Centsational Girl Blog Archive 5 Reasons to Choose Laminate Kitchen Countertops - Centsational Girl

With all the options out there for kitchen remodels, most people are eyeing smooth surface countertops for their beauty and practicality. The choices are numerous from high end stone products that come from a quarry to wood and recycled materials to the budget friendly laminates. Laminate has gotten a bad rap for a lot of the products from the past decades, but times have changed. I’m a fan of laminate countertops in kitchens for these five reasons.

1. Low Maintenance Easy to Clean. When we were growing up my mom had ceramic tile countertops and I remember her saying she couldn’t wait for the day to rip them out. I also remember her scrubbing (and making us scrub!) the grout to keep it clean and bright. Laminate offers an easy to clean solution with a household cleaner, a sponge, and some hot water, cleaning them is a breeze and maintaining them is a cinch since you don’t need to seal them.

Wilsonart Perla Piazza installed in this kitchen

2. Budget Friendly. Compared to stone and other solid surface countertops, laminate wins in the price war. Starting as low as $15 per square foot, they are far more affordable than quartz, marble, or granite which are often $50 to $100 per square foot depending on the material. You do have to be careful of sharp objects, abrasive cleaners, or extremely high heat. Here is a brief and interesting read about how laminates are made.

3. Stylish. Laminate countertops are looking so good! The new patterns complement dark and light, painted and wood cabinets, but do you notice how they’re installed?

When ordering your laminate surface consider not including the laminate backsplash seen with many of the older versions (that little lip or apron that rides up on the wall).

Instead opt for a countertop that stops at the edge of the horizontal plane and choose a pretty backsplash that meets the countertop at the bottom of the wall like so.

4. New Improved Patterns. Laminate has come a long way baby! I’m weighing these three choices for a future project and leaning toward the White Carrara among these marble lookalike samples. I like that they’re also are available in bullnose and ogee edges for a more contemporary look.

5. Magazine Worthy. It’s not just high end solid stone or wood countertops that make it into magazines now. Stone lookalike laminates are candidates too! Our budget shelter kitchen remodel from last year was impressive enough to make the pages of the August issue of BH G’s Kitchen + Bath Makeovers, check it out in print, we’re so excited to see it featured!

You may recall it was Wilsonart who donated the Perla Piazza countertops to this good cause and their generosity is so greatly appreciated. Those are my five reasons why you should consider choosing laminate for your kitchen, a great look at a smart price.

How many of you have chosen laminate in your kitchen? Are you happy you did?

*This post sponsored by Wilsonart. All opinions are my own of course! .