If you're remodelling your kitchen, here are some tips to follow.
Invest in stone benchtops
If you can afford it, you should have your contractor fit stone benchtops. There are many benefits to using stone for this kitchen surface. First and foremost, stone is extremely heat resistant; this means that you can afford to be a bit careless in regard to, for example, occasionally putting hot saucepans you've just removed from the hob directly onto the benchtop, without worrying that this might lead to scorch marks. This could make cooking and baking activities a lot less stressful, particularly if you make meals with your children who might not be as careful as you are when handling hot baking dishes or saucepans.
Secondly, whilst other high-quality benchtop materials may have a similar lifespan to stone, in many cases, their lifespan will only match that of a stone benchtop if their owners do intense maintenance on them on a regular basis (for example, solid wood benchtops must undergo oiling several times a year and need to be stripped and refinished once every few years if they're subjected to heavy daily use). This is not the case with stone benchtops, which are incredibly low maintenance. As such, if you want benchtops with a long lifespan but cannot commit to lots of maintenance, stone ones would be perfect for you.
Choose a neutral, non-trendy benchtop colour
Benchtops are available in a variety of colours. If you'll be getting a stone one, you should ensure that the benchtops colour is neutral, rather than trendy. The reason for this is as follows; provided you have the benchtops fitted professionally by a contractor, they will almost certainly outlast most of the other large features of your kitchen (like the cabinets, flooring, etc.) This is the beauty of benchtops that are made from this material.
However, because stone benchtops are built to last, it's sensible to pick one whose colouring won't look outdated in a few years. If you want to utilise trendy colours in your kitchen, it's best to do so with features that have a shorter lifespan than your benchtop and that are easy to remove. For example, you could have the contractor paint your cabinets (you can easily paint them a different colour when the trendy shade begins to look outdated), have them fit an on-trend, colourful backsplash or opt for cabinet handles in your chosen colour.
