i've got butcher block. love the look, hate the upkeep. it's very persnickety around the sink, under the dishrack. i even had to go get plastic feet to put under the dishdrainer, otherwise we'd get mold. it's about time for another sand'n'seal. we also don't use ours for cutting.

my aunt got concrete and within the first week somehow burned/stained it and also chipped it.

i want stainless steel, even with the scratches, fingerprints, smudges, sworls, etc...stainless is...infallible! i mean, indestructible.

I also have butcher block and while I like the warmth I will definitely go for Cesarstone next time (while dreaming of soapstone). I just don't feel like I've got the upkeep under control. A while ago on AT they posted about "Bee's Oil" and I wonder if anyone here has tried it on their counters? I could use some tips and tricks from other butcher block owners. I don't feel like I can really clean it, because it roughens up when it gets wet. I did three coats of danish oil and sanded between, etc.

Back to the topic at hand, my mom got Cesarstone a year and a half ago and loooooves it. She has a very modern aesthetic and liked that she could get a very plain pattern without all the business of stone. The maintenance is a breeze and she likes the feel, which is warmer than stone but not plasticy.

I have this really unique granite, that I love. It adds a lot of drama to the room and doesn't show mess...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2201/2124180273_43b2cb93d3.jpg?v=0

I would have really loved marble - to age and add character, but my husband was against anything that shows stains.

I have a white modern kitchen with stainless work surfaces.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/2086736853/in/set-72157600128826994/

I do a tremendous amount of cooking and enjoy working on stainless steel. It is a breeze to clean. As far as scratching goes, it is of course susceptible to scratching but for me it is minimal. I use a big wooden board for cutting prep and also use cork trivets to stabilize bowls and to set glass bottles and other things that may scratch the surface. But really, unless your intention is to look for scratches in a work surface, the scratches become part of the personality of that surface and do not seem like a negative quality.

That said, there are so many great work surfaces with different qualities that it really depends on your preference. Have you though about a combination? Stainless and butcher block for instance? Or stainless and white Caesarstone?

Given your stated requirements, I agree with the recs for Caesarstone. Looks very modern and will require very little upkeep.

Stainless would do a fine job as well, but you have to be ready for the "patina" of scratches that stainless develops over time. Some love it; many don't.

I've always wanted a terrazo counter top. It would look more like the quartz, but with all the beauty of terrazo.

That's just me.

I love the look and feel of Corian and it comes in a bajillion colors.

caesarstone, silestone [microbe resistance built in, usu. can fabricate], icestone, vetrazzo, corian [very nice in those whites, easy to abrade out stains or nicks].

granite is not maintenance-free, either--stainless is naturally microbe resistant and the maintenance--well, just get a Container Store stainless mitt. they work quite well, and the store uses them to buff up their nice stainless waste cans.

the all white look is just beautiful. to remind, even if you do not use butcher block--also my fave--you can add wood or warm elements to the kitchen through bowls, utensils, etc.

what is your frig, oven, ... and lighting may make a difference. have you thought if you want a matte vs. occasional bits of glass look...

I have stainless steel countertops and they are so easy to clean, and with time scratches give it a polished look, without any polishing - just the normal cleaning.

p.s. terrazzo is so interesting--martha stewart included an article on her daughter's ny condominium once, which is all in grey terrazzo. very beautiful, i thought.

Vermont Danby marble makes a great work surface - it's a clean white look, and nothing sticks to it. Excellent for rolling out pastry & kneading dough! Our countertops are laminate, but I'm getting a piece of marble to go on top.

When we moved into our house with a newly renovated kitchen, we had butcherblock counters. I loved how they looked, but had all the problems people cited with mold and not being able to cut on them if you're keeping them sealed.

Thankfully, I had a big center island with ample butcher block which I could use for cutting.

So, I ended up removing the butcherblock counter tops and replacing them with a "manufactured" quartz (Viatera) surface. It's thermal resistant, so I can set hot pans on it with no worry. It's fracture resistant, so I'm not terribly worried about chipping or cracking. Doesn't have to be sealed. It has been about nine months since the install, and I have been hugely happy with it.

We just put in caesarstone 4 months ago. Love it! We got the honed finish, which comes with a warning about extra upkeep. But we have had no trouble at all -- although I suppose if you like to let your spills sit around for several days, rather than wipe them up each evening, it might be an issue.

I had honed granite in my last house (I hate shiny surfaces so paid a little extra to hone the shine off). I have concrete in my new place. Both are basically the same if you're not fussy. I personally don't care if my counters get a little stain or scratch and have no interest in dumping chemicals and sealers on anything where I put food. (Both honed grantie and concrete take stains if you dont wipe them up within an hour or so). My advice is get whatever you think looks best and not care about maintenance, scratches, stains, etc.

Two different friends both had concrete countertops and said they were an absolute pain in the rear end.

I've had just about every counter imaginable through our different kitchens and renos...

our home in North America (being enjoyed by tenants) has both soapstone counters (and sink) as well as an island topped with concrete that has recycled coloured glass.

The latter is a more fragile surface that we try to protect (hopefully the tenants are too), the former is really easy-care (don't know where that comment came from that soapstone is high maintenance) -- only the edges are fragile (vulnerable to chipping), but for care, all it needs is the occasional wipe-down with mineral oil to keep it looking beautiful (about as difficult as washing and wiping a counter).

Have to say, I hate granite, and in my experience honed black granite stains from oily fingerprints (etc.). Also, do not much care for the feel of corian, and it did stain.

Our wood counters were oiled, not varnished, and we never had problems with them, even around the sink.

I prefer things that age gracefully (like soapstone) to things that don't (corian, granite, other manufactured surfaces), and am aching to try out a zinc counter...

I cook for groups at home constantly and absolutely detest marble and basically any other kind of stone. My number one criteria for a counter top is softness.

Reidel or one of the other wine glass producers insists that glasses break almost exclusively in the cleanup phase - and my experience bares that out. So in the end, while appearance is critical, I'm trying to protect my other equipment like my knives, pans, crystal, and china. I'm not especially interested in having to protect my counter top.

In order of preference, stainless steel, formica (so easily replaceable!), butcher block (but never for working on directly).

I just moved and sadly my new place has tile counters. The worst of all worlds, so I'm deciding on this same question myself, and leaning toward stainless.

We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel in our new home. We chose Paperstone. I wanted a warm surface (stone is too cold for me) and butcher block seemed too hard to maintain. We also wanted a dark counter top with some depth and slight color variation throughout. This surface also gets a patina overtime. I feel in love with the Paperstone counter top at the showroom - it has such a warm, lived in (in the good sense) feeling. I couldn't stop touching it. However, there is a bit of a sticker shock with the price.

Not sure about the upkeep, since it isn't in yet. But, people I know who have it say it is great and much easier to maintain than concrete and some of the other green materials.

Caesarstone.

Softness as criteria is asking for disease. Wood and all soft surfaces (Including marble) absorb everything and make bacteria virtually impossible to extract and illuminate.

Another vote for Corian. It requires zero maintenance, can be seamlessly repaired if ever chipped, etc, and as mentioned comes in any color or pattern you could want. The home center might not have all samples to show you, so dig a little. I chose one that is a beautiful matte white with a slight marbling effect (not trying to be a convincing faux). It is called Venaro white. They also can do a one-piece counter and sink made all of Corian. I think it looks good (and you can't beet the upkeep on it) but I didn't want it for my place.

We're going to be renovating our kitchen in the next year and have decided on Corian. For one thing, our preferred renovator can get it for us at a great price, and it's durable and no maintenance. I'll probably go with a darker color, as the rest of the kitchen will be light and bright. We have (peeling) white laminate countertops now, and I can comfortably say that white countertops don't fit our lifestyle.

I was intrigued by paperstone until I read on their website that the resin which holds it all together is derived from cashew nuts. I'd love to know if it is a hazard to people with (potentially fatal) nut allergies, like my daughter...

about wood countertops: all wood is not created equal -- dense wood with tight grain does not absorb.

In fact, some woods are actually antibacterial naturally. Think about it -- butchers have traditionally had wood blocks for chopping meat (I'm sure they did not clean them until the end of the day), ships have traditionally been made of wood, and the Japanese have been making soaking tubs out of wood for probably centuries.

I did a ton of research on counters from the standpoint of sustainability, and ended up using recycled-glass terrazzo. It looks super-cool, has the same performance/ maintenance features as granite, ISN'T in every rehab kitchen on the market, and uses old bottles, windshields, etc. There are several manufacturers out there, so you can pick the one closest or with the best colors or whatever.

Also, FWIW, there's a VERY cool looking material out there called Alkemi which uses recycled metal shavings instead of glass, but it scratched easily when I tested it--otherwise I would have gone with that.

monika1 - that's true about wood blocks and stuff. But how expensive is it in North America to get that kind of an antibacterial material? Also, with butcher blocks, they have to regularly get the top sawed off and start fresh. I know because I worked in the food industry with that sort of a surface and it would get pretty gross and smelly, not to mention how rough and worn it got from cutting on it.