Kitchen Worktop Ideas: Choosing The Right Option For Your Space

Posted by Rhian Burrell, on January 15, 2024.

A kitchen worktop has to be one of the hardest-wearing surfaces in the home. When we’re not decking them out for late night dinner parties, or covering them with flour and kneading our latest bake to perfection, they’re still serving our space as a key focal point. 

So, it’s only fair that these dynamic, all-rounders ought to be a priority in any bespoke kitchen design. Of course, the main consideration here is the material that is used to create worktops that withstand the test of time – and we’re about to share some of our favourite options! We’ll also give you some essential advice on choosing the best material for your kitchen worktops, helping you to craft a stunning design that enhances the look and feel of your home in the long-run.

Our signature kitchen worktops: quartz

Quartz is our most popular kitchen worktop material, and we’ve used it to create countless bespoke kitchens in Oxfordshire and beyond.

Quartz worktops are engineered with a blend of natural quartz crystals and resins, and they strike the perfect balance between practicality and style. They’re extremely resistant to abrasion – so you don’t have to fear any lemon juice, vinegar, or olive oil spills! This non-porous kitchen worktop material is also crafted to resist stains, scratches, and bacterial growth, making it an ideal choice for everyday life.

Sleek granite kitchen worktops

Granite kitchen worktops combine everyday durability with a timeless, stylish appeal. Granite is seriously resilient against scratches, heat damage, and stains, making it a great choice for those that want to put their new surface to the test – at-home sous chefs, we’re looking at you! It is available in an impressive selection of colours, and many variants have their own, unique patterns (referred to as veining) that run throughout the finish. If you’re looking for a robust all-rounder, and you need a worktop that can fend off day-to-day use effortlessly, then this could be your best bet. 

We only source premium granite for our bespoke spaces, and you’ll find some breathtaking examples of this within our kitchen projects.

Opt for enduring elegance with an oak kitchen worktop

Want to add a touch of traditional warmth to your bespoke kitchen design? An oak kitchen worktop is a timeless, sophisticated choice, and this material creates bespoke kitchens that feel invitingly ambient.. The natural beauty of this material also introduces a classic charm, and we always look for ways that we can showcase the unique grain patterns of the wood. Oak kitchen worktops are a popular component of our signature shaker kitchen design, as the wood serves to enhance the quaint simplicity of this style.

If you’re looking for a low-maintenance kitchen worktop, then you might find that stone alternatives are better suited to your space. Caring for an oak kitchen worktop warrants a bit more effort in comparison to quartz or granite, and this is simply due to the characteristics of the material. However, its longevity and capacity to develop a unique patina over time set it apart amongst those that want to add as much character to their space as possible.

Marble worktops: a hallmark of luxury

Marble kitchen worktops exude luxury, and they also serve as a focal point in their own right. The material is a refined, natural wonder, with its remarkable light-reflecting properties and diverse finish options, including honed, leathered, and polished. Marble also has distinctive veining throughout the surface, adding to its visual allure.

While marble requires significant maintenance to preserve its pristine appearance, these efforts are certainly worthwhile if you want to add an unrivalled, eye-catching feature to your bespoke kitchen design. Want to commit to this dazzling choice, but don’t want to have it as your main working surface area? A marble kitchen island could be the perfect compromise, and this feature is guaranteed to make a bold, opulent statement within any contemporary kitchen design.

Create a mix & match appeal with your worktops & kitchen island

If you have a kitchen island to customise as part of your bespoke kitchen design, then you might want to use it to differentiate from the worktop by introducing an alternative material into your space. The pairing of quartz and oak is a perfect example of this, and the combination creates texture and a clever contrast. Alternatively. we’ve got plenty more kitchen island design ideas to share if you’ve got something else in mind.

How to choose a kitchen worktop for your home

There are a few key factors to account for when it comes to choosing the right kitchen worktop for your home. Follow our pointers below, and opt for a worktop material that enhances your stunning, custom kitchen design.

Durability and resistance

We’ve already established that your kitchen worktop will endure a lot – and we never overlook this fact. When it comes to choosing the right kitchen worktop material, consider the uses that your space will serve – from crafting sessions with the kids, to tapas evenings and taking the weight of your weekly shop. Assess the durability of the material you’re considering based on these factors, and use them to inform your decision. For example, an oak kitchen worktop might not fare as well as a quartz surface after it’s seen lots of crayons and sticky fingers!

Aesthetics

We put a lot of time and focus into the aesthetic appeal of our bespoke kitchens, so it makes sense to factor your worktop into this process. Our main goal is to ensure your kitchen feels like a truly timeless investment, so your worktop material choice should follow this principle.

There’s a reason behind the fact that quartz has featured in so many of our kitchen projects – it’s available in such an extensive variety of colours and finishes, so it blends into different decor styles seamlessly. This means you don’t have to worry about throwing your kitchen style off balance if you do feel like changing your colour scheme up at any point in the future.

Oak worktops might actually trump quartz when it comes to achieving truly timeless kitchen styling though. This material is adaptable and it ages beautifully, so it’ll complement your home for years to come.

Use this guide as inspiration for your own bespoke kitchen design, and contact us to book an appointment at our Oxfordshire showroom – it’ll help you to get an even better understanding of some of the examples we’ve shared!