Worktops: materials and colours

The worktop is where most of the money goes, and where people most often have regrets. It gets heat, knives, water and weight, all at the same time, every day. Every sample in the showroom is described as durable, low-maintenance and timeless. That does not help you choose.

What does help: what a material is good at, what it is bad at, and who should not pick it. That is what this page is about. We are not tied to one supplier and have no house brand, so we gain nothing from what you choose.

Five materials side by side

The prices below are market indications per metre of worktop, including 21% VAT. They are all-in: the material, the finished edges, transport and fitting. Your own price depends on the length, the thickness and the finish, and you get it after we have measured.

Source: market indication, 1 September 2026. Add the cut-outs: the sink and the hob each need one, at € 50 – € 100 per cut-out incl. VAT. As an example, a three-metre composite worktop comes to € 1.100 – € 2.100 in total at market prices, including VAT, cut-outs and fitting.

Laminate (HPL)

A board with a plastic top layer. There is so much choice in designs now that from a metre away you can have a concrete look or a marble look. We cut it to size on the day itself, so it fits in the same installation day.

The weak spot is the cut edge around the sink. That is where swelling starts. If it is sealed well, a laminate worktop lasts fine.

Not for you if you usually put a hot pan on the worktop or cut without a board. A burn mark or a cut does not come out again.

Solid wood

Lovely in a warm or country-style kitchen, and you can sand it back. The point to watch is always the same: around the sink. Water stands there, and water and wood do not go together in the long run if you do not look after it. Wood also moves with dry air and steam.

Not for you if you do not want to oil it twice a year. Want wood without the upkeep? Put wood on the island or a side section, and something else around the sink.

Composite

Ground quartz with a binder. It is the most chosen group, and usually rightly so. Hard, even in colour all the way through, not porous, and you do not need to seal it like natural stone. Seams can be glued almost invisibly.

Know its weak spots up front:

• Heat. A pan straight off the hob can leave a ring or a crack. A trivet next to the hob solves it.
• Strong cleaners. Descaler and drain unblocker leave a dull patch. If some gets on it, rinse it off with water straight away.
• Seams. A worktop around a corner comes in two parts. The seam is glued almost closed, but in a light colour you see it if you look closely.
• Weight. Composite is heavy and does not bend. The cabinets have to carry it, so we check the row is straight before we measure.

Ceramic

The most indifferent worktop there is. Heat, knives, acid, sunlight: none of it matters. It can be thin, down to 12 mm. If you have the budget and really cook a lot, this is a worktop you never think about again.

Not for you if your budget is tight. And know that ceramic is thin and hard. If something heavy falls on a protruding edge, it can chip, and that cannot be repaired neatly.

Natural stone

Granite, marble, quartzite. Every slab is different, and that is the whole point: you have something nobody else has in exactly the same way.

Know what you are getting into. Natural stone is porous and has to be sealed, and you keep doing that. In a kitchen that gets used, marble is sensitive to red wine, lemon and oil, which soak in and do not come out. With natural stone the price range within the material is bigger than the gap with other materials. The slab sets the price, not the name of the stone.

Not for you if you want your worktop to look new in ten years. Then choose ceramic or composite.

Colours and finishes

A few things we see go well, and a few that catch people out:

• Laminate comes in the widest range of designs, including wood, concrete and marble looks.
• Composite is the choice if you want a calm, plain colour for less money. The colour is the same all the way through.
• Light colours show a corner seam more than dark ones. Keep that in mind with an L- or U-shaped kitchen.
• Natural stone has its own pattern in every slab. What you see in the showroom is a sample, not your worktop.
• The edge changes the look too. A straight edge is standard. A thicker front edge of four or six centimetres means a glued-on strip and a seam that has to be finished.

What makes a worktop more expensive

With a stone-type worktop, a good part of the bill is not in the slab but in the work. These add up:

• The number of cut-outs. Sink, hob and tap holes are each cut or drilled.
• The type of sink. A top-mount sink is a hole. An undermount sink is glued to the worktop in the workshop and the edge is polished.
• Corners and seams. An L- or U-shaped kitchen means joints, and that is where the extra cost sits.
• An upstand or splashback in the same material. It looks good, but it is extra square metres and extra cutting.

The practical side

We cut laminate and wood to size on site, so they fit in the same installation day. Stone, composite and ceramic are measured with a template once the cabinets are in place, and fitted later. That means two visits with a delivery time in between, set by the stone workshop. How that works on an existing kitchen is on replacing a kitchen worktop. With a new kitchen it is part of kitchen installation.

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