Did anyone buy a house with linoleum countertops trimmed with chrome? Remember those sticky things? I’m pretty sure I had at least 2 houses early in my marriage with linoleum countertops. The beauty? The countertop matched the floor. Wasn’t there asbestos in that stuff? Hey, we didn’t know what asbestos was back then, and what you don’t know can’t hurt you – huh? Maybe ignorance is bliss.
Well, countertops have evolved, like most everything else in the kitchen. Ever since the beginning of Formica we’ve had many designs on our counters. Little boxes, circles, polka dots. Remember the George Jetson look of countertop with space age type designs? Today many buyers like a retro 50’s look but, a decade earlier those Jetson countertops would have killed a deal. There was the butcher block look of the 1970’s. The possibility of cutting on a simulated piece of butcher block was tantalizing. In the 1980’s, a contractor told me if you can’t have the real things then don’t try to simulate them with something fake. It doesn’t work. Everyone knew fake. Only a few people had real butcher block, and that was usually a small sectional piece reserved for a special area of the countertop. Then, we had the lava look of the textured countertop that never looked clean but didn’t show scratches. Those 80’s counters flowed out of the 70’s. Showing scratches is a major household concern.
How about ceramic counters? They were shiny but, kind of lumpy looking and only the gods knew what was lurking in the grout. We didn’t think much about germs back then. When I visit friends in the Vegas area, builders there are still installing ceramic kitchen countertops. Ceramic is big in SW America. Maybe they get sick less.
Then, we all coasted along, as my Grandma would say, with our Formica. Suddenly, there were other brands of Formica – other laminates! More colors, more depths of laminate to consider. At the height of laminate popularity the color white became popular. My theory - the consumer simply gave up. Have you ever looked at 434 colors of laminate? White becomes IT. White encompassed all the colors and made the choice easy. Kitchens across America became white sometime in the late 80’s and early 90’s. But, wait a twist developed. Some white laminate countertops had wood trim molding.
In the early 1990’s, I lived in an area of the country which was heavily marketed by Corian. Corian was the high-end countertop that did it all. Up to Corian, the major countertop concern was scratches. Heaven forbid any of us look like we actually use our kitchens. The dreaded scratch was a major kitchen dilemma. Don’t cut on the counter, my mother would scream from another room. We kids thought we’d go to countertop hell if we dared scratch the counter. The counter was sacred. Corian didn’t scratch, and if it did, the scratch could be sanded out! At least that’s how I remember the advertising. I think Corian had enough people sanding their countertop to China just to get a scratch out, that now Corian discourages sanding their countertops.
Along came the late 1990’s and prosperity for America’s middle class. Americans had disposable income like the country has never seen before. Suddenly whatever was only for the rich became popular for the middle. And, we went wild. We all wanted what “they” have. But, we had to take baby steps. We had to make sure, so we invented a few lookalike products to Granite just to make sure we could handle the real thing.
Quartz countertops like Silestone and Cambria can look like Granite. They look so much like Granite, they cost about the same too! This only fueled our desire for Granite. Why pay for the look of Granite when it’s not Granite. Soapstone is another alternative. Soapstone has an earthy look but, isn’t recommended for the cook who really uses her kitchen. Quartz counters do have a few advantages over Granite like durability, nonporous, resistant to scratches and long warranties.
Some wanted the pasty chef look of Marble but, it can chip and is more porous than Granite so we still go back to Granite. We couldn’t resist Granite. We don’t care if it needs an occasional sealing or if it’s porous and can scratch.
Imagine that? We’ve come full circle back to not caring about scratches on our kitchen countertops. As long as it’s Granite it can scratch ‘cuz Granite scratches with style and grace. Isn’t that what Grandma would say?
Submitted by Exclusive Buyer Agent, Cindy Bhimani
Original post by Buyers Real Estate Group
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