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Kitchens and Granite Worktops - Today's Current Trends
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The latest design magazines show that there seems to be quite a retro feel happening in the kitchen cabinet design world right now with curves making a big come back - curve fronted drawer units, curved ends to peninsulars/islands and an endless choice of curved handles. To get worktops to fit on these new design of cabinets ordinary laminate can be difficult to manufacture to follow the lines of the curves but with granite being solid the worktops can be cut to match these quite easily and they will literally follow the contours of the kitchen.
The retro theme is then continued into colours and textures, gloss fronted cabinets teamed up with very strong dark grained woods. Lots of rich, warm woods are now available such as Walnut, Zebrano, or Cherry - the twist being that the grain on these is horizontal giving it the on trend retro feel. Also mix & match dark and light, using woods with high gloss white doors. It is perhaps not practical to have dark wood throughout your kitchen unless the room is very light & spacious but even in a big kitchen it is best to keep the walls & floor a light colour and match in lighter worktops. Darker woods can be beautifully contrasted against with really light worktops like Kashmir White granite. On the other end of the scale a smaller kitchen is good with light reflecting white gloss doors and contrast them with a Tan Brown granite worktop which will add warmth & texture.
To make a bold contemporary statement then choosing a strong coloured kitchen door in say red, black or aubergine will do the trick and they look fabulous with steel appliances. Definitely a look that goes well in a loft apartment or large open plan living area. A smaller space would benefit by mixing in some white high gloss doors to add light.
There are a few things to consider when choosing granite worktops to go with these modern/retro kitchens:
??Nero Assoluto (plain black granite) worktops look great in the magazines but in reality they can be hard to look after on a daily basis as they are much more likely to show up any dust, finger prints or smears. A better choice is to opt for a black which is slightly mottled like Black Pearl or one that has a sparkle such as Black Galaxy.
??Kashmir White is a great choice if you are having really dark cabinets as it creates a fabulous contrast with the small dak reddish brown spots blending the look well, especially with burgundy tone kitchens and warm woods like cherry.
??Light granites will need to be resealed on a more regular basis as the spilt remains of say a curry could possibly stain them. If this is a worry then it could be a better chocie to go with a mid tone granite such as steel grey, which will also compliment your stainless steel appliances.
??If there is a lot of white in your kitchen you might want to create a contrast with some of the brown granites (which are also very easy to maintain on a day to day basis) to add some warmth.
??If your kitchen worktops are likely to need a lot of joins then it is best to avoid any granites made up from a markedly striated pattern as this may make the joins more noticeable.
So as "natural" seems to be the buzz word when it comes to interior design right now, especially with the huge choice of natural wood doors, granite is a practical and very stylish choice for your worktops.
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Source: 中国石材网
