5 Reasons to Choose Laminate Kitchen Countertops

By Kate Riley August 15, 2013

With all the options out there for kitchen remodels, most people are eyeing smooth surface countertops for their beauty and practicality. The choices are numerous from high end stone products that come from a quarry to wood and recycled materials to the budget friendly laminates. Laminate has gotten a bad rap for a lot of the products from the past decades, but times have changed. I’m a fan of laminate countertops in kitchens for these five reasons.

1. Low Maintenance & Easy to Clean.  When we were growing up my mom had ceramic tile countertops and I remember her saying she couldn’t wait for the day to rip them out. I also remember her scrubbing (and making us scrub!) the grout to keep it clean and bright. Laminate offers an easy to clean solution with a household cleaner, a sponge, and some hot water, cleaning them is a breeze and maintaining them is a cinch since you don’t need to seal them.

Cents

Wilsonart Perla Piazza installed in this kitchen

 

2. Budget Friendly.  Compared to stone and other solid surface countertops, laminate wins in the price war. Starting as low as $15 per square foot, they are far more affordable than quartz, marble, or granite which are often $50 to $100 per square foot depending on the material. You do have to be careful of sharp objects, abrasive cleaners, or extremely high heat. Here is a brief and interesting read about how laminates are made.

3. Stylish. Laminate countertops are looking so good! The new patterns complement dark and light, painted and wood cabinets, but do you notice how they’re installed?

wilsonart laminate kitchen counter

wilsonart laminate counter

wilsonart laminate dark cabinets

 

When ordering your laminate surface consider not including the laminate backsplash seen with many of the older versions (that little lip or apron that rides up on the wall).

Instead opt for a countertop that stops at the edge of the horizontal plane and choose a pretty backsplash that meets the countertop at the bottom of the wall like so.

shelter kitchen remodel after

 

4. New & Improved Patterns.  Laminate has come a long way baby! I’m weighing these three choices for a future project and leaning toward the White Carrara among these marble lookalike samples. I like that they’re also are available in bullnose and ogee edges for a more contemporary look.

marble options

 

5. Magazine Worthy.  It’s not just high end solid stone or wood countertops that make it into magazines now. Stone lookalike laminates are candidates too! Our budget shelter kitchen remodel from last year was impressive enough to make the pages of the August issue of BH&G’s Kitchen + Bath Makeovers, check it out in print, we’re so excited to see it featured!

 

kitchen and bath mag feature

You may recall it was Wilsonart who donated the Perla Piazza countertops to this good cause and their generosity is so greatly appreciated.  Those are my five reasons why you should consider choosing laminate for your kitchen, a great look at a smart price.

How many of you have chosen laminate in your kitchen? Are you happy you did?

 

*This post sponsored by Wilsonart. All opinions are my own of course!.

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78 comments

  1. I chose flat black laminate with my white open shelved cabinets. Looks great! I had granite installed at my last house and it wasn’t six months before it was chipped.
    Brenda

  2. I agree! Laminate has come a long way from what it used to be. We recently installed a new laminate counter top in our kitchen and I couldn’t be happier with it. I wanted something light and clean and of course, budget friendly, so we ended up with a style that cost less than $300 for a 12′ length. Unfortunately, it does have the backsplash(had to have it with the option we chose to order) but it really doesn’t bother me too much. Also, have you seen the affordable premade pieces available at Lowe’s and Home Depot? Super cheap!

  3. Wow, what a great post. I sure hope the stigma for laminate goes away. I have a bad glued laminate sheet with tile edging and really wanted the new Formica marble look with the ogee edge, but we are in the process of making one section from reclaimed wood because I needed it to be basically free. Once we get our island reshaped, though I am probably going to do a laminate top because they do look great. What great examples, and not doing the back splash makes a huge difference!

  4. I’m loving the new look of laminate… I do love solid surface but one thing that always scares me is how hard they are; I set a glass bowl down a little too hard and I’m afraid that granite is going to break it. I love that laminate has a little give to it.

  5. We ordered the Calcutta Marble laminate (pictured above) for our new build. We did a lot of shopping around, but the more popular stuff just wasn’t in our price range. Also, we’ll have three kids under the age of two in less than a month, and I need something easy to clean!

    The guy at our countertop store actually said something to me about the popularity of granite etc…”Granite has been really gaining popularity for the last 5-10 years, and it’s gorgeous, but people think that just getting granite countertops sealed keeps them clean. I think in another 5-10 years you’re going to start hearing about a lot of mold issues in kitchens with these countertops, because people aren’t cleaning them properly.” He said that even with the sealants, a lot of stuff can still sneak through.

  6. We went cheap when deciding on what finishes to put in our new build. We figured we would skip the builder’s marked up prices and put in what we want over the next few years as our budget allowed. I thought the first thing I would want to rip out would be those laminate countertops in both our kitchen and bathrooms, but it’s been so easy to clean that I’m keeping it around until my kids are a little older. I love that I don’t have to even think about the countertops at this point.

    My only regret is not getting the laminate flush to the wall like in your examples. I wish I had known that was an option! That ugly lip is keeping me from installing my backsplash because I don’t want to have gap at the bottom of the wall when we switch out our countertops.

  7. I am all about the laminate. There are so many great choices. And I love the surface for working with cinnamon roll and bread dough. The rolled edges are great and we tile our back splashes.

    Best part… it doesn’t break the bank so if I get tired of it I have no guilt in making a change.

  8. Laminate was a no-brainier for me. I can’t stand the harsh sound when you drop cutlery on granite, or a plate.

  9. I hadn’t thought about laminate in a while. I guess I didn’t realize it was making a comeback and the options have gotten better. We have ghetto old school laminate in our kitchen currently. It’s not pretty. We’re looking to remodel probably next year and having laminate as a possible low cost solution is awesome Thanks for sharing!

  10. The whole time I was reading this I was thinking, “I LOVE OUR WILSONART HD COUNTERTOPS!” They look amazing and are no maintenance. We spent $700 on ours (we have a LOT of counters.) I can only imagine how prohibitively expensive granite would have been.

    My only word of caution is about the beveled edge option. Since it’s basically separate pieces of laminate glued on to create that edge (as opposed to a solid piece that would be “carved” into that shape), we are noticing some tiny chips and wear at the places where the pieces meet. I wish we would have gone for the bullnose edge.

    • We did the HD laminate countertops with the bullnose edge and love it. It is so realistic looking that you would think you have granite. There are so many patterns to choose from. We did buy it with the attached backsplash and then added a coordinating tile backsplash up to the bottom of the upper cabinets. We will be moving soon, and if the next house we buy and remodel needs countertops, we will use likely buy the HD laminate again. However, we might consider eliminating the attached backsplash and strictly go with the tile backsplash. However, we do like for now how it turned out.

  11. Due to budget constraints I had laminate installed in a new build. I chose the Wilsonart White Carrara with my white cabinets and I love it. I heard that there have been problems with the new edges so I went with the standard edge. All that is needed is a splashy backsplash. Great post. I hope the stigma goes away!

  12. We’re going for laminate with our kitchen remodel. If we spent the money on a solid surface, we just wouldn’t regain that cost when we go to sell unfortunately.

    We also like that you can now do under-mounted sinks with laminate, which really has me sold! Home Depot and other vendors use Karran sinks to do that.

  13. Love this post. I don’t understand all the laminate hate out there. Do we all really need thousands of dollars of countertop in our kitchens? We installed Wilsonart laminate in our kitchen 10 years ago and they have held up perfectly and still look great. We chose Graphite Nebula, a deep charcoal grey, almost black. We opted for the standard edge, clean and squared, which I think looks less characteristically laminate as compared to a curved or beveled edge. We didn’t install the little backsplash ledge and instead brought our white subway tile backsplash right down to the countertop and neatly caulked the seam. From a distance our counters look a little like soapstone. No regrets here.

  14. I chose laminate countertops from Ikea when I remodelled my kitchen. I think they look totally contemporary and at a price point that just can’t be beat. I like the clean edge and that there is no backsplash on them.
    A word of caution, the Ikea laminate countertops are thicker than other laminate counters, be sure to factor that in when buying faucets; mine just barely made it to the downpipe. Oops.

  15. We had old ugly laminate in our old house and I wanted stone in the new house. The difference in price between stone and good formica was not very big on the mortgage time-scale, plus we would have to get integrated sink with formica which I did not like. So we got granit. What a pain to clean! It absorbs grease like a sponge and after two years we have darker areas where the grease from stove splashed and greasy spoons were left… My friends say it’s barely noticeable, but I KNOW it’s there and I CAN see it. So yes, you are right, laminate is better. At least I got vinyl floor, which is so much easier to clean than tile! :)

  16. I have 17 year old off white laminate that has held up extremely well. I clean houses for a living and granite shows hard water spots and loses its shine. When I replace I’m going with laminate again. I love all the new colors and the back splash.

  17. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who appreciates laminate countertops. Thank you for pointing out how much removing the laminate backsplash changes the look for the better. I had never thought about it, but what a difference! I wonder if the splash can just be cut off of those prefab countertop pieces at Home Depot to achieve the same look?

  18. What a timely post! We just had our new Wilsonart HD laminate countertops installed last week, and I truly couldn’t be happier with them. I chose the Carrara Santorini because I liked the grey veining more than the subtle Calcutta Marble. Just like you said, I opted to not add the backsplash and just had my white subway tile put in today. I’ve already had people shocked to find out that it’s not real marble. The rounded edge gives the illusion of marble, and then you only have the one seam along the side. I’m so happy with it!

  19. Twenty years and counting with my laminate countertops! Yes there are a couple of slice marks in it but twenty years, 4 kids and a hubby, I wouldn’t use anything else on my counters. Granite is soooo cold to the touch. (my hubby has it on his office desk top)

    • Beautiful Jenna, I love the contrast between your darker countertops and white cabinets!

  20. When we did a kitchen remodel a few years ago, we put in a beautiful Peacock Green (almost black) granite. Biggest mistake EVER! It is such a pain in the butt to clean! You cant just swipe it with a sponge because it looks terrible unless you also dry it. Its like trying to clean a mirror with a wet sponge….streaks galore. Mine are “factory” sealed which is a plus, but you need to use a special granite cleaner, and wipe them dry. I hate them!…and they were SO expensive!

  21. Wow, this article couldn’t of come at a better time for me. We just finished ripping out the rest of the kitchen last night. We’ve done a total gut on the main floor of our old farm house. I didn’t know you could have laminate w/o the rolled up back. You have just added $$$ to my budget! Thank you so very much. It’s getting harder and harder to find ways to cut things off the want list.

  22. Yay! Yay! Yay! We just had marble laminate installed Tuesday WITHOUT a backsplash and I am so pleased! It makes me so excited to know that we made a smart choice! THANK YOU for this post!

    • Send me a picture Amber or add a link, we’d all love to see how your marble laminate looks!

  23. My husband and I remodeled our kitchen about three years ago and went with laminate. We have a lot of counter space, so even with the laminate it was 1600.00! We chose a medium soapstone and used marble subway tile for the backsplash. It looks great and it’s easy to live with. No regrets at all!

  24. Another anti-granite post here. Thankfully we didn’t pay for ours – they were already in the home we purchased. When the time comes to do so, I will happily rip them out and replace them with something more functional. I am really excited to see how far laminate has come.

  25. Our kitchen is gutted to the studs as I type. We’re DIYing every. single. thing. And only working on it during the weekends when the hubs is off work. We’re on week 8. With three kids. Kill me now. The point of my mini novel is, our counters are payed for and we went with the Wilsonart White Carrera, no backsplash. I’m so excited to see them installed, I could pee myself. If you’re so inclined, I do an update of where we’re at once a week, and you can see our progress here: http://rindymae.blogspot.com/search/label/Kitchen%20Remodel

  26. This post could not be more perfect timing!
    I just discovered on local blogs/Pinterest Formica fx Calcutta Marble! i was blown away by the pics on http://myoldcountryhouse.com/the-kitchen-makeover-saving-and-splurges-and-lessons-learned/
    That this was Formica! As soon as I read this article I ran to my closest Home Depot to sadly find only
    a sample in a 2×2 inch sample chip. Do you know where they feature this in a showroom
    Or larger scale sample? I also am confused about comments above with the
    edging options. What is the difference between bullnose and ogee edge? Also curious what the issues that Erin commented above about the bullnose edging having issues.

  27. We put in beautiful laminate countertops in our kitchen with an integrated sink. The are beautiful and no maintenance. I’m too busy to worry about taking care of an item in my kitchen that serves so many purposes. The only thing I wish is that I’d have chosen not to have the backsplash and tiled. New countertops and flooring were achieved in that renovation and I have never felt like my choices were anything less than wonderful. I just put new Wilsonart countertops and sinks in my two bathrooms and they are truly spectacular. One bathroom has a backsplash the other does not and is tiled. I am very pleased with the look of both. I feel I can change out my countertops a little more often when I haven’t spent a fortune. I like that.

  28. We had builder’s grade laminate in our last home. It must have been the cheapest of the cheap because under the edge was exposed particle board and around the edges, especially over the dishwasher, it swelled and was constantly dropping pieces in the drawers. It also chipped off on some of the edges leaving that particle stuff exposed. I swore I’d never use it again but you have changed my mind. I am currently buying a 100 year old house and need to remodel the kitchen which was updated, probably in the 80s. I think the new laminate is the way to go. Have you heard of the particle board problem before? and how is that issue addressed now? Thanks for a great post!

  29. When we had our kitchen done a few years ago I wasn’t too keen on the idea of laminate. However, after reluctantly going along with it I now LOVE it. Very low maintenance and budget friendly – couldn’t agree more.

  30. I agree! We installed granite countertops in our last house just before we put it on the market to sell. I’m so glad we were able to try it out before building our new home. My husband and I broke 3 glasses in a short period of time setting them down on the granite. We are not clumsy or rough. It was really surprising. Between that and the fear of acidic foods, maintenance, etc, told us quickly that we were not granite people. And, I think I may be one of the few people on earth who didn’t yearn for it anyway. I like it fine in many other traditional look kitchens, but for me, the pattern always felt overpowering. Still, I felt like I had to apologize for preferring laminate. People looked at me like I must not have good taste. :-D

  31. Great post on laminate counter, I am researching different counter tops now for a a redo in a few years, what are your thoughts on Caesarstone? Would love to hear about that?

    Absolutely love your blog, daily read!!!!
    Thanks for the informative post!!
    Annette

  32. Karen, when we had our laminate fabricated, we specified a plywood base with solid wood overhang (the part at the front edge). It costs more, but definitely makes a better end product.

  33. I love laminate. We have it in the kitchen and soon in all four baths. So easy to keep clean and tidy. We have some kind of faux stone in all the baths, and that stuff is a major, major pain to keep up. Can’t stand it!

  34. We put in new counters almost 2 years ago and went with a recycled glass/quartz/granite combo. We love the look of it, but in hindsight, I wish we would have spent the money on new cabinets and installed a cheaper counter/backsplash. I really, really hate my cabinets and no matter how I paint them, they’re still 1971 cabinets. We spent almost $5k on the counters, so ripping them out and starting over is not an option. We’ll likely put new doors on the cabinets in the near future. That might help…

  35. We got laminate in our last kitchen because of cost and easy care, plus not breaking things dropped on it (we have young kids). However, you can easily spend a lot on laminate once you go beyond the cheapest ones, so you need to be aware of that.

    We had issues with not having flat walls, and the installer doesn’t scribe the edges the way they do with solid surfaces, so while we lived with a gap between counter and wall we installed the 2 inch thing when we sold the house.

    We didn’t realise that because we had dark counters (oiled soapstone) you’d see the white at the very base of the laminate along each seam, and because we had a curved edge on the peninsula they couldn’t do a curved or ogee edge. Definitely try to find an installed sample to look at before you order.

  36. Oh, while you’re talking about materials I’d love to see a roundup of soft kitchen floor coverings. Our house is 90 years old and the wooden floors would be impossible to match (mostly because of the gaps!), plus I like the softness of a vinyl floor on my feet. Are vinyl and cork the only options? How do the various options look hard up against hardwoods of a different colour? Are there low VOC vinyl alternatives?

  37. I used to have ceramic tile counters and I hated them! We had a water leak and had to redo our kitchen. I chose laminate and we save enough cash to get new floors for my dining room! I’m showing this post to my hubby who is skeptical about the laminate.

  38. My 28 year old house has laminate counter tops and they have held up well. We’re currently giving the kitchen a freshening up and are replacing the laminate with a solid surface – i’ve waited all these years for a nicer kitchen and desperately want an undermounted sink. I think the solid surface has the benefit of being easy to clean, easy to repair and for me the most important, undermounted sink. We aren’t planning on moving in the next 10 years so I’m not worried about resale value – any thing I pick will be the dreaded “dated” by the time we sell.

  39. When we purchased our 1910 home, somewhere along the line, someone decided to do, not one, but Two layers of (ugly) tile for the countertops. So we ripped it all out, and being on a tight, tight budget, headed to home depot to see what we could find, and we found a great laminate top that has a black and brown granite look to it. It mainly looks black, which matched perfectly. It cost us about $300 to redo our countertops. We ended up purchasing the one with the backsplash (that’s all they had) but it doesn’t have a tacky look to it (thankfully)
    Everyone that sees it likes our granite tops, and are impressed when we tell them it’s laminate =)

  40. We have 1966 Laminate now, and I don’t want that again. :P But granite, marble or any other natural stones have been out of the question ever since I read about how fragile they are. Depending on time and budget, I might consider laminate or manmande stone. We’ll see when we get there.

  41. Thank you for this post. I have a BA in Interior Design and get irritated with the fad of granite, especially for people that I *know* will not seal it as they are supposed to. I think laminate is a great, cost effective way to go.

  42. More and more people are turning to laminate counter-tops thanks recently. Just like everything else, it seems the past is back.

  43. Great timing! I put a bid on a house yesterday and know I’ll have to replace the kitchen right away (wish me luck!). My Realtor told me not to put laminate in, but I”m not worried about resale and I keep thinking of a great kitchen Sarah Richardson designed all around a Formica called Beluga. I love this kitchen, it’s practical for a family, and I will probably shamelessly copy as much as I can: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarah-101-season-1/big-box-kitchen

  44. I whole-heartedly agree with your reaons on laminate. I remodeled my kitchen a few years back and chose laminate because in my neighborhood, spending the $$$ on granite would NOT fetch a higher price. (I am in a middle class nidhgborhood.) Also I know I’d want to change down the road and wouldn’t because I’d feel guilty for the money I spent on granite. And as for that backsplash, I let someone talk me into getting it. What a mistake! a) It cost me more for that, and b) something extra to clean! Also I like bull nose edge or curved corners. It’s softer and kitchens have a lot of hard edges.

  45. Laminate, grew up with it, inherited it, love it! You can drop a plate or glass on laminate and still have an intact plate or glass. Not so with stone.
    Why live with something that requires extra care – i.e. special sealants, cleaners, sanitizers when you can have something that offers the same look for less investment AND an easier upkeep.
    The only thing when remodeling, just think ‘classic’ look – no weird giraffe spots or dirty brown colors, or distinct color families. Think neutral.
    I’m with you Kate on that Carrara – a.n.y.thing goes with it – neutrals, brights, blues, golds, greens, browns, purples, yellows, etc.
    Any realtor worth their weight in gold will suggest adding color with accessories & paint. Leaving the expensive/unchangeable investment pieces (cabinetry, counters, appliances, flooring) neutral. Same with home décor when staging.

  46. Dear Kate- I’m thrilled that you tackled the subject of Laminate for counters!!! I’m ready to redo my counter and it is a horrible brown checked”THING” (previous owner). I have waited quite awhile for this and I want it to be perfect. Of course money is a factor, but the Wilsonart is really,really, good looking. Would you be so kind as to let me know what was the name of the Wilsonart in the three pics that you used? I tried to click on them, hoping they would tell me, but it won’t. Also yours look wonderful! Were you afraid to pick such a light color? THANKS- Catherine

  47. New butcher block laminate! My sample arrived in today’s mail so I was very excited to see this post. The laminate is Wilsonart Premium Laminate that looks like butcher block. Its a new product for Fall 2013. I got a sample of the dark brown (Old Oak Mill) and they also have a lighter color. Its fantastic looking! The thought of a no-maintenance butcher block look-alike is very exciting….

  48. Yes, Laminate has come a long way. I used it in my laundry room and love it. I wonder if homeowners could cut the backsplash off if they don’t like that look? Then they could put a nice tiled backsplash. I guess someone who is thinking of replacing it could try it and see if it works :)

    • Hi Stephanie, I’m curious to know if that can be done too, I suspect it might be a huge mess and leave a larger gap than can be covered by tile, usually those aprons are an inch thick as I recall, but if anyone’s done it successfully, I’d love to know!

  49. Laminate was all I could afford. It is nice looking but now after 7 or 8 years it is really starting to look it’s age.

  50. Laminate is the way to go. It comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns. It’s the most inexpensive material available. When you get tired of a pattern, you can change it without breaking the bank.

    My husband predicts a day all the landfills have granite that people are tired of. He says you’ll be able to walk into any house with granite countertops and say, “This is to two thousand teens.”

    The only thing I don’t really like about laminate is that you can’t use an undermount sink with it. A couple of the sinks in your photos above look like they are level with the countertop. How is that done?

  51. I’ve lived with almost every type of countertop: Tile, limestone, granite, Corian, laminate, even contact paper (seriously!). All have pluses and minuses. My least favorite besides the contact paper was the tile, and my most favorite was actually some vintage Formica with gold glitter in it! That stuff was amazing. Right now we have granite and I’ve broken so many dishes. We did less expensive cabinets and more expensive countertops during our remodel a few years ago but if I had to do it again I’d go with laminate counters and better cabinetry. Live and learn!

  52. Hi
    I too love laminate, but I live in an area where our drinking water has a lot of minerals. We installed white Wilsonart laminate in our bathroom and there is a constant mineral stain around the faucet handles. If you bleach it, it gets worse. Do not bleach your laminate. I have to constantly treat it with with either jewelry cleaner or CLR (Calcium Lime and Rust) product. If anyone else has problems with hard water, please don’t get white laminate! If anyone had a solution to remove the yellowed mineral stains, please reply.

  53. When we moved into our teeny 1940’s house, we inherited solid-but-sad wood cabinets and a countertop made out of plywood covered with contact paper. Eek! A few coats of cream paint made the cabinets look great, and we were able to find a prefab laminate countertop at our local home store for less than $150. We briefly debated going with a different material, but it would be foolish to chose natural stone in our neighborhood (we’d never recoup the money if we sell). Our laminate countertops were really budget-friendly, and they’re tough, easy to clean, and look great. Love them! We saved so much money on the cabinets and counters that we were able to redo the flooring and tile our backsplash. For less than $500, we have a ‘new’ kitchen that looks great, flows with the style of our little house, and is really practical. I couldn’t be happier.

  54. For an even better look, omit the backsplash and get a “D” edge doubled. A regular D edge is about 1″ deep so by doubling it you will have a substantial 2″ lip on the front of your counter. Balances the height of base cupboards and, if you’re using a stone/granite laminate look-alike it mimics the look even better.

  55. A few people have posted asking if they can just cut off the backsplash on the preform purchased, stocked laminate tops from HD and Lowes. The answer is no and here is why: if from the back edge of the backsplash to the front is 1 piece of laminate. If you cut the backsplash off from the top, you are left with a chunk of your counter not covered by the laminate (and probably don’t have a pretty line either). If you cut off the backsplash running the blade parallel to the backsplash, the counter is now shallower than the standard 25″ depth and you likely wouldn’t even meet the front of your cabinet. If you don’t want the backsplash, custom order without it.

  56. Just wondering, if you were to design/build another kitchen in the future would you put laminate counters in rather than marble??

  57. Hi there,

    I like reading blogs about renovation on a budget! And the photos of this post of laminate countertops in the kitchen are amazing!

    I got a few questions about laminate countertops in the bathroom countertops though. My small kitchen has Italian porcelain tiles we installed few years back and I love how it looks and it’s so easy to maintain. However, my bathrooms have cultured marble countertops with undermount sinks. There are black waters pots on the countertops, and “orangey” circles around where the old faucets were (we changed the faucets), also the sink in one of the bathroom sinks is all scratched and stained and I simply can’t keep it clean. :(

    Now I have a baby, I don’t think I can do any tile countertops without help. But I’m on a budget, so I am thinking if it’s possible to install laminate countertops with new sinks by ourselves. The problem is I don’t know the durability of laminate countertops in bathrooms (haven’t had it in bathrooms before) and if it’s impossible as a DIY project.

    Anyone has any insight on this? I really can’t spend that much money on these countertops and sinks and there’re 3 (36″, 60″ and 72″). I am just so tired of “trying” to clean up without success. Hope someone can help. ANY ideas are welcome! Thanks for reading!

  58. A few years later & I just found this and am so glad. In process of buying a a cool vintage 80s house with an old kitchen and crooked brown, tile countertops. Have been debating doing feather lite concrete over them but a great laminate sounds like a much happier option. Glad I found this post!

  59. I know this is long after your original post, but love the laminate featured in the second picture in your article (white cabinets and teapot on store, bowl on counter). Do you know what brand and color/pattern that is? I have been looking everywhere for something like this but have not see this. Thanks!

  60. I briefly browsed through the comments and didn’t see this question. If it’s already been asked, I do apologize!

    The countertop looks fabulous. Was this laminate built on a substrate with the typical, standard measurements? It actually looks a little bit thinner than normal which I prefer. I’ve run across this before and would love to know whether you customized yours by asking for a thinner substrate. Using a thinner substrate tends to help laminate counters not “scream laminate.” Three centimeters (a bit thinner than standard) achieves more of a stone-like thickness and just plays a trick on the eye by not looking like EVERY single laminate countertop that you’ve ever seen before!
    We are about to install WilsonArt laminate with no backsplash. And although I know that we want it built on a thinner substrate, I’m having a hard time finding an installer who knows anything about this. So I would lovvvvve to hear your experience if you did indeed use this method. Thank you, thank you!

  61. I am remodeling my kitchen right now and looking for counter top solutions. I hadn’t even considered laminate counter tops because I have always like the look of granite kitchen counter tops. But it looks like they have similar looks depending on the pattern. I think that it is good to look at the different options that are available for remodeling purposes.

  62. What a great post! We need to replace our laminate countertops that are 16 years old and installed when we built our house. They were all we could afford. My husband wants granite or ceramic and I want to stick with the laminate. They have held up well, so why change. I think I have just stumbled upon my argument! Thanks!

  63. I know this is a 3-4 year old post, but I had to add that IKEA, purveyor of all things hackable and inexpensive, has just come out with a laminate honed Carrara white marble-look prefab counter for …wait for it…$99 for the whole 8 ft. slab!!!! I just got three in the As-Is department for $50 each ?! Here’s the link: http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/20335629/
    Go get it, girls! (I’m not affiliated at all with IKEA, just super-psyched about this development).

  64. We sold our house this past July. It was 17 years old, and still had its original white laminate counters. They were in excellent shape and I’m NOT easy on stuff. Thay house sold in 3 hours and had two offers! The house we bought was a flip, and they put in Formica counters that look like granite with an ogee edge in the kitchen. The bathrooms have granite in a tan color with speckles. I hate it. It already has darkened areas from water. And it’s so cold and hard! We decided to add a peninsula to our kitchen, and got the same Formica that was already here. I love it. I am sick of all the snobs who only want granite. They can keep it. My dream counters would be sparkly quartz, but if I can’t have that l will stick with laminate. It’s so easy to take care of. And even though I don’t try to pass it off as granite, a relative was here for Christmas, and she actually sat at the counter and touched it and asked how they matched my beautiful granite when they added the peninsula. I didn’t want her to feel stupid so I didn’t say anything. She lives in a huge, expensive house that does have granite, so I was shocked that even she was fooled.
    If it were up to me I’d live in a house with a 50s kitchen and boomerang counters with the metal edge! I love laminate and I’m not ashamed!

  65. Laminate countertops are getting much closer to a high end countertop, but for our clients we still install granite or quartz with most of the kitchens and bathrooms that we renovate. I will say that I have seen a couple that are very sharp looking counters! Great article!

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