Kitchen work surface - Opinions please!

[galanthusgal]

I had a choice between a smooth high gloss or an orange-peel type textured matt. Went for the textured matt. It's great, it doesn't need cleaning as much but needs more effort to wipe out the dimples!

 

So go for smooth, whether gloss or matt! Personally would prefer matt or you would be wiping it every 5 minutes. A high gloss top doesn't look good if it has marks on it!!!

 

Oh, and don't go for steel electrical goods... they show every mark & fingerprint too, & the bit above the oven door discolours over time (my mum's did).

[hodgepodge]

I think it depends on how much time you have for cleaning and polishing. I have visited many houses where the gloss finish shows up every splash of water every time you wash your hands etc, hence I would always choose a matt finish.

[vwkittie]

I had balck gloss in my previos house. Ot looks great but you need to be carefull as it shows every little stratc.

 

Even sugar and salt can scratch the surface if it gets under a glass or saucer.

 

This time I went for a worktop called Encore. It's about 3-4mm laminate wrapped around normal chipboard work top, but it can be filled or buffed if it gets scratched.

 

Ours is similar to that, called Maia worksurface. It's great because any joins can be blended in so they are imperceptible, makes it look like one huge top with no nasty muck harbouring strips. A very good compromise between cheapo laminate and top of the range granite or whatever.

 

We went for a flat matt style.

[GSJoinery]

Corian worktops make a great finish, much better then standard tops and cheaper then granite.

[Lady Star]

We are stuck in a dilemma!

 

We are have decided on a black/grey mottled work surface in our new kitchen but we can't decide if to have it in high gloss or normal flat matt?

 

We would like people who have a high gloss work top in their kitchen to give us their opinion on how they find them?

 

Are they a pain? Do they scratch VERY easily? Obviously we will be using a chopping board but do you only have to look at them and they scratch??

A few of our friends have high gloss and one says gloss everytime and the other says its a night mare!

 

Please help! Your opinion is much appreciated!

 

You have to spend a lot of cash to get a high gloss worktop that won't scratch the second you put something on it - Unless your kitchen isn't used and is just for show (some people never cook, and just buy in or warm things up in a microwave) I would avoid high gloss...