Kitchen island worktops with wow factor
Discussion
Harry Flashman said:
We've just committed to do some woodburning stoves. My lockdown home improvement bill is going to be ludicrous.
Yep, thanks again Tony. And will do!!
To be fair, a Morgan Aero8 is on my wishlist due to your antics so lets call it evens.Yep, thanks again Tony. And will do!!
Back on topic, resin worktops is something I will explore more. It would just be simply wood only, no leaves etc, I think the gloss finish would reflect light nicely as its the one area of the room which is less well-lit.
I contemplated stainless steel, looks great, however the good wife vetod it on the basis that it reminds her of school canteens.
TallTony said:
I contemplated stainless steel, looks great, however the good wife vetod it on the basis that it reminds her of school canteens.
You must be too young! When I was at school, the canteen/kitchens were all lovely old wooden worktops like the chemistry, physics and biology labs, which are now worth an absolute packet...Harry Flashman 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:
Love that, too.Looked like this when we chose the slab in the factory:
LargeRed said:
Harry Flashman 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:
Love that, too.Looked like this when we chose the slab in the factory:
guindilias said:
He has to do that, how else are they going to get in to the dishwasher?
Exactly!!!
To be fair, we only moved in a week ago, I need to let the dishwasher bed in a bit before I start washing the car parts
Harry Flashman said:
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.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 FlickrDSC_0958 by baconrashers, on FlickrThis 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 FlickrLater pics, like a Co-op funeral parlour.
Ghastly.
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 FlickrEdited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:21
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:23
I've gone standard Oak worktop in my kitchen being finished at the moment. I see it as a sort of stop gap for a few years then maybe change it up with something else. I've gone for an interesting light over the island as a wow factor/focal point.
GnuBee said:
singlecoil said:
I'm not closed
But if you want something special then have you considered 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.
I have this -> Wenge worktops, wenge kickboards with aluminium on the top 1/4, low profile aluminium upstands with bespoke aluminium keyed fixings, distressed copper splashbacks with bespoke aluminium fixings, exposed hood ducting suspended on bespoke brackets, double cooker hood all custom mage. Bespoke sockets in aluminium that allow devices to be plugged in and a turned ally cover to be replaced to hide them. (over used the word bespoke I know)But if you want something special then have you considered 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.
It's all "raw" aluminium, I did consider getting it annodised but in the end the raw, brushed finished worked better. The wenge was a bugger during fitting (heavy and prone to splintering) but was worth the effort (it's full length stays) I'd find a better supplier next time though. All the other parts were made by me as part of a portfolio
Sounds awesome.
Harry Flashman said:
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
this is my kitchen heaven. I detest the modern trend to white/grey.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 FlickrEdited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:21
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 12th June 09:23
m3jappa said:
i went for a cambria quartz, mainly because its effectively bomb proof but because its the only quartz ive seen which actually looks like real stone. no where near as beautiful as some of the stone above but very practical and reasonable money. Perfect for me as i love the type of stature marble appearance.
I can imagine even if you're experienced with stone making those cuts would be just a tad nerve wracking. LargeRed said:
....only to accentuated by the used roll of 'Blue Garage Hand Wipe Roll' for when hubby dismantles car components on the island.
Heh. I was rebuilding a chainsaw on ours this morning Lady F was not impressed.OP, the Morgan will cost a lot more than a worktop every year I fixing broken bits, trust me.
Totally worth it.
Wozy68 said:
You wanna stand out OP ..... Then volcanic rock shouts it out. Comes in various colours 
Not to my taste, but tastes differ - but what exactly is the volcanic bit advantage? Would anything else just coated in whatever the volcanic stuff is coated in not to the same thing? Not a dig, I am genuinely interested!garyhun said:
Paulduckworth said:
garyhun said:
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!
Paulduckworth said:
garyhun said:
Paulduckworth said:
garyhun said:
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!
I've had a look at all sorts, there are some interesting things around (mostly the clever ones with worktop integrated hobs / sinks / etc.) and some variations on the composites but mostly it all boils down the the usual wood / resin composites / ceramic / glass / metals / concrete.
And quite often it's the same few boring basic choices with nothing to make them stand out - a lot is 'nice' but doesn't necessarily reflect the differences in cost between very similar things. And the cost can be very steep for not very much. Plus a lot just aren't that robust if you actually use them instead of just owning it to look at.
Porcelain and some of the sintered materials are worth a look but the colours are dull and design options limited.
With a bit of effort / fabrication other things might work for an island?
- Bronze? Like copper but usually tougher & hopefully a lot less maintenance. Plus the option to get some patina.
- Resin variations? I've seen shredded and compressed aluminium cans used in a resin binder which looked a bit different, other sorts of metal or electronics scrap can work too - watch parts has been done once or twice. Maybe with a glass sacrificial topper.
- Something like a sand pattern embedded? Extra points if it's a Sisyphus table.
- Something etched into glass/resin/plastic then edge- or backlit?
- 'Forged' (chopped strand) carbon? The pattern is interesting without being too obvious what the material is.
One that would be very different would be using titanium and anodising it, either rainbow/randomised or with a stenciled pattern. Definitely different, reasonably robust, anodising is simple, opportunity for all sorts of colours and designs. Constructed around a core the sheet can be thin and cheap(-ish).
And quite often it's the same few boring basic choices with nothing to make them stand out - a lot is 'nice' but doesn't necessarily reflect the differences in cost between very similar things. And the cost can be very steep for not very much. Plus a lot just aren't that robust if you actually use them instead of just owning it to look at.
Porcelain and some of the sintered materials are worth a look but the colours are dull and design options limited.
With a bit of effort / fabrication other things might work for an island?
- Bronze? Like copper but usually tougher & hopefully a lot less maintenance. Plus the option to get some patina.
- Resin variations? I've seen shredded and compressed aluminium cans used in a resin binder which looked a bit different, other sorts of metal or electronics scrap can work too - watch parts has been done once or twice. Maybe with a glass sacrificial topper.
- Something like a sand pattern embedded? Extra points if it's a Sisyphus table.
- Something etched into glass/resin/plastic then edge- or backlit?
- 'Forged' (chopped strand) carbon? The pattern is interesting without being too obvious what the material is.
One that would be very different would be using titanium and anodising it, either rainbow/randomised or with a stenciled pattern. Definitely different, reasonably robust, anodising is simple, opportunity for all sorts of colours and designs. Constructed around a core the sheet can be thin and cheap(-ish).
Edited by pquinn on Sunday 14th June 14:46
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