I suggest you try google, cpartist, about granite.

I had a desk in a showroom I used to work at that was laminate - a textured pattern that looked like granite ( they use Hi def photos to create the patterns ) . I had many customers sit there and say how much they liked my granite top! Even as they were leaning on it and touching. They were shocked when I told them it was laminate. It had a nice crescent edge on it.

This product has come so far over the years. Should you cut on it - no , put hot stuff on it, no. Should you do that with other tops - no - most people wash their tops with 409 or fantastik and never rinse it off! I wouldn't want my food on that. For hot pots - no counter fabricator will say it's ok to do that.

I miss my laminate top - it is softer and warmer. As long as it coordinates well with al the other things in your kitchen, it should not be looked at as a negative. IMO

You can get and "undermount sink" - look into Karran sinks - the seamless ones - I have never sold them , I just know of their existence.

I just had a customer do a laminate top and backsplash - she was on a tight budget. But she loves it!

AT the end of the day - that is all that matters!

Good luck

I tried to Google… about granite. I can’t find a knife maker that says it’s OK to cut on granite.

Just to clarify. The original purpose of a cutting board was to protect your knives. Granite is harder than your knife and will quickly turn your knives into really great scrapers but really crappy knives.

I don’t cut anything directly on my granite, but I do occasionally place a hot pot on it.

Lots of great input here. I never cut on my quartz, or put hot pans on it to be honest. Habit I guess? @bry911 good to know about the adhesives. @krdpm I will look at Corian as well. I share your dislike for the feeling of the stone. Don't get me wrong, I think quartz looks great, but I'm questioning whether or not there is a substantial functional superiority over laminate to warrant the substantial cost difference. Just curious, for those of you who feel laminate would be a mistake, do you also feel that putting quartz in a builder grade or big box store kitchen is also a mistake? Wondering where the line is? I know at the end of the day it's our home and we should do what we want, but I'm trying to figure out why someone would choose inferior cabinetry or appliances and splurge on something like quartz/granite which is almost entirely a cosmetic choice. They literally just lay there and look pretty :-)

No - you aren't crazy.

I had laminate counters that lasted 30 years - towards the end they were becoming a bit rubbed where I had given them hard use but I was planning a complete renovation so I just lived with them.

I now have granite (Black Galaxy) and I don't do anything differently than with formica. I don't cut on it - I don't place hot pans directly on it so there is no change in my kitchen behavior.

I also remodeled with no plans to move out unless in a body bag OR to a dementia ward - in either case I don't care about resale value so I did a lot of stuff that was my taste and suited my functional needs.

I did have my cabinets lined with teal blue formica wherever they might have to be cleaned - i.e. shelves and the whole sink cabinet. The rest is painted teal blue to match the formica.

That said, I wouldn't do formica cabinets because it is my understanding that you can't have an under mount sink and I would NEVER NEVER NEVER want to go back to having to clean crumbs from a counter with my old top mounted sink.

This is from the Formica brand website. Not what I typically think of when I think laminate. Pretty impressive.

Thats good to know about the adhesives. I was just repeating what a contractor told me about adhesives. The only surface I would set hot pots in is genuine soapstone or Pyrolave countertops, so I am hoping I will be good with laminate. I had it in my first kitchen and managed not to damage it, so fingers crossed

I suggest you try google, cpartist, about granite.

I suggest you do the same. You might be surprised. Hopefully Joseph sees your comment.

but I'm questioning whether or not there is a substantial functional superiority over laminate to warrant the substantial cost difference.

Both are manmade products, so my answer is no. And the fact you dislike the cold feel of stone give you your answer. :)

but I'm trying to figure out why someone would choose inferior cabinetry or appliances and splurge on something like quartz/granite which is almost entirely a cosmetic choice.

Because HGTV and sites like Houzz tell them they need to have the "latest" and "greatest". And right now the latest and greatest is quartz or quartzite. Usually in some shade of white with grey veining.

I have a friend who put Corian in her high end kitchen and regretted it. She said for what she paid for Corian, she could have gone a little more and gotten stone.

I have the undermount sink in my laminate countertop. It is actually called a flush mount .sink. I love my counters and sink. I've never had trouble with any seams lifting in any of my homes. Laminate is a work horse.

I just watched an HGTV flip at the gym, it passes time on the elliptical, and the cabinets were $4000--in a nearly $1M house in LA. But they put quartz on them.

@michelle

Having watched too many real estate shows, it's amazing how little buyers know. The agent says, "stainless steel appliances", "quartz counters", and "white cabinets". They nod approvingly. They can't tell a stapled drawer from a dovetailed one. They don't look to see if the hood exhausts. They can't tell a $700 stove from a $4,000 one.

So builders buy cheap painted cabinets, slap quartz on it and some first time buyer falls for it.

I'm so glad to see someone else considering laminate in a permanent home kitchen remodel. We built in '01 and used IKEA cabinets and a local installer for laminate counters. In 2013 we did a partial reconfigure of our kitchen and upgraded to granite. I hate the granite. It has chips that snag my shirts, it shows every crumb, streak, piece of dust. It needs to be almost polished daily to look clean. I do not remember my laminate being so high maintenance. We are upgrading the kitchen with high end appliances (SubZero/Wolf), potentially going with IKEA cabinets again, and I want laminate countertops. Waterfall edge, etc to make them modern. No drip edge though, no sill splash, I think it will look more fresh. You make me excited to shop for my laminate. That way, if in 8-10 years I am bored with it, it can be replaced and I'm still money ahead. I know you can get undermount sink with it, but only certain kinds.

@ykindschi…you lost me at “IKEA”. Ugh.

@palimpsest: you must not realize that a $1M house in LA is about a $200K house anywhere else.

No, I understand that $1M in CA is a pretty low price. I was indicating that it was not a very Big house. I also live in a HCOLA.

My comment was really about them finding kitchen cabinets even for the small kitchen for $4000--where do you get those?--and then putting relatively expensive quartz on top of them.

(They also tiled right over regular drywall in both bath/shower areas in the two flips I saw when I was watching.

@patricia Colwell Consulting: Please use punctuation. Please.

Sometimes I am in a hurry so shoot me. BTW I happen to have a very high end kitchen but not what most Americans think of as high- end mine is actully a working kitchen I run a catering biz from mine and as for the counter it was IMO the best choice for the money and its use I would have done real stone but I have giant FP in real stone and it forms the wall behind my range and stainless drawer cabinets.

@pkatzzz said, “you lost me at “IKEA”. Ugh.”

Please enlighten us.

/Get’s popcorn.

Sorry for the long response:

This is exactly why customers are so confused. They are getting conflicting information from people who don't really know or have experience with!

Here is my experience - had granite - it was nice, no issues but cold and I broke alot of stuff on it; had laminate - it was in a condo and about 20 years old and still looked brand new, no issues, easy to take care of; have quartz now - no issues but it is cold and I have broken stuff on it.

I use cutting boards to protect my expensive knives ( granite and quartz will ruin them ) . I use trivets - why? Because my mom did and NO natural stone company or quartz company will say it is ok to put a hot pot on them even though there is some heat resistance.

Sometimes inexpensive cabinet companies are ok they will have a good construction, quality glides and hinges but they don't off as much as the big brands so their overhead is a lot lower. Of course there is still trash out there. I have Medallion cabinets in particle board construction for 20 years now and they are just fine. No Experience - but I have heard quite a lot of positives about IKEA cabinets.

For floors everyone is all about tile or wood in the kitchen . I have good old fashioned sheet vinyl from Armstrong. Its been there for 20 years and looks exactly like the day it was installed. It's soft , warm and I drop things alot so less breakage ( or shattering into a million pieces ). I will be doing it again in my remodel.

Somewhere along the line, some designers or HGTV or whatever started saying the laminate was bad and you have to do granite and there followed the herds.

Buy what you love and buy what you can afford - you will be so much happier in the end.

Good luck to you!

“Ikea? You might as well shop at Rooms to Go too…”

@pkatzzz, revealing her snobbery…without having first hand experience with the brand.

Ikea? You might as well shop at Rooms to Go too…

You're showing your ignorance about Ikea. Ikea cabinets are a good quality with a 25 year warranty if I remember correctly.

I had put Ikea cabinets in my first house back in 1990. My kids 10 years ago went to see the house, met the owner who we had sold the house to, and those Ikea cabinets were still performing beautifully and still looked good.

When we remodeled to create my Dream Kitchen with maple plywood cabinets we built ourselves, neutral laminate counters and sheet vinyl flooring it barely raised the taxed value of our home or insurance rates (oh, "builder grade" ) so there's that built in savings.

@Michelle

You obviously have not read the rules:

No plastic! That means no quartz countertops, laminate countertops, LVP flooring.

Everything except floors must be white, walls, trim, countertops, backsplash and cabinets.

Do not put anything above cabinets, on countertops or disgrace your home by using any personal touches. Must look like a builder model home.

Use only materials that are natural - best if they are a limited resource and mined by children or indentured servants in countries with limited human rights or ruin natural habitats for endangered species.

Replace everything every 5-10 years - it is okay because you can fill the landfills with natural products and you used no plastic when designing your kitchen.

I forgot to mention budget - buy the most expensive items you can find. Does not matter if you never cook or bake, and order all your meals from door dash - you must buy sub-zero, wolfe, gaggenau . . .

If you are 90 years old and only have $50,000 saved, wait to renovate until you have saved enough to do it right.

I know another $50 k sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, it is only $1 dollar a day (which anyone can save if they just skip one medication) for the next 135 years.

@Jennifer Hogan LOL all funny because it's ALL true. My KD told me that she has outfitted high end kitchens with all Wolf/SZ for clients who admit that they never cook! I am an avid cook and the appliances are of utmost importance for me, therefore I am willing to spend a bit more on them. I am hoping they will be the last appliances I have to buy (fingers crossed). Oh, and the all white everything! YES! The last thing I want is a white shaker kitchen. While that is a classic look, it doesn't feel right for this home. I'd like my new kitchen to look like a more modern take on the original 1970's kitchen. Now that I say that, I guess the laminate tops would make sense from that perspective too!

@cpartist I love all the comments about IKEA cabinets. There is a LOT to love about them. And I have seen some IKEA kitchens that utilized the cabinet boxes and did doors from another supplier that you would NEVER know was an IKEA kitchen. IKEA should never be discounted as a viable option in my opinion. Their warranty is 25 years and there aren't any other cabinet manufacturers offering that! Conestoga is also an amazing option, but their warranty can't touch IKEA. If I didn't have my heart set on inset doors I would consider IKEA for sure.

And speaking of cabinet quality, my KD was/is pushing for solid plywood build. Here is what I've determined makes the most sense. Well constructed drawer boxes, top quality drawer glides and hinges, well constructed face frame (unless you're going frameless) and cabinet doors. A hard as nails finish is key. But the boxes themselves? I dunno? Like I said, our home is 50 years old. Kitchen has original custom cabinetry in excellent condition. And you know what the boxes are made out of? Yup, particle board with the exception of the exposed finished ends. If we weren't changing the layout I'd be hard pressed to make a good argument for replacing them!

So, regardless of what anyone tells me I'm not worried that the cabinets will fall apart if they don't cost 100k. I'm 60 years old. I don't need them to last 50 years.

This has been an awesome discussion and I'm so glad that I'm not the only person who feels that our home renovations are being overly influenced by social media, shows like HGTV, realtors, appliance and cabinet manufacturers etc. I mean, try to even find inspiration photos of kitchens with less than 10 foot ceilings! But a giant budget shouldn't be the only way to have a really beautiful and more importantly, functional space right?

I'm so glad I posed this question here because it made me realize that I too was being influenced into not listening to my own voice.

This reminds me of an article I read recently (please let me know if the link doesn't work).

https://wapo.st/3rqWlSb

"This is our retirement home and plan on going out in a box"

A box made with laminate, of course, and preferably a high-res stone look to give pause to the pallbearers.

@3onthetree LOL That sounds like a plan!

@hellief Yes, that article is exactly what I'm referring to. The HGTV or influencer creating homes that are all the same. Our homes should be a reflection of ourselves and our family. I know there are "rules" when it comes to designing kitchens, but ultimately what will work for ME needs to guide the process. My home will never be photographed for House Beautiful magazine let alone Instagram LOL

I also saw a post yesterday from an IG account I do enjoy and they were celebrating the 10 year anniversary of owning their home and were tripping down memory lane of all of the renovations they have done to get their home to where it is. It was a fantastic reminder that renovating a home is a process for most people. Most of us don't have giant budgets that allow us to complete an entire home renovation before we move in! Letting your home speak to you and discovering how you actually live in that home will prevent costly renovation errors. The things that matter to me and make my home feel special to me shouldn't be the same things for someone else. We need to break out of the group think mentality when it comes to creating our safe spaces.

I have NEVER walked into another person's home and thought less of them (or more of them) based on how much their appliances or countertops cost.

Yes, that article is exactly what I'm referring to. The HGTV or influencer creating homes that are all the same. Our homes should be a reflection of ourselves and our family. I know there are "rules" when it comes to designing kitchens, but ultimately what will work for ME needs to guide the process.

A few years ago, I started a thread on here lamenting the all white or white and grey kitchen. And how people don't take into consideration how their house "feels" or the style of their house when they renovate. But even now about 5 years later, we still haven't moved away from that; or from the white "modern farmhouse".

As I posted elsewhere, when we were growing up (I'm just a few years older than you) kitchens and houses had something unusual for today's homes: COLOR! And not all the same one or two colors. And there were even different styles of furniture, wallpaper, fixtures, etc.

As I mentioned, my Moms house was autumn colors; greens, oranges, browns. My best friend's house was shades of blue. Another friends house had a wonderful white living/dining room and the only color in the kitchen was the blue/yellow/white wallpaper. I could go on and on about all the different houses; all with their own personality.

When did we lose our individual personality?

My home will never be photographed for House Beautiful magazine let alone Instagram LOL

You never know! My house was photographed for Old House Journal even though it's a brand new build and was then featured in Arts and Crafts Homes and the Revival. And there isn't a single white wall (or even a single white ceiling) in my whole house!

However I do have white perimeter shaker cabinets (they work in a craftsman style home) with a dark oak island. However the walls and the counters have COLOR!

The only thing that I feel is important is a well laid out house/kitchen/bath/etc. Once you have that, the rest should be what works for you.

You are absolutely NOT crazy! Laminate is durable, harder to chip than stone, and has a much wider and more varied color selection. I recommend it all the time. 

When granite and engineered stone became popular, laminate fell out of favor and was suddenly thought of as not up to snuff. Since then, makers have really worked hard at having the patterns rival those in natural materials, and you often can't tell that it's laminate till you touch it. And what if you want a pretty, solid color? Except for black, you can't get that in stone. With laminate you pretty much have every color in the rainbow to choose from. 

The only thing I would add to what you already stated is that I had lanimate in my last kitchen for 23 years. When I went to sell the home, nearly every realtor asked if it was a brand new kitchen. That is how well it held up. The laminate in tye bathroom had performed equally well. I'm sure the coatings applied are much more advanced and even more durable now. Also things set onto a laminate countertop have less chance of chipping than when placed on stone, and many people don't like the physically cold feel of stone. 

Because laminate is experiencing a resurgeance, it's no longer way less expensive than stone. Aside from previously not being able to undermount a sink to it (you can now), the only issue would be if you let liquid sit near a seam. Once moisture gets below the surface/ into a seam, the substrate the laminate is mounted to can swell and the countertop puffs up and the laminate pulls away. This usually takes a hefty amount of liquid sitting for a while though. 

You shouldn't feel pressured to get stone. Laminate is a great choice! And it's something different than what you see in the cookie cutter kitchen. Don't feel forced to be a sheep. Tell your designer to spit out her gum and get with the program! 

PS - good luck and please come back and post a picture of your kitchen when it's done. :)

No, choosing laminate does not make you crazy. You should go for it. My husband built me laminate counters for my new remodel and I couldn't be happier. I went for the marble look. There are so many options to choose from. Do what's going to make YOU happy in YOUR kitchen! 😉

@gerdyp very nice. I'm strongly leaning toward the laminate. I will have to take all of the finishes into account and then decide. I prefer them over stone.

I used black laminate counters in my laundry area, and I love them.

I wish more people would post photos of their kitchens with laminate and oak cabinets and soffits and all of those things that a said to be old , dated , sub par or my favorite " Nobody does that anymore". I'm with cpartist - color and character. I also do not have anything white - wall ceiling or trim in my home. I don't have any recessed lights.

Design what you love!

Wanted to add a durability issue with some laminate. Stayed at a cottage with marble look alike formica countertops. They looked good except for around the sink where the seam was splitting.

Gerdyp, your kitchen is beautiful. So lovely and warm! Could I borrow your handy husband for a few weeks? He did an excellent job!

NmgKB Thank you! I'm a lucky woman. I'll pass your compliments on to him. 🙂

@Debbi Washburn I agree with you! I'd love to see more smaller kitchens with 8 foot ceilings too!

I’m in the process of creating a kitchen for my mid-century, modern house from scratch, and seriously considering a simple white laminate countertop by Wilsonart or Formica.

If you want a truly mid-century kitchen, laminate countertops are what they used back in the day.

The laminate countertops of today look incredible, have decent heat resistance, don’t scratch all that easily, and are a fraction of the cost of quartz, granite, and the other stone materials, everyone tries to shove down our throats.

And since it’s a reasonably low investment, you can splurge more on the cabinetry, and if you want to change the countertops at some point it’s not a huge financial loss.

I plan on using the $5-$6,000 I’m going to save (by not using quartz stone and cutting/installation costs)on really great looking furniture for the rest of my house.

Go with what your gut tells you and don’t let yourself follow the rest of the trendy flock.

I've been in the kitchen remodeling industry for 40+ years. Laminate is all we used to do. Now, quartz is all we do (with a bit of real stone as well....but mostly quartz). I have no problem with laminate. However, installed, there isn't a huge difference between laminate and entry level granite/quartz. So why would you go with laminate? If you can install laminate yourself, you can save some $.

But like I always say, go with what you love and fits your budget.

A 50SF granite entry level at my store costs $3315 installed (no demo, no plumbing, no appliance work)

I looked online for quotes on laminate tops. WYSE site calculated $2100-3213 for 50SF of laminate tops installed (just M+L) no other labor. Another site quoted $40 to $80 per SF to install laminate tops.

Now you can see why I haven't sold a laminate top in 20 years.

Well, here's some nice white laminate countertops for much less than $3300.

I have always thought if I could swing cabinets, I could do laminate prefab on the perimeter counters and butcher block on the island. I don't see anything wrong with it.

(Note: maybe I'm missing something about buying the prefab. I'm sure someone can set me straight).

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/pre-cut-worktops-700419/

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Hampton-Bay-Formica-10-ft-Straight-Laminate-Countertop-in-Matte-Sea-Salt-with-Waterfall-Edge-and-Integrated-Backsplash-011312011019529/305471061

I actually love the old laminate that had the squared edges with the band of laminate on the edge and the flat piece on the top. That stuff can be covered with a new layer of laminate for about $100,00 What a great way to update a kitchen on a budget!

The newer laminates and the retro ones are really cool. And I also like the squared edges.

Most want that custom look and not the preformed curved integrated backsplashs.

The challenge is that finding someone GOOD at doing this (esp if you want to use things like the boomerang MCM patterns) will be expensive. IF you can DIY it - it's probably cost effective if you are not a woodworking novice. They make special router bits to create the nice edge.

Wilsonart thinscape countertop is the best, more durable than laminate and cheaper than quartz

@nipo0128 I was looking at that Thinscape online. It looks similar in function to Stratificato (from Italy), but with fewer colors and designs. But it's a lot more accessible -- unlike the Stratificato, I can just go to Lowe's if I want to see it in person.

Usually Lowes don't have sample in the local store, you will have to order a sample online.