For your counter > IMO real wood counters are awesome fake stone or fake wood not so much.

That looks interesting. Not many pictures to see what it a actually looks like online.

What is your plan for it?

yeah - what's the use case?

I'd never use it for counters.

Other corain uses could be showers - nope, not there either.

Not for flooring - real wood is better

Not for wall cladding - real wood is better

I think it poses an interesting idea. And since these are just samples by themselves, we don't know what they would actually look like. What we do know is that Corian is durable and easy care and would be a good choice for countertops. I'd be interested in seeing a whole kitchen done with either one or both.

I'd want to see a bigger sample, especially of the beech. I prefer real wood over imitators for most siuations, but I'm not sure the beech has to look like wood imitation ... it's just a light creamy/brown striation; depending on what larger looks like and format, it could work nicely as a pattern. The mahogany looks like it's trying harder to be wood because of its tone.

I think the Beech looks soft and lovely; it could be beautiful in the right application. Not trying to be wood; just trying to be itself :)

Let's not try to pretend it looks in any way like wood.

Ha, ok, sort of figured as much. Was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt!

Well, I'll tell ya one thing. It looks pretty darn good on that countertop.

Looks are subjective. Corian outperforming real wood as a countertop is not.

I have mixed feelings about man-made materials that try to imitate natural materials. I have not been on board with the recent enthusiasm for marble-look quartz countertops, for example, as I think they all look like pretty poor imitations. I have nothing against laminate counters, but am much more enthusiastic about a boomerang pattern than stone looks. But there are always exceptions. I'm not bothered by stone-look porcelain floor tile. And I'm more forgiving of materials that imitate things you would never actually use for that application--laminate counters in a textile pattern, or porcelain countertops that look like rusted metal.

The material doesn't look like it would fool anybody. As long as you're okay with that and like the look, go ahead.

We really want solid surface (corian, wilsonart, etc). I've got one area in my kitchen that is going to be used as a buffet area. Lower cabinets up against a half wall that leads to the living room. Just thinking I might want something other than the white(ish) counter I'm using for the rest of the kitchen but I just don't know what. And because of the way we intend to use this area I think I still want solid surface here too.

I had Corian in a kitchen that I renovated 8 years ago. I hated the way it looked but thought it was outstanding in regards to function. I actually think the wood look is beautiful, no one will be fooled into thinking it’s wood but I’ll bet many would comment on how pretty it is. Corian is an excellent counter top material.

Exactly.

If it’s just for that serving area, you can use it. With your dark walls the brown will blend in, but the white will at relate to your countertop. It’s a good, functional choice for a buffet serving space if that is the only reason to use it. I, personally, just put a lot of trivets on a wood buffet in my dining room. What did you choose for the kitchen countertop? Is this shelf right outside the kitchen? We don’t see the whole space so it’s hard to really judge the question.

It's certainly no worse than those old "cultured marble" counters I grew up with in the 60's/70's.

A designer convinced us to not use material that imitates other material and we dont. Those Nuwood samples have streaks but no curvy woodgrain. You can ask for a photo of a full slab

I prefer Corian over other material for a number of reasons and would use it again.

@RedRyder Here is the whole space. Our designer suggested we lower to the wall to the height of the counter but we aren't doing that.

"A designer convinced us to not use material that imitates other material and we dont."

And she's picking up the tab when the natural marble you picked has to have the etches removed every 18 months because engineered stone didn't look closely enough to the real thing?

We love ours