The kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s where family and friends gather to eat, celebrate, and create memories. Discover ways to enhance functionality with the right cladding solutions for your space, from intelligent countertop technologies to innovative storage solutions.
Whether you want to separate the kitchen from living spaces or elevate your countertops with an eye-catching surface, these innovative designs offer a variety of stylish choices for any kitchen design.
Countertops
Whether it’s your first cup of coffee, a work-from-home conference call, or a quick lunch, you use your kitchen countertops daily. As a result, the material used for your countertops needs to be resilient and visually appealing.
Quartz is one of the most durable countertop options for residential and commercial properties. It is also non-porous, meaning spills can be wiped away as soon as they happen.
As long as you regularly wipe down your quartz surfaces with a mild soap solution or pH-balanced cleaner, this type of countertop is low-maintenance and will look new for many years.
Quartz is available in various styles, making coordinating your countertops with a chosen décor scheme or design plan easy. Its durability and eye-catching beauty make it a popular choice for homeowners who want to update their kitchens without sacrificing style or functionality.
Countertop Installation
Quartz is highly customizable, allowing you to create a surface that suits your lifestyle and home aesthetic. You can also add contrasting color and texture to your countertop to make it stand out from other surfaces in the kitchen.
Quartz countertops are non-porous, unlike granite, and resist staining better than other natural stone materials. As long as liquids are wiped away quickly, it would help if you did not have to worry about them marring the surface. Professional installation of quartz countertops is recommended due to the precision needed for accurate cuts and the product’s weight.
It would help if you prepared your kitchen for the project by removing all appliances to prevent trip hazards for contractors and by using a level to check that all cabinet tops are entirely even. It is also essential to shield your cabinet faces with painter’s tape. This will keep the silicone adhesive from contacting the surfaces and allow you to remove it before the glue dries.
Kitchen Cladding
Kitchen surface cladding is a cost-effective way of revitalizing your kitchen surfaces without a complete renovation. It can be installed over existing walls and cabinets and provides an easy-to-clean, durable surface resistant to moisture and stains. It is also available in a vast range of colors and textures.
Kitchen cladding is commonly made from hard-wearing and food-safe materials such as porcelain, granite, and quartzite. This is because the surface must be able to handle the heat, water jets, and upset glass bottles – so it’s essential that it can withstand the rigors of daily life in the kitchen. Porcelain is also easy to clean and offers a range of finishes, including matte, which is ideal for kitchens where wall cladding meets cabinetry.
The cladding you choose will depend on the design of your kitchen units and worktops. For example, wood effect units will match best with a wooden or light marble-effect design for the cladding.
Similarly, white or cream-colored units will look great with a textured stone design for the cladding. The choice of cladding can be even more critical when designing an open-plan space.
Consider cladding the ceiling and walls to create a seamless transition between your kitchen and living areas. For example, a porcelain stoneware wall covering like Soapstone Dark in anthracite grey will look stunning against modern kitchen units and create a sense of flow between the two rooms.
Backsplashes
Quartz backsplashes provide a sleek and sophisticated transition between countertops and walls. They also enhance functionality by resisting stains like food spills and grease splatters. Quartz is not susceptible to these substances, unlike porous natural stones, and can be easily cleaned with a simple soap and water solution. Quartz backsplashes are available in various colors and styles to suit any kitchen design.
Various patterns can be combined to create unique finishes, such as freeform shapes, delicate veins, and soft color palettes. Backsplashes made of quartz can be fabricated and installed simultaneously as countertop installations, reducing installation costs. However, a few critical factors should be considered before committing to this approach.
For example, the wall surface must be prepared before installing the backsplash. It must be clean, dry, and flat to ensure the adhesive used to adhere to the backsplash sticks properly. Furthermore, homeowners should know that quartz is less heat resistant than traditional granite and marble. The resin within the stone can melt or discolor when exposed to high temperatures.
