Tips on Selecting Stone Benchtop Colours

Embarking on kitchen renovations and choosing the right stone benchtop colours can be overwhelming. Located at the heart of the home and the most widely used space, designing kitchens requires thought and attention to detail to make them beautiful and practical.

Caesarstone® Primordia™
Latitude 37 (VIC)

Well, there’s a trick to it. Interior designers and architects select the perfect combinations of stone colour and finish using a tried and tested method. The good news is you can use this technique too!

This guide reveals the five easy to follow steps you can use to create a cohesive kitchen colour palette that you’ll love for years to come.

Step 1: Where to start

First and foremost, every dream project begins with a vision, so it’s essential to consider the following questions to help shape and guide your design

How do you want to feel within your kitchen space?

The main driver to determine how you want your kitchen to look is deciding how you want your kitchen to feel, and particularly, how you want to feel when using the space.

For example, do you want your kitchen to feel light and airy, sophisticated and dramatic, casual and comfortable?

The interior of a home sets a tone; it conveys a mood and creates an atmosphere.

Caesarstone® Empira White™
Impala Kitchens & Bathrooms (NSW)

What is the overall style of your home?

When designing, consider the existing elements of your home. Does your home already reflect a particular style you like? Will the kitchen connect to other spaces and lead the overall style direction for the rest of the house, or will the kitchen work with the home’s existing interior style?

Step 2: Understand your style

Everyone has taste and style preferences, so you may be attracted to one or wish to combine elements of various design styles. Either way, it’s essential to decide early on to make consistent choices throughout your project journey.

Caesarstone® Excava™ & Osprey™
Scott Salisbury Homes (SA)

Create a mood board to capture your “vision”.

Creating a mood board may seem insignificant, but it’s one of the most powerful tools designers use. It not only helps you to figure out how you want your kitchen to look and feel, but it helps you to stay true to your vision.

It’s a great reference point to help decide if a product style, material, finish or fitting works well with your overall vision.

Getting started:

Save any online images that catch your eye, convey an aesthetic or emotion that you like to a folder. Caesarstone’s gallery is a great place to start for inspiration.

Once you narrow down your favourite images, paste them onto a large piece of card. Alternatively, pin the pictures to a pinboard so you can move them around freely.

When you take a step back to review your board, you should see the design elements you like and better understand your style.

If ever in doubt, refer to this board.

Step 3: What kitchen finishes will you need?

Below we list all the essential finish components for a kitchen.

Benchtop & Kitchen Island

The first items to consider are the most visual elements of your kitchen, the benchtop and the kitchen island (if you have one). You may prefer to choose matching colours or use a stone with a vein for your island and a complementary stone colour for the back benchtops.

Splashback

A splashback is essential for practical reasons and creates a striking focal point or a seamless aesthetic within a kitchen.

Continuing the same surface material from the benchtop into the splashback creates a seamless look that’s nothing short of stunning. For a striking kitchen, try using the same material in a contrasting colour or vein.

Cabinetry doors and panels

Your style preference will help you choose a cabinetry profile that works best for your kitchen. It’s important to note that the style and colour of the cabinetry door can affect the look and feel of your kitchen.

Caesarstone® Flatlay Studio, Alexandria NSW

Hardware and fittings

Cabinet handles may seem a minor detail but can significantly impact the style of your kitchen. Ideally, handles should match your mood board, be it Modern, Farmhouse, Hamptons, or Traditional.

The finish should reflect the style you want for your home. There’s an array of metal or powder-coated finishes, including matte black, white, stainless steel, nickel, brass, bronze, copper, or even champagne.

If the budget allows, you may decide to opt for no handles at all. Push to open doors with a hidden finger grip door profile are a great alternative.

For tapware, it’s okay to mix metals for the sink tapware, cabinet handles and lighting. Using a mix can create an exciting and eclectic feel.

Caesarstone® Calacatta Nuvo™
Brighton Homes (QLD)

Floor coverings

When renovating, you may find the kitchen has a different floor finish to other living spaces. You may prefer to use one material throughout the areas to create a modern, spacious, and seamless feel.

When selecting the floor coverings, opt for materials that are not only stylish but durable and easy to maintain.

Caesarstone® Cloudburst Concrete™

Step 4: How to create a cohesive colour palette

Creating a cohesive colour palette is like pulling together a jigsaw puzzle; it’s all about choosing elements that fit well together.

Using your mood board to reference your style and colour preferences, you can begin to research finish options. Flooring and benchtops are the most critical finishes to examine first. From here, you can look at cabinetry profiles, colours, tapware and hardware finishes and paint colours.

Caesarstone® Showroom

Visit a Showroom

A visit to a Caesarstone showroom provides the perfect opportunity to lay out material samples against large slabs or side by side. It allows you to see which materials and textures work best together and quickly detect colour differences, such as warm or cool undertones. At the same time, you can use pictures of tapware, appliances, and lighting to see how they fit within the colour and finishes palette.

Consider contrast, create balance, and allow breathing space

When building the colour palette, incorporate elements that ”pop” or create a focal point to avoid creating a bland or overpowering palette. For example, if you opt for a dark kitchen, complement the design with lighter flooring and paint.

Caesarstone® Vanilla Noir™
Carrera By Design & Zac Homes

Step 5: Top 3 considerations for selecting Caesarstone

Caesarstone is one of the most popular kitchen surfaces in Australia and New Zealand, with highly durable designs and colours to suit every design style imaginable.

1. Decide on the finish, then the colour
   First, look at the quartz finishes options available, from Polished, Natural, Concrete or Rough Concrete. Each finish offers a range of beautiful designs to help you achieve the look you want.
    
2. Choose from the collection that best reflects your style
   If you’re looking for an urban, industrial style vibe, check out the Metropolitan concrete range. For a classic and timeless feel, a marble look finish might be your go-to, while terrazzo is excellent for achieving a Mediterranean ambience. The 2020 Dark Collection and 2021 Whitelight Collection are ideal for creating modern moody or light, bright, yet warm spaces.
    
3. Your budget
   Caesarstone’s most cost-effective range is the standard range. It’s possible to save money by specifying the 20mm profile for the benchtop. Often, renovators choose a Supernatural or Supernatural Ultra with a marble vein in a thicker profile for the kitchen island and a 20mm profile standard colour for the rear benchtops.

Caesarstone® Snow™
Henley Homes (VIC)

We hope this article goes some way to helping you make informed and confident decisions selecting stone benchtop colours for your kitchen.

Author: Sarah McCahey, Superdraft

Sarah McCahey is an experienced interior designer. She works for Superdraft a project coordination platform created to help customers plan, design and build their dream space.