Sounds to me like you are already leaning toward corian. That’s probably what I would do. I think there’s a chance the silestone could look a little bit dated in a few years too.

This looks very classic to me. An important feature for a kitchen if you don’t want to get sick of it quickly.

”Silestone isn't supposed to burn if I leave a hair appliance on it.”

I wouldn’t believe a word of that. White e-stone discolors when installed behind a range without a riser.

White Corian everywhere. It is reparable. If you are going to leave hair appliances on, maybe buy extra material up front.

I opted for Corian over all else for many reasons. Heat is primary concern. Put a cutting board or something under the hair appliance, or get one with auto shutoff.

You can buy a small heat mat for your hair appliances. I have one that wraps around my curling iron and secures with Velcro. Cheaper option than Silestone 😀and it does sound like the Corian is what you are leaning toward. I would vote for the Corian too.

I had white Corian in my kitchen and found it boring, but it certainly seemed indestructible. I eventually moved on to granite, which I love.
I also have granite in the bathrooms. I do not put anything hot directly on any counter. I use 1/2” thick cork trivets of varied sizes in the kitchen. In the bathroom, the curling iron has a small steel attachment to keep the hot head off the counter. I don’t leave it plugged in unless I am in the room.

Another thought....Corian comes in many colors, but with white cabinets I would want my Corian to either match the white cabinets or be a completely different color. Whites can clash.

@jk atz. The photo you posted is really helpful. It really has the look I’m going for. Same light floors. Clean, bright. A bit of art work.

@Joseph Corbett, LLC You are so funny!

I started this house project almost two years ago. My first inclination was Corian. Said never quartz. Then shifted to thinking maybe Dekton. Then was sure I’d do Neolith. Fabricator said no to Neolith... he said do Silestone and I started to cave. I think now I’m finally back to where I started! Sheesh! Never give me 2 years to make a decision!

Thanks for everyone’s comments. I’ll buy a silicone mat for my vanity.😁

do you have a photo of the white corian? what color did you pick? trying to decide between that and a very plain white quartz myself. If avoiding any veining then it seems odd to pick the stone IMO.

Michelle- Right now "quartz" is the darling but those of us that have had Corian for years in our homes have been very happy with it based on comments posted on Houzz. I've been on Houzz for a long time and there are threads on where people have been disappointed with their quartz but I have yet to come across a thread of Corian complaints. I have Corian in my bathrooms and after 20 yrs I'm still very happy how it looks and how it has held up. Even after my sister left hair dye on it for over a hour! And even my Master Shower is all Corian and it has been a dream to have as the maintenance is so low since I don't have to deal with grout and sealing. I would have no problem having Corian again and recommending it.

@mtpo I'm curious what your pricing is coming in at for Corian. I've been pricing both Corian (Group C Rice Paper) and Hi-Macs (Group C Egg White) and except for a pricing at Home Depot, I'm getting pricing that exceeds Dekton and Neolith and ALL Quartz.

Here's an example:

A local granite and quartz fabricator organizes their quartz products into four price groups. They estimate a price for each group. So for my kitchen:

Quartz Pricing (Caesarstone, LG, Silestone, DuPont Corian Quartz, Hanstone, or Vicostone)

Group A $2166

Group B $2536

Group C $2813

Group D $3275

The local granite and quartz fabricator doesn't do solid surface. These are an average of the prices I got from 3 separate, local, independent solid surface fabricators.

Corian Pricing

Group C $3665 (Rice Paper)

Hi-Macs Pricing

Group C $3517 (Egg White)

Livingstone Solid Surface

Not sure of Group - Color Parchment $3234

These prices are for a simple eased top edge only and one sink cutout / faucet hole drilling. Price does not include plumbing or actual sink. It's new construction so there are no removal costs.

Your fabricator may be geared up for stone/estone production, so he's pushing you that direction with price. I'd urge you to think comprehensively. The extra thousand dollars will come and go, unlike your countertop choice.

Livingstone is Corian without the name. Corian's patent ran out many years ago. I've fabricated the stuff; it's excellent.

In a bathroom - Corian. Hands down. It's virtually indestructible. And in the rare instance that something does happen, it's repairable. A lot of research went into Dupont's Corian and it shows.

If you like both the Quartz and the Corian, but one is significantly cheaper, save the money and go with the less expensive option. Believe me, you'll spend that money elsewhere! Good luck - you have a beautiful start already!

Quartz! I have Silestone in my kitchen of 15 years. Never a problem with staining or burning, although, we don’t leave hot pots on it for more than a minute or two without protection. My husband dropped an iron skillet on the edge once, which did cause a chip. We were able to have it repaired perfectly by a contractor who used epoxy. I also have LG quartz in my new white bathroom and it’s beautiful with a subtle marble pattern (don’t recall the name).

In a bathroom? I’m planning to go with Swanstone again in our new build. They have some styles where the vanity top and sink bowl are all one piece, which makes cleaning a breeze. They come in standard vanity sizes and many colors. No fabrication needed. We’ve had ours going on 10 years in a house where five teenagers grew up. No stains, no heat damage, no chipping. They look good as new.

@missenigma I haven’t gotten the pricing yet from my builder. I think the pricing depends on the material, and the details and complexity of installation so it’s hard to compare one job with another. In my kitchen and in 2 bathrooms, I’m getting the curved 1/2“ backsplash. I don’t know if that costs more than the typical 4” 90 degree backsplash. I went with the simplest edge detail and glacier white - so those features should keep the cost down somewhat. However, my island needs some special support for the overhang. In the Jack and Jill Bath, the sinks my builder’s plumbing supply place ordered turned out to be too big so now I think I’m going to go with 2 Corian sinks to match the countertop. That will bump up my price. I didn’t compare prices between Corian fabricators. My builder normally doesn’t use Corian so I got a recommendation for a Corian fabricator from the Corian distributor for the northeast and my builder agreed to use them. I have my fingers crossed that everything will turn out ok!

BTW, the “marble” look porcelain bathroom floor I picked out for one of my bathrooms turned out to be so much busier than what the photos and samples looked like — I am so glad that a plain white Corian countertop is going in! I would have been miserable if I had picked a quartz pattern. I had thought about going with Ionic white with N-boost in quartz but decided to go with tried and true Corian instead.

Given the price of building this whole house, and given that this is our “dream” home and probably our last home, my focus was on just getting building materials that I would love seeing everyday, weren’t priced crazy, and those that should be easy to maintain. It was so hard for me to find things like that, and so hard for me to make decisions. I kept an eye on our overall budget — when we went over on some things, we cut out some other things. If it turns out that the Corian price comes in over our builder’s allowance for countertops, I’ll just have to forego something else.

@Joseph Corlett LLC I have to select sinks from photos for a double sink vanity. The fabricator suggested either the # 7418 or the # 8254 as I like the rectangular style. I am leaning towards the #7412 (a slightly smaller version of the 7418). The “Chic” sinks look more stylish than the 8254 from what I can tell from the photos ... but photos can be misleading. It’s hard to pick out a white sink on a white background.

Here’s the vanity... what do you think?

thank you!

@Michelle Flaherty I pulled the trigger on Glacier White Corian for my kitchen and 2 bath vanities. I was having such a difficult time deciding. I stain tested the Corian, Ionic White Quartz with N-Boost and Dekton. The D (autocorrect is driving me crazy) failed. The white quartz needed a harder scrub than the Corian but I eventually got the stain out. However, I decided I liked the Corian better. I also figured that if the Quartz needed the N-boost finish, it must have had problems without it and I was worried about whether a lot of scrubbing would ruin the finish. I don’t have the countertops in yet. A photo of my Jack and Jill vanity cabinet is in an earlier post. It’s getting a backsplash to match the rear wall of the shower (slightly smaller tiles). I have no idea about what I’ll do for the kitchen backsplash behind the range.

Sorry - the photos below are sideways. The tile on the rear shower wall is light blue. It looks gray on my iPhone.

The range hood will drop down once the countertops are installed. The rear wall gets art and a picture light. Some people may not like so much white, but I think this gives me room to add color and texture via flowers, stools, art, etc.

BTW - I was also influenced to go with Corian because there are lots of negative reviews for quartz but it’s hard to find a negative review for Corian.

@mtpo "I’m getting the curved 1/2“ backsplash."

That's a very nice look. For the estimates I provided above, it added about $725 to the overall cost for approximately 17 linear feet of what they call integral cove backsplash.

If you're interested, Samsung has a youtube channel with videos of countertops being fabricated from their solid surface product, Staron. It's really interesting to see how they fabricate them. If you're into seeing how the sausage is made, LOL, you can find them here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0DfxukT_PMzUgK8-Z1t9Qg

Thanks @mtpo and wow your house will be gorgeous! I’m thinking of getting an eased edge to better match a walnut island top we had installed last year. Our current orangey-gold granite has a bullnose edge and the combination bothers me.
But my real motivation for switching out the granite (as I do cringe at the waste) is that we are getting a bar area and I don’t want to do walnut and can’t have a third surface!
I’m leaning towards the glacier white as well - even as I’m a little scared of it showing everything or looking fake. But a friend of mine has pure white quartz and I’ve never thought that while there. Here is my BM cabinets and current granite.

I got 2” x 2” samples (glacier white, designer white and a few others) of Corian from Home Depot. They did not charge me for the samples. When my builder contacted the fabricator (not associated with HD), the fabricator sent a 6” x 6” sample of Glacier white. I suggest asking your fabricator for the larger sample — it really helped me with my decision. I like your cabinets. Are your bottom cabinets white too? There are so many different colors of white paint and white Corian. Some whites have warm tones and some have cool tones. Also make sure you check out your selection in daylight and at night.

When I looked at kitchens with Corian, I liked those with the more modern look the best — those with the simple edge. Some of the more curved and fancier edges looked too dated to me. If you go with the white countertop, I would suggest changing your sink too. IMHO, the dark sink will be too much contrast.

How do you like your walnut island top? I thought about doing that, but my dark wood dining table, which is not walnut, is going to be close by so I decided there would be too many wood tones. I love the look of walnut island tops.

yes i agree a large sample would be great to have at home; i only saw them at the store. my cabinets are all white (BM white dove) including the island with walnut top. The walnuts worked out well so far - it has a few scratches but i'm the only one who would notice. that said - i do feel like having only one "high maintenance" surface is probably enough for me!

not sure if you've seen this kitchen https://www.houzz.com/photos/pacific-heights-kitchen-remodel-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~3137096

but they have a wood island, corian perimeter and marble bar top - i love the look!

my island is much bigger - around 5 x 5 ft so i'm hoping the all white perimeter would help make it the showpiece. i do have a table very close and had same issue with wood tones - i found a solution that looks OK - i'll send it to you when i can clean up tomorrow!

i totally agree on the more modern look - it looks great in really modern kitchens but even the simple edge in more traditional/transitional kitchens makes it less dated.

thanks for the idea on the sink - i agree - previous owners had a blue sink and a light fixture (now gone); i love blue but didnt see how it blends with the gold granite.

Glacier White is such a nice white. I have it in my kitchen, and my cabinets are a nice match. I was aiming for BM Snowfall White, but on my cabs it turned out brighter and slightly cooler than the sample board I painted, and I like it even better. It looks really good with the Corian.

@Michelle Flaherty I love the Pacific Heights kitchen.!! Very clean and bright. The countertops work well together. Are you going to take down your backsplash tile to get the Pacific Heights look? That seems like a big expense but I guess if you’re going for that look and you are redoing the countertops, now would be the time to ditch the tile. The only color in that kitchen comes from the flowers etc. — the whites and wood and marble are a perfect grounding and the colors in the flowers and veggies bring the kitchen to life.. Redoing the kitchen is like a train of dominos, you do one thing, and it leads to the next, and the next. (I am going to redo the kitchen in my condo before I sell it — the contractor told me if I’m redoing the countertops, I’ll have to take out the backsplash tile because otherwise the new countertop may not line up perfectly with the old tile — you may want to check on this if you plan on keeping your tile.)

I‘m not going to leave produce on my counters all the time to make my kitchen photo ready, 🌷😁🌸 but will probably get an Interesting centerpiece for my island.