Kitchen Design Consultations

No matter how many books you read, some things you only learn with experience. The design specialists at Sydney kitchens are trained and unskilled with 49 years of experience, which is being passed down from generation to generation. For a detailed discussion of the kitchen designing process, book a complimentary design consultation session by contacting us today itself.

We’ll start by inspecting the area, taking the measurements, and confirming the elevation from ground level. Then we’ll listen to your requirements and specifications. By combining your vision and our contemporary styles, we’ll devise a design concept or a 3D model. The model will be equipped with the best technology and material you can accommodate under your budget.

Lastly, we’ll put forward a quote, around the budget range and discuss warranties. You’ll have full control of the brands and colors of your products. We’ll wrap with a schedule for all the milestones along the process and we’ll guarantee that there will be no delay in finishing your dream home.

Sign up for an obligation-free appointment with just a brief call and find out why Sydney Kitchens is the most professional kitchen brand in Australia.

Every kitchen is defined by the design and aesthetics of its benchtops. The Benchtop or The Kitchen Island is the most prominent feature of the kitchen and also the center of focus.

Almost every kitchen activity revolves around the benchtop, from preparing food for cooking, to eating it with family and friends.

And apart from making the kitchen look aesthetically pleasing, it also serves a practical purpose like storing your kitchenware or housing the kitchen sink. So it is essential to make a well-informed decision when it comes to choosing the materials and designs for it.

1. Engineered Quartz

Engineered Quartz is a composite of Quartz made by combining ground Quartz with resins and pigments. The mixture usually contains 90-95% of Quartz and 6-10% of other materials. The ingredients are mixed in powdered form and then made into polished slabs using high temperatures and pressure.

Why to choose: Engineered Quartz is known for its non-porous property which makes it suitable for kitchen work. It is also more durable compared to natural quartz which makes it a good choice if you’re someone who uses their kitchen a lot.

What to look out for: The resins used as binding agents used in this material are prone to color fading when exposed to UV rays from the sun. So it should only be installed in kitchens that do not get much direct sunlight.

1.  Natural Stone

Natural stone benchtops, as the name suggests, are made from natural, unprocessed stone, that is just carved and polished according to the customer’s need.

Natural Stone is known for its earthy aesthetics that make your home feel more cozy and warm. It comes in 2 types, Granite and Marble.

Why to choose: Since natural stone is installed directly without pre-processing it means that each slab is unique and one-of-a-kind. It is also very durable which means it will last for a long duration before needing a replacement.

What to look out for: Natural stone benchtops are comparatively expensive to install compared to other materials and also have a higher maintenance cost. It also has high porosity, i.e. it has tiny holes which can absorb wet items. This can easily damage the look of the stone in a kitchen setting.

1. Porcelain

Porcelain is a material made by combining natural clays, feldspar, silica, and other such natural materials at very high temperatures to form dense slabs that are extremely non-porous and hard.

Porcelain is increasingly becoming a go-to choice for many since it can be made to look like any high-end material like marble or quartz at much lower costs.
Why to choose: Porcelain is extremely resistant to hot as well as cold temperatures and hence can be used inside as well outside. It is also very durable and requires minimal maintenance.

What to look out for: Unlike natural stones, the design on porcelain is printed while manufacturing, which means if it gets scratched the design will break and it will not look nice.

1. Acrylic

Acrylic is a material made from acrylic resins which is essentially a type of plastic. It may not sound very convincing when put this way but acrylic benchtops can offer their own unique advantage.

The best part about acrylic is that it can be molded into any shape, which means your whole benchtop can be formed as a single unit without any join lines, giving it a seamless and classy look.
Why to choose: Acrylic, since it’s made from plastic, is extremely affordable compared to other materials. It is also very lightweight which can be an important factor when the size of your benchtop is large. Extra weight will require extra support which can further increase the cost of installation.

What to look out for: Acrylic is comparatively softer compared to other materials and hence is more prone to scratches. It also does not have any kind of patterns like marble or quartz.

1. Timber

If you don’t want the coldness of stone in your kitchen but rather want the more warm and natural feeling of wood, then you can also opt for timber benchtops.

Timber also offers a safer option as bumping into a block of wood is less dangerous compared to bumping into a hard stone. Hence, it is a better choice for homes with small children.

Why to choose: Timber offers a wide variety of choices and is also very durable. It is also very easy to maintain and repair.

What to look out for: Timber, being softer compared to stone, is more prone to chips and scratches (although repairing them is fairly straightforward). It can also get dirty easily and can be harder to clean since it is not very smooth.

1. Laminate

Laminate is a sheet of artificial material made by using flat paper and plastic resin. It is known for giving any furniture an expensive look at a very affordable price point.

Laminate benchtops usually are made by covering particleboard in laminate sheets. Particleboards are again very cheap and lightweight, which makes the total installation cost of the benchtop highly affordable.

Why to choose: Laminate sheets can be made to look like almost anything, be it wood, stone, or even metal. This means that they offer the widest range. It is also highly resistant to all kinds of weather conditions.

What to look out for: Laminates do not fare very well against other materials in terms of durability. Although the quality of laminates has improved over time, they are still no substitute for high-quality natural materials like a stone in terms of durability.

1. Tiles

Tiles have remained the top-choice for splashbacks for a long time now since they offer an affordable yet durable option. However, since its very mainstream one might argue that it does not contribute the same aesthetically as other much expensive materials.

But if proper thought is put into the design, size, and laying pattern of tiles, they can make your kitchen stand out more than you can imagine. For example, subway-style tiles laid in a herringbone pattern always work wonders in a modern-style kitchen.

Why to choose: Tiles offer plenty of options in terms of design and size and are also very affordable. The installation of tiles is also pretty straightforward.
What to look out for: Tiles are not a good choice for splashbacks if you want a seamless look since they will always have grout lines.

1. Glass/Mirror

Glass or Mirror splashbacks are more of a statement piece than anything else. They don’t serve much practical purpose.

However, they do give your kitchen a unique look using glass sheets as they can be painted in almost any color. You can even get a little creative and can get a painting made on it if you feel like it.

Why to choose: Glass offers a very high-end look to your kitchen and can also be painted in whatever way you wish.

What to look out for: Having a glass splashback can be a bit dangerous. Although the glass used is not very fragile, the danger is always there. Hence, it should be considered twice if you have children at home.

1. Engineered Quartz

Engineered Quartz is a composite of Quartz made by combining ground Quartz with resins and pigments. The mixture usually contains 90-95% of Quartz and 6-10% of other materials. The ingredients are mixed in powdered form and then made into polished slabs using high temperatures and pressure.

It can be a great choice if you have a benchtop made from the same material.

Why to choose: Engineered Quartz is known for its non-porous property which makes it suitable for kitchen work. It is also more durable compared to natural quartz which makes it a good choice if you’re someone who uses their kitchen a lot.

What to look out for: The resins used as binding agents used in this material are prone to color fading when exposed to UV rays from the sun. So it should only be installed in kitchens that do not get much direct sunlight.

1. Natural Stone

Natural stone splashbacks as the name suggests are made from natural, unprocessed stone, that is just carved and polished according to the customer’s need.

Natural Stone is known for its earthy aesthetics that make your home feel more cozy and warm. It comes in 2 types, Granite and Marble.

Why to choose: Since natural stone is installed directly without pre-processing it means that each slab is unique and one-of-a-kind. It is also very durable which means it will last for a long duration before needing a replacement.

What to look out for: Natural stone benchtops are comparatively expensive to install compared to other materials and also have a higher maintenance cost. It also has high porosity, i.e. it has tiny holes which can absorb wet items. This can easily damage the look of the stone in a kitchen setting.

1. Acrylic

Acrylic is a material made from acrylic resins which is essentially a type of plastic. It may not sound very convincing when put this way but acrylic benchtops can offer their own unique advantage.

The best part about acrylic is that it can be molded into any shape, which means your whole benchtop can be formed as a single unit without any join lines, giving it a seamless and classy look.

Why to choose: Acrylic, since it’s made from plastic, is extremely affordable compared to other materials. It is also very lightweight which can be an important factor when the size of your benchtop is large. Extra weight will require extra support which can further increase the cost of installation.

What to look out for: Acrylic is comparatively softer compared to other materials and hence is more prone to scratches. It also does not have any kind of patterns like marble or quartz.

Edge Profile

Stone benchtops can have several different edge profiles with Straight Edge aka Pencil Edge being the most popular choice. It is a straight-edged design with slightly rounded corners that give it an elegant and classy look.

Pencil edge is the easiest and hence most affordable to make. Something more complex, like an Ogee Edge design, is a bit more expensive and is suitable for a traditional design kitchen.

Edge Thickness

The most suitable thickness for a standard kitchen benchtop is 20mm. However, you can get thicker slabs as well having a thickness of 40mm, 60mm, and so on. Some brands also offer slabs in 30mm thickness.

The appropriate thickness for your benchtop is dependent on many factors like the size of your kitchen and the materials you use. While a thick benchtop works better for large kitchens as it helps fill up the space, a thinner benchtop is preferable for smaller kitchens to make optimum use of space.

You can also choose to spice things up and have multiple materials in your benchtop with varying thickness, like a combination of thick marble and thin timber board.

Edge Join

Joining the edges of your benchtop might not sound like a crucial step in the process of making a perfect benchtop, but it can make all the difference in the result for your dream kitchen.

There are 2 ways in which an edge join is made in a benchtop – Layered Join and Mitred Join.

Mitered Join

In a mitered join, the stone pieces are cut at an angle of 45 degrees and then joined together. This kind of join is cleaner much less noticeable compared to layered join.

However, it is also more difficult to make and is, therefore, more expensive compared to layered join.

Layered Join

In a layered join, the two pieces of stone are simply kept on top of each other and joined through the flat surface. This kind of join is stronger compared to mitered join since it uses gravity to its advantage.

However, it is much more visible since the join line goes all the way around the benchtop from the side.