I know it is hard to believe based upon the pictures you find in our
kitchen design photo gallery, but we do suggest several alternatives to white kitchen cabinets. Our clients do love painted white cabinets, and many are insistent. So we design kitchens that blend their visions with our expertise for materials, finishes and making the best use of space. Once in a while, we get our way and infuse some kitchen cabinetry that offsets the whites with greys in the countertop, hardwood flooring that has reddish-brown tones like this one.
White Kitchen Cabinets With Countertop Ideas That Pop
In this case we selected Quartzite countertops called “California Dream”. This particular slab of Quartzite has some beautiful veining of gray that we all fell in love with. We worked closely with our friends at Greenfield Cabinetry to make sure the staining accented the alder wood rather than disguised it. The buffet area on the left positions a French door
wine refrigerator by Zepher centered under the counter and is surrounded with 8 cubbies for red wine.
Quartz vs. Quartzite for Countertop
Quartzite is a naturally occurring stone, generally from Brazil. Quartz countertops are a man-made engineered material. You will find quartz crystals within quartzite stone but essentially, quartzite is actually sandstone that has been compressed with other minerals over many years and has the appearance of marble or granite but it is slightly harder than granite and therefore can be more durable. Most stone masons and countertop professionals use a sealer after the stone has been cut to size because it is still a porous stone and will require maintenance & sealing annually.
Quartz crystals on the other hand are mined here in the United States (as well as elsewhere) and is one of the most common minerals found in the Earth’s crust. Countertop manufacturers often grind these hard crystals to better work with the material and blend these crushed crystals with glass, resins, polymers, pigments, and other materials to form a hard, non-porous, and durable material. Then this mixture is poured into molds, density is accomplished by removing air pockets and then baked in large ovens to form the slabs you may find in showrooms.
Engineers have developed a process that improves the hardness of quartz countertops over natural stone countertops. The product is less porous, less expensive and requires less maintenance than natural stone products. The quality is wonderful, has a variety of colors and the designs are infinite. We suggest quartz to clients often when they are open to the suggestion.
Designer of Kitchen Cabinets Chooses Quartzite
White cabinets with white countertops definitely requires an accent to break up all that white. As you can see below, we are using stainless steel to accentuate this brilliant kitchen.
The range top required an exhaust fan but rather than going with the hood system that came with the range, we customized our own to add more character to this scene.
We selected two different colors of Quartzite for this kitchen. Namibian White Quartzite for the perimeter countertops which had much more grey swirls in the slab we selected but for the island we used Calacatta Quartzite that has some subtle grey veins. As you can see, the “show” side of this
kitchen island design also uses the Quartzite.
We asked our friends at Artcraft Kitchens to paint these beautiful kitchen cabinets they created for our client with a dull off-white color to contrast with the high polish on the countertops.
The fixture above the island we purchased through the
Hubbardton Forge collection. They call it "Apothecary" because of the glass vessels that surround the bulbs. The metal finish of bronze breaks up the aesthetic stainless-steel tones nicely.
White Painted Kitchen Cabinets combined with white countertops has been in vogue now for quite some time. Quartzite generally comes in several shades of white and we like it as a fit for some clients that embrace this trend of white on white. Tell us what your thoughts are in the comments below. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Tom Gilmour in Kitchen Design Examples | with
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