chester wrote:

snip



I almost bought granite (black) recently, and changed my mind at the
last minute, to stainless steel. We love the way it looks. Our kitchen
is small, so the stainless is really an advantage. It makes the
kitchen brighter (reflective surface) and feel bigger. Looks fantastic
with the birch cabinet fronts we put in. And it goes great with the
stainless appliances we recently got. I can tell you it does not at
all feel industrial, and looks very contemporary, without being
unapproachable.

Stainless is not for everyone for sure. If you want to ensure you will
always have a perfectly flawless looking surface, then perhaps it's
not for you. However, we went with what the fabricator called an
"orbital finish", which is basically a random buffed surface. Highly
reccomended for stainless. You can't see any fingerprints, and it
hides any scratches that might occur. Also, stainless is a bit less
traditional, although I can't imagine it would hurt resale at all
(likely to help). I guess i could imagine a kitchen/house that it
wouldn't really work in architecturally.

The one thing I love about it is the fact that the fabricator made the
sink, and welded it in. So that, as well as the backsplash, are
seamless. The coutertop is essentially one piece, which looks
incredible. And I got a coved edge on the backsplash, so it gently
slopes up from the coutertop. And when they make the sink, they can
make it any size, and make it completely integrated with the countertop.

Other nice things are the fact that it is easy to clean (can be
bleached), and is very functional. The minor blemishes are easily
removed with Barkeeper's Friend.

Worth considering.


What did it set you back??