Here at Aurastone, we believe that the kitchen is the most important room in your house. You’ll spend most of your time there, so you want to showcase your creativity. Kitchen counters come in an amazing array of styles, materials, shapes, sizes, colours, and even textures. Choosing the right one for your home means choosing something that fits into your lifestyle and reflects who you are. It tells people that you’re cheery, neat, and fashionable.
White quartz has traditionally been seen as a symbol of luxury for years, but is it still suitable for modern HDB kitchens? Today, we will be exploring the pros and cons of white quartz for your kitchen countertops.
Before we go into the colour, let’s talk about the material itself first. Quartz is one of the most popular countertop materials because it is durable, easy to maintain and non-porous.
This makes it a perfect material for kitchen countertops. This is because kitchen countertops are one of the most commonly used areas in your house. They are also used to prepare food, so they need to be both durable and easy to clean. Unlike marble, maintaining quartz is easy as pie.
Quartz is a hard, hard material. In fact, quartz is so hard that you would have difficulty making any dents on it with your kitchen utensils.
A white kitchen is a classic look. It has been in style for ages and will probably survive the next few design trends.
White is a neutral colour and will go well with almost any other colour. This makes it a suitable canvas to design your kitchen.
White helps make a space look bigger. It reflects light and helps your kitchen looks more spacious. This works even better if there is already a lot of natural light.
I’m sure you agree that most HDB kitchens could use any help they can get to look bigger.
Other than being pleasant on the eyes, this also means that it may help increase your kitchen’s resale value. While we know that everyone will have different tastes, it comes as no surprise that a white kitchen appeals to many people.
Since a kitchen renovation provides a homeowner with one of the best returns-on-investment, it only makes sense that you would want to design it in a way that will appeal to most people.
Well, you probably would have guessed this already, but the biggest con of a white countertop would be that it takes more effort to make it look spotless.
If you are the type that fusses over every spill, then you would probably have no issues with this. However, if you’re like most of us, then it will be an effort to make your white kitchen look spotless all the time.
While quartz is a fantastic material for kitchen countertops, you need to be aware that it is susceptible to high heat. This is due to the resin that holds the quartz together. This resin can withstand only up to around 150 degrees.
This can damage your countertop, so never place a hot pan directly on top of your beautiful white countertops. Always use a hot pad or trivet.
Yes, we said it – not everyone loves white. Without the right aesthetic, a pure white kitchen may look sterile, stark and without personality.
We suggest using a quartz countertop with more noticeable veins if you’re planning on a white kitchen. Our Natura Ave and Statuario Altissimo are popular options for those who want a predominantly white kitchen but still want some texture.
While it is not exactly a clear cut decision, we are a big fan of white kitchens. Quartz is fast becoming the go-to material for kitchen countertops and white seems like it will be in fashion for a long time coming.
If you are renovating a kitchen, one of the biggest expenses aside from cabinets and appliances are countertops. Selecting countertops can be a bit scary because of the high dollar investment so you want to make sure you get it right. There are tons of countertop options out there with pros and cons to each.
I chose white quartz countertops for our home because they are timeless and fit many different design styles.
Today’s post will share an honest review of my white quartz countertops. Plus, I’ll give you all the insider tips to choosing the best white quartz countertops for your home. If you are stuck deciding which one is best, this post is for you!
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I will be sharing specifically about my experience with Cambria Britannica Warm quartz countertops. Spoiler alert: I love them and they don’t have a single stain or scratch.
I’ll also share a handful of other great white quartz countertops to consider. There are so many white quartz options it quickly feels overwhelming to choose, so my hope is today’s post will give you recommendations on what to look for and consider when selecting your quartz countertops, even if you aren’t wanting white.
First things first, what are quartz countertops made out of anyway? They are created through a manufacturing process that mixes approximately 95 percent ground natural quartz with 5 percent polymer resins that hold it all together. The percentages vary depending on brand, but the results are super durable, low-maintenance, and a natural stone look in a variety of colors.
Quartz is more durable than quartz and doesn’t chip as easily. Since they are man-made they offer a large array of different marbling designs and color choices that a natural stone does not.
Quartz are virtually indestructible and resist staining so you don’t have to stress about red wine spills or leaving lemons downside on the countertop like you do a natural stone and there’s no need to reseal every so often. Non-porous quartz also means that they resist bacteria and are naturally antimicrobial so you can be sure you are getting them actually clean and there is no mold hiding in the pores.
Real marble countertops are high-maintenance and are susceptible to stains. Even water spots are bound to happen with real marble countertops because it is so porous. Even granite and concrete can stain because they are porous.
One thing you do need to be careful about with quartz is heat. They are not heat resistant so do not set hot pans directly on the countertop, always use a trivet or hot pad or you may damage the quartz.
These are our white quartz counters we had installed just about a year ago when we did our kitchen remodel. Even us DIYers know not to attempt installing quartz countertops yourself. They are expensive and require precision and skilled installers that do it all day every day, so it’s best to trust the experts here.
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I knew I wanted white marble countertops with veining to brighten up the kitchen and because I think white marble is classic and timeless. To be honest, I decided on our white marble countertops quite quickly after seeing them installed in a local design showroom.
I absolutely loved the way they looked in the showroom and they had the white with warm undertones I wanted. As an interior designer I see a lot of countertops through all the different showrooms we go to, samples vendors are constantly dropping off and of course in clients’ homes.
I’ve seen everything from stark white to black to super busy patterns to one solid color. I definitely think this helped me narrow it down and know exactly what I wanted for our home and why I was able to choose so quickly.
However, I realize most do not have that advantage so I highly suggest going to local showrooms and looking at the countertops they have installed in the kitchen vignettes (not just the countertop samples hanging on the wall) so you can get an idea of what you’re drawn to in an actual kitchen setting.
Even Googling pictures of certain quartz stones installed to see what it looks like is super helpful. A small quartz sample doesn’t show the veining and movement of the entire stone so you definitely want to see it in a full slab, whether it’s in person or a picture.
Before committing, I took several other white quartz samples home with me and compared them to our cabinet stain, the island paint color and the backsplash tile I wanted to see what looked best. It’s important to bring quartz samples home with you so you can see the stone in your kitchen light next to your other materials. A stone in the fluorescent lights of a showroom can look completely different in your home.
There are SO MANY brands and varieties of white quartz countertops. Some are stark white, others are creamier, some have grey undertones and others more neutral. Then there’s the veining. There are white quartz with zero veining, some with flecks of other color and others have large veining and movement. The samples help you with this so much when you bring them to your home and look at them in your light.
These are the samples I took home.
Between all the samples I brought home, there was about a $500 overall price difference from the most expensive to the least expensive. Of course the one I liked was the most expensive, but to me it’s worth it to get the countertop that looks best.
The different quartz brands can vary a lot in price so it may be worth checking into which is the most affordable. Our kitchen remodel budget was tight and our countertops was easily the single most expensive purchase for the kitchen and was nearly half of the overall kitchen budget. Luckily we kept the existing countertops and were able to save thousands and thousands of dollars by just sanding and staining them ourselves rather than getting all new cabinets.
I wrote an entire blog post on choosing cabinet stain and refinishing them because that was a big decision and it did not come so easily. It took 10+ stain colors that we tested until we found one liked. We actually ended up using 2 different stains to get the look.
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Herringbone backsplash tile
I am so glad we went with Cambria Brittanicca Warm for our white quartz countertops. They are beautiful! The bold veining is my favorite part. It’s such a statement especially on the island and the greige vein adds warmth and depth. I also think the veining helps camouflage dirt and spills so you don’t feel like your white countertops are constantly looking dirty. If you went with an all white without veining you might think that, but with the veining in Brittanicca it hides stuff really well.
BTW, if you’re looking for a new sink, I highly recommend the Blanco Siligranit sinks. They are scratch and stain resistant, super easy to clean and come in great color options. It’s what we go with for our clients in both new builds and remodels. I have the color Truffle which coordinates with our countertops perfectly and the darker color is great because there’s always coffee and green smoothie getting washed down the sink in our house and couldn’t be happier with our choice. These sinks are the best!
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Our countertops are a polish finish that have a nice shine. Some quartz is available in a matte finish but I wouldn’t recommend it as they can show every little fingerprint and that might drive you crazy.
I use a damp cloth and little soap to wipe down our countertops. We also use Clorox wipes and Lysol countertop spray as well and they both work great. Just don’t use anything with ammonia or bleach which could ruin them.
We don’t have any stains on our countertops at all and they still look as amazing as the day they were installed! There is one little area where a coffee cup was sitting next to the sink and I found a little ring that was mostly scrubbed out and is not noticeable at all.
I say this because it doesn’t bother me, but even though they say quartz is stain resistant, if you encounter a small or minor mark that needs to get rubbed out don’t be surprised. I was trying to figure out why the coffee cup caused a ring mark when every other cup we have does not. The coffee cup had an unfinished stone base and that’s the only difference I came come up with.
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They are typically priced between $50-$100 per square foot without installation. From my experience quartz can be slightly cheaper than granite. As I said earlier, this will be one of your biggest expenses in a kitchen renovation.
We couldn’t be happier with our white quartz countertops and I’m so happy with our choice! They truly are a statement and are the focal point of our kitchen.
I hope this post answers your questions about everything you need to know before choosing quartz countertops. If you have a question about something I missed, ask away in the comments and I’ll try to help!
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