Kitchen island worktops with wow factor

[deadslow]

resin looks good, but doesn't look durable

[paulrockliffe]

I'd guess the right resin would be fine, corian and what not is all resin based.

[guindilias]

People do use the same stuff to make those copper coin floors, though - maybe it's tougher than I thought?
https://fixmaster.co.uk/penny-floor-coating

[arebrec]

Christian85 said:

OzzyR1 said:

drgav2005 said:

We chose a rather wild piece of Orinocco granite for our island, with Calacatta Gold silestone for the rest of the surfaces around the sink.
Looked like this when we chose the slab in the factory:

What's going on behind the sink there, can't figure it out - is it mirror tiles?

If so, why the oddly spaced darker sections?

I think the oddly spaced darker sections are his/her bifold doors reflection

I hadn’t noticed them! We are about to start our kitchen and didn’t know wether to have the hob or sink in the island, as I want to be able to see out when cooking or washing up! But with this idea you get best of both worlds I guess!
Loving the granite too! In fact the whole kitchen

[-Ad-]

TallTony said:

Where did you get the stainless steel from? I like that idea as it ties in with sink plus the details on oven/job/hood.

I agree that wood is a pain to live with, that’s why I am reluctant to go for zebrano. I know My wife will never put a hot pan down but I will and she will say “I told you so”. And that will be that.

We're up in Aberdeen so didn't really engage with companies that specialise in it. My partner knows a fabricator from her school days who provided the SS and made the top surface. We got in the 25mm Marine Plywood (the good stuff!) and had the joiner (who was fitting the kitchen) cut the main structure, then the fabricator picked those up and created the worktop.

The island had to be made into 2 pieces so the folded SS sections could be slid over the Ply substrate and after some combined thinking we got the join to be through the induction hob, so the main run of the island was one long section.

We left the corners with their TIG welded finish and rainbow colours, rather than having them machined and polished back as it just added to the 'cool' factor.

Some crappy low res shots below are all I can find on my phone currently but they give you an idea:

[anonymous-user]

singlecoil said:

garyhun said:

singlecoil said:

a neo-industrial look, combining wood and metal? I'd love to do a kitchen in a fairly dark wood with exposed hinges and bracing in anodised aluminium.

Have you got any images of what you’re thinking of?

I’m hopefully starting my bungalow renovation and extension in the next month or so and one of the things that Mrs G and I have set our sights on is an industrial look kitchen.

I did do some drawings a while back, but don't seem to be able to locate them at the moment.

The possibilities are almost endless though. The essence of it would be to use birch plywood cabinets, maybe with visible fixings, and doors that are made of vertical staves of (for instance) walnut with T&G expansion gaps set in an aluminium frame with TIG welded corners. Or instead of the frame, maybe ledge and brace style with the ledges and braces made of aluminium (anodised or raw) and inset into the wood.

So many possibilities, so little time...

Thanks. That sounds expensive, is it?

[ChocolateFrog]

I've seen some good homemade concrete worktops. There's loads of finishes you can go for so they're not all porous dusty abominations. I'll see if I can find the one I'm thinking of.

Edit, not the one I was thinking of but shows how creative you can be for relatively little cost.

https://youtu.be/6dfFwagmklk

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Thursday 11th June 20:55

[drgav2005]

arebrec said:

Christian85 said:

OzzyR1 said:

drgav2005 said:

We chose a rather wild piece of Orinocco granite for our island, with Calacatta Gold silestone for the rest of the surfaces around the sink.
Looked like this when we chose the slab in the factory:

What's going on behind the sink there, can't figure it out - is it mirror tiles?

If so, why the oddly spaced darker sections?

I think the oddly spaced darker sections are his/her bifold doors reflection

I hadn’t noticed them! We are about to start our kitchen and didn’t know wether to have the hob or sink in the island, as I want to be able to see out when cooking or washing up! But with this idea you get best of both worlds I guess!
Loving the granite too! In fact the whole kitchen

Many thanks!

Yep, antiqued bronze mirrored metro tiles from Fired Earth (only because they were in their half-price sale ).
They work really well, giving a speckled view behind looking out over the river without you being very obviously stood in front of a mirror doing the dishes!

The darker sections, as Christian85 correctly pointed out, are reflections of the bifold doors.

[singlecoil]

garyhun said:

singlecoil said:

garyhun said:

singlecoil said:

a neo-industrial look, combining wood and metal? I'd love to do a kitchen in a fairly dark wood with exposed hinges and bracing in anodised aluminium.

Have you got any images of what you’re thinking of?

I’m hopefully starting my bungalow renovation and extension in the next month or so and one of the things that Mrs G and I have set our sights on is an industrial look kitchen.

I did do some drawings a while back, but don't seem to be able to locate them at the moment.

The possibilities are almost endless though. The essence of it would be to use birch plywood cabinets, maybe with visible fixings, and doors that are made of vertical staves of (for instance) walnut with T&G expansion gaps set in an aluminium frame with TIG welded corners. Or instead of the frame, maybe ledge and brace style with the ledges and braces made of aluminium (anodised or raw) and inset into the wood.

So many possibilities, so little time...

Thanks. That sounds expensive, is it?

Basically no, though it would depend somewhat on the aluminium and the fabrication costs which I'm not able to predict at the moment. Birch ply cabinets I do anyway. American hardwoods are not all that expensive, it's the processing that adds cost and I've got a machine on order that will make that a lot faster. I would finish the wood with Osmo so although the Osmo itself is expensive it's much faster than lacquer, varnish etc. Looks better too.

[GAVGOLF]

Natural stone for me - proper timeless wow factor and you can get lost in the depth.

[Harry Flashman]

Right, I now want half feature stone and half waney-edged burr walnut set in resin for my island.

One for the frivolous purchases thread, if it were the frivlolous-but-bankrupting purchases thread.

What the hell. Flashette Jr doesn't need to eat.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 11th June 22:19

[guindilias]

With a giant wireless charging loop embedded in it, so any time you put your phone or tablet down on it, it charges it.
Then you can follow a youtube video of the recipe you are making while you cook. Probably needs a laser or something built in as well.

[Paulduckworth]

garyhun said:

Dekton trillium.

Not enough space in our kitchen for an island but we have Dekton trillium for all the worktops along with a low splash back and window sills. It looks really good and is (touch wood) indestructible.

We were advised to avoid our original choice of gloss white due to production issues so went curveball and I have to say it was the best choice by far!

[Mobile Chicane]

Harry Flashman said:

Depends entirely on the look you want. Zebrano is lovely, I still have it in my flat from a refurb 10 years ago and it looks great. Like all wood, needs a bit of maintenance.

But I love genuine stone. A proper slab of patterened stone is a natural work of art. We will put it into our new house one day. I miss this granite slab from the old place. I wanted marble, but it is a bit problematic from a staining point of view sonot really practical.

You can get something made from Caesarstone or similar, but I really like natural stone.

93 kitchen island by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0958 by baconrashers, on Flickr

This is the walnut in our new house. Pretty, but too dark for the cabinet and floor colour. I wanted Zebrano, but it was not available at the time. That wood has a beautiful grain.

DSC_0586.jpg by baconrashers, on Flickr

First two pics - excellent. Why change it.

Later pics, like a Co-op funeral parlour.

Ghastly.

[benmc]

Few years old now, not sure the black granite is in vogue but the built in butchers block was great for us. Broke up the large slab of granite and used multiple times per day as a chopping/prep area.

[Djtemeka]

guindilias said:

Harry Flashman said:

Love those! That is art, and so is bigandclever's one above.
I do wonder if they are in any way practical, though - I can ruin most kitchen worktops in a short space of time, and just don't think resin would be too happy with the "not going to bother with a chopping board, I'll just cut this onion here and then scrape it off the worktop into the pan with the knife" way of cooking.

There are loads of YT tutor is on how to make these resin tables. It looks simple enough but the deep pour boat resin is ludicrously expensive.
The send is also toxic for food prep. You can use them as tables or make serving trays but food prep isn’t a good idea. (Apparently)

[anonymous-user]

Paulduckworth said:

garyhun said:

Dekton trillium.

Not enough space in our kitchen for an island but we have Dekton trillium for all the worktops along with a low splash back and window sills. It looks really good and is (touch wood) indestructible.

We were advised to avoid our original choice of gloss white due to production issues so went curveball and I have to say it was the best choice by far!

Any pictures?

[Harry Flashman]

Mobile Chicane said:

Harry Flashman said:

Depends entirely on the look you want. Zebrano is lovely, I still have it in my flat from a refurb 10 years ago and it looks great. Like all wood, needs a bit of maintenance.

But I love genuine stone. A proper slab of patterened stone is a natural work of art. We will put it into our new house one day. I miss this granite slab from the old place. I wanted marble, but it is a bit problematic from a staining point of view sonot really practical.

You can get something made from Caesarstone or similar, but I really like natural stone.

93 kitchen island by baconrashers, on Flickr

DSC_0958 by baconrashers, on Flickr

This is the walnut in our new house. Pretty, but too dark for the cabinet and floor colour. I wanted Zebrano, but it was not available at the time. That wood has a beautiful grain.

DSC_0586.jpg by baconrashers, on Flickr

First two pics - excellent. Why change it.

Later pics, like a Co-op funeral parlour.

Ghastly.

First pic is the kitceh we did in our first house. Second, that's my current house! So thanks for the diplomacy!

Everyone's a critic I do accept that dark kitchens are not to everyone's taste.

Obviously, I float around the place dressed in my goth gear and sacrifice virgins, so it serves my purposes well.

But it definitely needs a light island surface to bounce light around. Were I doing it again, the flagstone floor would have been cream rather than grey.

My Gothic kitchen in its full glory...

DSC_0582.jpg by baconrashers, on Flickr

Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:21

Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:23

[Wozy68]

You wanna stand out OP ..... Then volcanic rock shouts it out. Comes in various colours

[C Lee Farquar]

Yep, that definitely shouts!