I have a 1925 vintage home. I wanted a somewhat formal English cottage look...something that felt relaxed with an air of formality. The flush inset cabinetry was a must. I went with Silestone quartz: Color-Lagoon...this was years before everyone and their brother had tons of marble look-a-likes. (about 8 years ago) .

At that time, Lagoon was my favorite. And I actually still like it. I'm not a fan of the ones with solid white and veining. While very pretty, I like a more muted marble look.

Period looking light fixtures also help...as well as the design. I designed new window trim (it isn't original). It had been redone in the 1950s with standard 2.25" trim.

Here is a photo of my kitchen.

Plain & Fancy Kitchen - Dayton Ohio · More Info

And another....taken prior to backsplash install and wall/trim paint.

1925 Plain & Fancy Kitchen - Dayton Ohio · More Info

You’d have to have your head in the sand to not have heard of quartz. I would never want a wood or stainless steel countertop, gross!

how is that gross? well cared for and sealed wood is no more gross than many types of stone, which can be porous. and stainless can be completely sterile.

If you think stainless steel is gross, you shouldn't eat out as virtually all restaurant kitchen counters are stainless steel....

I hadn't really heard of quartz until I started remodeling my kitchen.

Tom - Your Martin Moore link is SO helpful. Yes, so many of their counters look like solid surface and seem to make sense with their inset cabinetry and overall vibe. Thanks.

The Kitchen Place - Fantastic cabinetry. Great kitchen.

Wood countertops - I was just with a friend who flinched with horror when I mentioned wood countertops. Her mother-in-law is Swedish, lives in Switzerland, and is a neat freak, yet her wood counters are "gross, sticky, and discolored around the sink" according to my friend. I wonder if Europeans just see things like that as natural patina and aging and if we Americans think of it as unhygenic and gross?

The countertop contractors who were talking me out of wood are not thinking of Ikea cabinets. They sell top quality butcher block like Grothehouse and Boos but still warn against them. My cabinet maker made a cherry buther block top for a side counter in our current kitchen. Even though she stands to make money off of selling us ones for our new galley kitchen, she strongly talked us out of it saying she doesn't think they wear well around a sink....

Quartz is almost as much plastic as solid surface.

And every processed food you eat is manufactured on stainless steel equipment becuae of its ease of cleanining and chemical resistance.

If you want a real high-end, period look, you could go for silver, thats what the counters are in th kitchen at the Henry Ford house in Detroit. :)

to clarify, wood countertops don't have to be gross, but keeping them clean is very high maintenance.

as for the european thing? kind of gross. maybe the rationale is that you're not setting food directly right there? the rim of my own sink is not kept perfectly clean all the time, so I understand. but I don't think I could tolerate it feeling sticky. ew.

Kendrah, sorry to hijack but @The Kitchen Place, I had just settled on your fixture, or one close to it, for our (inset) porch/entryway! So reassuring, because I just love it in your kitchen.

@Tom S, I could look at those photos all day long.

I'm now thinking on a tan/bone color for the cabinets and a white solid surface countertop. Light fixtures - flushmount, black with brass. I'm ever so slightly starting to feel this come together. This is my kitchen crush photo of the day that is getting me towards a vision of my own space. If I were into dark counters, I'd go for this look immediately. Instead, I think white solid surface may work. I'm crushing hard on the flushmount fixture from Urban Electric.

Thanks all for your ideas and advice. I'm sure I'll be back for more soon.

The pin doesn’t show up for me

Here's the pic I tried to pin to below. What are your thoughts on a galley kitchen version of this with white solid surface counters instead of black, same flush mount fixtures but three going down the middle of the room, and I'd work in some black and wood accents somehow - trays, bowls.

Nothing about it is Art Deco, but I'm not wed to the imitation of a style. I was inspired by these lights on Urban Electric because they have a bit of a machine age feel, and I saw a pic of them in this kitchen by Whitney Parkinson.

Oh man Kendrah now you have me hooked on some Urban Electric sconces, haha. I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on the link! So pretty

Kendrah, yes, I do think if you lighten up everything else in the kitchen, with a few black accents, white counters would look great! choose your counters before you choose a cabinet color, since paint can be custom mixed.

in that inspiration photo I posted above, she chose super pale pink for her lowers, and black accessories. I could see that also working with off white cabinets, or super pale green.

or heck, maybe not even super pale for the cabinets. I finally found a white countertop example for you that's not modern! I don't like the wall color here, or how the shelves don't match the other whites, but still, this room looks great with white counters!

Kendra, would you get polished Corian (shiny) or a matte finish? I think that might make a big difference. You’re smart to want to see it in an actual kitchen.

Corian won't stay shiny. Get their standard finish which will arrive kind of shiny (semi-shiny) but it will become more matte over time. If you want to maintain a shiny finish, you'll have to pay a fabricator to come out and re-buff your tops every couple years or so. (Joe C would know number of years....I'm not sure).

If you want shiny, go with quartz or granite.

Corian comes in various colortones. It is man-made so it may not be as stable as natural stone.
Use a cutting board for all chopping and slicing work to protect the counter. I had Corian for years before we changed to granite. The Corian worked well.

I could write a dissertation on countertops. As an appraiser, Quartz is considered a high end choice. It's not the highest end, but it's a premium product. As Joe Corlett said, it's the companion to the little black dress which in this case is absolute black granite. Soapstone would be another choice, but you said you wanted a light color. What is durable, effective and available in a light color? White Quartz.

As a child, I grew up in a house with butcher block counters. We had a stainless steel sink that had been custom fabricated with a stainless surround that extended from the bowl about 12" on each side. This was the wet zone. The butcher block counters wore like iron. That's the case with all wood until it comes in contact with it's enemy water. If you plan having a sink with a faucet in your new kitchen, forget wood.

I get your revulsion to the white quartz. What comes to mind is an integrated sink with a white faucet at the Golden Girl's house in Florida. I'm a little repulsed myself. But, that's a bad application.

What is a good application? I suggest white quartz with a simple edging and an undermount sink of a different metallic or ceramic material. First function, then decoration. Your faucet will be the jewelry with the little white dress. A white quartz countertop would reflect the light and at the same time recede into the background. The star would be your cabinets, back splash, faucets and cabinet pulls.

Other options would be stainless, copper or zinc counters. I think those would be too dark and maintenance nightmares.

That brings us back to quartz. Availability, check. Durability, check. Reflective of light, check. Recedes into the background, check. Complimentary with historic fixtures, check.

I have to disagree with your statement that stainless counters are dark and a maintence nightmare. Copper and zinc may require maintenance but certainly not stainless! we have had our stainless counters for 4 years and they are one of my favorite parts of our kitchen. We have an integrated sink and a short backsplash that was included to go to windowsill level and provide a place for all the required outlets.

There are no caulk lines or sink edges to get dirty and a microfiber cloth or a damp paper towel makes everything spotless after cooking. The counters are also light and bright and combined with white shaker cabinets look classic not trendy.

Can we do away with the analogy of counters and "little black dress" or "little white dress"? It is nonsensical. A counter is a workhorse in a kitchen and needs to be durable and easy care. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the expression "the little black dress", which is a cocktail dress that is short that can be worn to many types of parties.

To the OP - I agree with the comments about wood being difficult near a sink. As to Corian, we had Corian in our home when I was a teenager, and that was a long time ago, and it's true that it is low-maintenance but it looks plastic-y and not a Plain English aesthetic one iota and that's the bottom line for Corian. I think Quartz could be a good choice if you choose the pattern very very carefully.

My recommendation though - if you do want to stay with the Plain English look - would be wood counter everywhere except for near the sink. Near the sink would be soapstone, which would be unoiled so that it is lighter. Alternatively, a wood and Quartz mix. You would also have a really good light over the sink with a lot of lumens to help with any darkness of the counter and your vision - either a pendant light, or what I favor is 2 canned lights over the sink, one over each shoulder, for double the light and no shadows from your head. (this photo is for the kitchen counters, but the lighting is terrible in it)

RoyHobbs, Said by a man that never had to select a dress for a cocktail party:)

Your example picture has wooden counters and either a soapstone or absolute black granite counter in the wet area. You point about proper lighting is spot on. Lighting is key and good lighting could open up other opportunities.

I’ve had Formica, Coriander, granite, and soapstone, in that order. Corian remains my favorite.

I've had all of the above except soapstone. I've even had real wood butcherblock. I've not yet had any ultra compact material or quartzite....but with that being said, Engineered Quartz is hands down my favorite to date!

Roy: You’ve missed the point, bigly. Countertops are fashion. Anyone who doesn’t understand this and the metaphor hasn’t been around long enough.

Joseph: I disagree. The whole point of "the little black dress" is that it can be worn to all kinds of events and parties. But the OP was specific about the look she wants - the Plain English aesthetic. Instead of the little black dress that fits for many different events, she wants a counter specific to one look. So the analogy does not work.

If countertops were purely pragmatic, they’d all be Corian. The staining, bleeding, natural quartzite garbage we see are the unemployed black-leather-jacketed bad boys that your girl has a crush on.

Eh, I've had a granite counter for 19 years. It has not one flaw on it after all that time. Corian burns and scratches, sorry, we can agree to disagree.

Roy:

The Natural Stone Institute, the 70-year-old trade association of the industry, recommends trivet use, as does DuPont, Corian's manufacturer, making them essentially equal in the heat resistance department.

“making them [granite and Corian] essentially equal in the heat resistance department.”

Not a correct assumption. Corian is an acrylic material and gets burn marks easily, even from a brief touch of a hot pan. While granite can potentially incur a crack from thermal shock, it is a less likely occurrence, and far less likely from just a touch of a hot pan.

Let’s get back to the OP topic. Joseph Corlett has years-long history of defending Corian on this forum, and the OP topic has consequently drifted.

M Miller:

Respectfully, you don't know of what you're speaking. You could set a hot cookie sheet on Corian repeatedly with no harm; same with stone. It does not "get burn marks easily, even from the brief touch of a hot pan". Simply false.

Corian, engineered stone, and even natural stone suffer heat damage from sustained heat, not brief heat or heat that dissapates relatively quickly. I've been called to repair them all and the people with a matching solid surface remnant are in luck; the estoners and stoners are looking at replacement.

Furthermore, a little thread drift is a good thing when readers become more educated consumers.

I spent a lot of time yesterday looking at Corian along with other engineered stone (quartz and quartize). The one thing I did walk away with was puzzlement at any claims that one looks plastic while the other doesn't. They're all engineered and they look it. Which is fine. That's what they are.

Ultimately, if the decision comes down to a glacier white Corian versus the equivalent in quartz (solid color with no veining), what do you get from spending more on quartz, literally twice more?

Is quartz stronger? Fair enough, yes it is. But so what? What does that really mean? I grew up in a house with laminate countertops installed in a 1980s luxury kitchen, along with a wood butcher block island, and 35 years later, those countertops are still going strong, having survived several rambunctious teens and now grandchildren and multiple family pets and daily use, including a mother who approaches cooking and entertaining with a zest. Yes, it's not marble, yes, it's not quartz, but they look just fine. They're not scratched, they're not beat.

Judging from the tones of some of these countertop comparisons, you get the impression there are families who literally bash heavy pots and pans against the countertops daily and smash heavy bowls against them all the time and that's why they need something amazingly strong and only quartz fits the bill. Perhaps that's the case but I suspect it's really not.

I do think there is an element of self defense in needing to justify what is ultimately a vanity decision, not a pragmatic decision. Hence the claims of resale! Luxury! Amazingly strong!

If you love quartz because you find it beautiful in your kitchen, that's great! And that's all that really matters.

@Kendra: if you love the Corian, then do it. Your classic NYC apartment and antiques are what give your home its vibe. You’re not trying to “match” the age of the building and your furniture. Any antique home with a new kitchen will work as long as the owner is happy. You said your kitchen is a galley kitchen, so please keep to one product for the countertop. Check out Cambria. You may like their whites as well. If you’re now considering a change from white cabinets and white countertops, the countertop can have some color in it.
The lighting, hardware, fixture and accessories will “match” your historic apartment. Your larger choices (cabinets, flooring, countertop and backsplash) will obviously be modern, but that will look just fine.
I agree that seeing a white Corian kitchen in person would be essential for your piece of mind.

"Is quartz (engineered stone) stronger?"

It depends upon how you define "stronger". Corian and other solid surfaces are much more chip resistant than estone or natural stone. Estone can be cantilevered further than natural stone, but since edges on Corian are usually built down, that would easily cover steel tube underlayment, practically making it "stronger" then either of the alternatives.

As the guy who gets the calls to fix the chips, I can say that yes, there are people that bash pots and pans against their countertops daily, especially at dishwashers. That's why you specify a slight positive reveal at undermount sinks beause the sink now protects the bottom of the sink cutout edge from chipping. Designers love the pencil edge, but you're not calling her when you've got chips to fix are you?

I see I'm late to this party, but I remodeled my kitchen last year and installed Glacier White Corian. The house was built in 1910, and I went for a "temporally eclectic" kitchen (that is, not slavishly vintage but mixing in elements from different era and a few modern elements, like the kitchen had evolved over time).

I really like my Corian. It's easy, and I didn't want or need the counter to be the star of my kitchen. I don't think it looks or feels plasticky, despite what others have said here. It doesn't look vintage (I don't think there were any solid white counter materials in 1910), but it doesn't exactly look not vintage either, since it is very plain (if those folks in 1910 had had access to the material, they would have used it).

Cawaps - we need a picture! Laminate countertops ARE plastic, so would look like plastic but everything has improved so much, they even can look good! (In my office lol)

Joseph Corlett- Curious if all those chips in the granite around my undermount sink can be reprofiled or just fixed? Sigh- we are the hard on everything big family

ITA, cupofkindnessgw. My sis put Glacier White counters in her starter home about 35 years ago and they look today as they did on install day. The house has been a rental property for the last 20+ years, so plenty of abuse. Still look perfect; creamy and soft. We have it in a guest bath, installd by previous owner. So pretty, and clean with a swipe of windex.

Nevertheless, Corian is not the Plain English aesthetic that the OP wants. If you read what she says about Corian on this thread, each time she acknowledges some of the benefits mentioned here, but indicates her ambivalence toward it and whether it fits with the kitchen she wants. She is dreaming of her kitchen a certain way, and I feel like people are trying to convince her to what they want, not what she has specificaly expressed that she wants.

You are right, Shannon! The best example is Anglophilia's kitchen. Kendrah has a lot to think about.

"Joseph Corlett- Curious if all those chips in the granite around my undermount sink can be reprofiled or just fixed?"

How comprehensive of a fix do you prefer please? Sure, the chips can be touched up for several hundred bucks, but reprofiling the edge costs more but is much more permanent.

How is a particulate estone more of a Plain English esthetic than Glacier White Corian please?

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - no idea. I am with the people on this thread who recommended soapstone and/or wood counters and very good lighting.

Or is everyone around me just conditioned to not like them because they aren't as popular and are inexpensive?

I think we see a great deal of "this is what I want because it's popular and trendy" on this board. I also think we see a lot of "I want the exclusive stuff".

This pic is a good example of my aesthetic. Can you see solid surface in this kitchen?

Your inspiration picture is so lovely. Calm, nostalgic, certainly not cookie-cutter. Is it white or ever-so-barely sage green?

Yes, I can see solid surface in this space -- in fact, granite, etc. would be "too modern" for this space. BUT one of the things that makes this "work" is that the countertops match the flooring.

I agree with you about wood: I love the look of wood, but it doesn't seem all that practical for a "workhorse kitchen". Sure, you can refinish it, but who wants to do that?

Here is a photo of my kitchen.

Kitchen Place, your details are drop-dead gorgeous.

Little black dress

I hate the concept of the "little black dress". Any time we go someplace dressy, 90% of the women are wearing a black dress, and it makes them all look the same. How dull.

Great post, Mrs. Pete! Two things: Not everyone needs a workhorse kitchen, so refinishing the wood is not a deal-breaker for everyone, and your comment about matching counters and floors in the inspiration kitchen absolutely nails the reason it looks so stunning. (And if someone else said that upthread, kudos to you too).

Whether or not Corian fits the Plain English look is a red herring argument. Yes, you're likely right that in a strictly pure sense, it's not the marble or wood or metal that you see in the promotional photographs of the Plain English kitchens. On the other hand, the Plain English look is based on the concept of, well, plain. And you can't get plainer than Corian Glacier White. Plain English is also based on the notion of functional, almost utilitarian kitchens deriving from the functional, utilitarian kitchens of manor houses and farmhouses, and Corian Glacier White is functional and utilitarian. I see Plain English kitchens clearly using engineered stone/Quartz, so if they use those, why not Corian Glacier white or some single color variant of it? Last but not least, Plain English is not meant to be a strict interpretation of a 19th century or earlier kitchen, after all, it incorporates all the modern conveniences we can't live without like fridges and microwaves. So there's no rule saying we can't use a modern product.

Another realization I had over the weekend in studying countertops is that it makes all the difference exactly how much countertop space you have. In my kitchen renovation, we are putting in what is effectively a galley kitchen layout. One side is a long peninsula that is opened to the adjoining dining area. It's the centerpiece of the kitchen. The countertop is a long slab of wood uncluttered by sinks or stoves or wall cabinets. With that visibility, it makes sense to have a countertop that shines as a focal point. And we are - it's going to be a thick cherry countertop, beautifully finished.

The opposing side is the prep side with the stove, sink, dishwasher and fridge along one wall. The countertop spaces in between the appliances are not extensive. Much of the surface will be occupied with coffee machines, mixers, knife boxes and all the usual detritus of a kitchen prep space. In short, little countertop will actually be visible. I don't need to "show off" a fancier countertop if it's going to be barely noticeable. Corian makes perfect sense for these spaces, workhorse countertops and unobtrusive. Someone with a Manhattan galley kitchen likely has limited countertop space so it may not be worth the effort or expenditure or long term maintenance on countertops that won't be able to stand out so much due to lack of space, as well as demand for surface space by everyday cooking. In this context (and what I am also considering) a good solution is having simple Corian surfaces but going for a stone backsplash, marble or slate, which would be much more visible than the countertops and yet much easier to maintain and worry-free.

I do also want to comment that it can be risky to be too slavishly an adherent to a style that it becomes impractical for your particular context. An advantage to the Plain English is that it is flexible enough in the overall look that you can break the rules here and there without detracting from the overall composition. Some Plain English kitchens have a very contemporary and artistic feel to them, others are more classically pure.

Thanks Joseph Corlett for advice about fixing granite around sink ! I will look into getting it reprofiled if that would help prevent those chips, from reappearing! We have had our second round of granite countertops put in 3+years ago , after a fire. The first ones were speckley cheaper granite that was bullet proof. These fancy looking ones with sparkles etc. are filled with resin here and there that has already failed in a couple of places. Our old counters had a rounder profile which was definitely tougher. All the info in this post is great!!

Wow, I took a few days break to deal with lighting fixtures and paint and I've come back to so many more replies on this thread. Very helpful so thanks all again.

1. Do solid surface come in shiny or dull surfaces that you can choose or does that vary by company? I'm already drawn to the duller looking 2x2 samples of solid surface. They feel less in your face plastic to me.

2. We made a few choices in the last couple of days and I wanted to give you all an idea of how things are coming together to see if you have more input pro or con for solid surface.

Thanks!

Floors

Here is a pic of the kitchen before. We have put up a wall where the ceiling beam is to turn it into a galley, hence it will become much darker. After visiting cork flooring places and being disappointed, we've decided for now to keep the current slate grey tile flooring and potentially use an inexpensive jute runner.

Lighting

We will have lots of under cabinet lighting, and one of our large upper cabinets will have glass fronts and lighting within that will help light the kitchen slightly. We will run three of these brass flush mount fixtures centered down the aisle of the kitchen.

Wall and Cabinet Color

We have selected Farrow and Ball String for the cabinets, walls, and trim. I love how much the color changes in different light and throughout the day, sometimes looking almost greenish. I can find no two pics of it that look the same.

Hardware

Round, antique brass knobs for everything except the paneled appliances, which will be pulls. We might get something like this or something much simpler without all the adornment and roping.

Inset cabinetry

This is the kitchen in our current house, which we are selling. We have the same cabinet maker doing our NYC galley kitchen making nearly identical cabinets, with obviously a different layout. The cabinets are custom and we like the ratios of the railings and trim.

P.S. - Prize to anyone who can find me pictures of installed cameo white corian counters. Cherry on the top if they are in a kitchen with some kind of historic vibe.

Kaye posted her pics in this post: white corian/solid surface--I am crazy? (houzz.com)