Kitchen Countertops with Silestone

Countertops were a big decision in the kitchen renovation. . (Read more about the full renovation here ) Not only are countertops an aesthetic decision but function was also incredibly important. I use my kitchen every day for work and for my family. I not only cook on them, my daughter crawls on them, I use them as my desk, and we entertain on them. So they get a lot of use and sometime abuse.

When initially thinking about countertops we considered marble. The texture and feel of marble is super special. However when really thinking about it, it was a horrible idea. For someone who cooks as much as I do (and who shot her cookbook in her new kitchen the day after it was completed which included making over 9- recipes) it would have been a mistake. They would have gotten stained from accidentally dropping acidic food on them or chipped with all the pots and pans that go through my kitchen. Sidenote, I actually used to work in a Test Kitchen that has marble countertops. They were stunning but a really bad idea since that kitchen got heavy use, there were stains all over the countertops.

When we found Silestone it seemed like it was a godsend. A material that looks almost exactly like marble but is functional, durable, and stain resistant. All the things that marble is not. Oh and not to mention beautiful.

We decided to have a dramatic waterfall edge on the kitchen island which is the first thing you see as you enter the house and the kitchen. It is full of drama and pulls your eye into the kitchen. I also loved the idea of making a ledge about the stove area to set decorative items on, as well as having extra space. Silestone worked beautifully in both places. In fact when we talked to the countertop fabricator we hadn’t decided between marble and Silestone and he begged me to go with Silestone because Silestone is so much more durable and sturdy than marble that it made his job easier.

6 months into the new kitchen which includes 1 cookbook shoot and plenty of toddler messes, the countertops still look like new and we love them!

***This post was done in partnership with Silestone but all of my opinions are my own.