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Ok I love the idea of a wood countertop on the island. But I havent a clue what to do with the rest. Its an L shape.
Do I go with Granite which is what everyone wants. Or do I go with Copper or stainless steel. The appliances are stainless so I think it may be too much. The cabinets are white with silver hardware.
Skip the metals ... not only is it "too much", but there will be a lot more upkeep if you want it to stay pretty.
Granite has almost become a norm nowadays; around here in SoCal, prefab slabs can be had for well under $200 these days. Alternatives that offer the look (plus many additional styles) but without the upkeep would be solid surface and quartz.
Stainless steel always has that "commercial kitchen" look to it, which can be attractive if done right but takes a special sort of kitchen for it to look good in. It is probably the easiest to maintain, especially if you let it get all those tiny scratches so it become sort of a satin finish instead of a shiny finish. Stainless steel appliances are hard to keep clean as are black ones, but stainless steel counter tops are easy. Copper scratches and discolors and would be a huge upkeep nightmare IMHO so if it were my kitchen that would be way down towards the bottom of the choices list. It would be excellent for cookware or on a ventilator cover, but not as a countertop surface.
Wood butcher block is a good choice for kitchen islands, not so good for near the sink where it can rot from the water or not so good near the stove where it can be burned from hot pans.
Granite is a lovely surface, easy to keep clean, doesn't rot, doesn't burn but any glass that falls over on it will die. We have some near the stove in case we want to set hot pans on it and it is a good place to roll out pastry dough because it is a cold surface - especially if iced first. Also, enameled cast iron sinks will eat glassware. Every time a glass tips over in a cast iron sink, it's dead. We had a beautiful white enameled cast iron sink and took it out and replaced it with a standard stainless steel one because the cast iron one was eating too many dishes.
Formica is a good general purpose surface and they have a lot of new colors and patterns, although it does scratch and burn. It also doesn't have much high end appeal - not much snob appeal as it were.
There are some different plastic composite surfaces which I forget the name of which are good near the sink since they don't rot and they don't immediately break glassware. Corian, I think the surface is called. Comes in a lot of colors and can imitate granite. It can scratch fairly easily, but doesn't rot nor eat dishes.
Tile is hard and durable, doesn't rot, doesn't burn, fairly hard to scratch however the grout lines usually discolor and are hard to keep clean. It also has a certain look to it which folks may or may not like.
A lot of folks are using concrete for countertops these days. It can be stained many different colors and decorative rocks and such can be set into it. It is really heavy, though, make sure the cabinets below can handle the weight. I've seen several done by homeowners which have turned out quite nice, so if you are planning on a "do it yourself" kitchen upgrade, concrete might be an option.
Marble is really lovely especially as a pastry table surface but it is not a cheap option at all. I think it also has some care issues, but I've not had much experience with marble surfaces.
I like the look of butcher block with black granite, white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. This is such a rich look and would also look nice with the pergo floors.
When I looked at homes, I didn't want tile, too hard to keep the grout clean, it gave me an ick factor. Granite looked nice, but it wasn't me. I loved corian and the like (silestone?). If you scratch it, you can grind it out.
I love corian because you can go seamless and clean-up is much easier. It's expensive but there are lots of color choices. Granite is expensive for a nice color and stone pattern, requires the undermount sink I hate, and is very heavy. One builder I know hates it because it is easily chipped during installation, meaning it can be chipped during use also. I notice on my granite, there degradation of the surface near the sink, sort of like pitting. It wasn't there originally.
I agree with the criticism of grout for tile. It can be pretty on a wall, but is a cleaning problem.
Thank you. I do love the look with black granite and butcher block island. That is probably what I will go for. I also did look at the silestone and liked it also.
I'm not a fan of granite or any cold surface. I don't cook or bake alot so laminate works just fine for me. It's cheaper and in a few years if you get tired of the look you can change it out relatively cheaply. Laminates have come a long way from the early "looks like cheap plastic" days. If you have a busy kitchen, perhaps laminates aren't the best choice. But for me, my budget and my taste, they work just fine. I have laminate flooring too and I'ts been great.
Good luck with your project. I hope your love whatever you decide to do.
I had silestone (quartz composite) in my last kitchen and liked it very much; in my new kitchen I have soapstone, which is a light gray stone that turns almost black with oiling (oiling is not necessary, just for looks). Mine has crazy white veins running through it--I think it might look great with your white cabinets and silver hardware.
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