Reno Therapy: All About Our Formica Countertops
“This post is in partnership with Formica because I love em & know you’ll love em too!”
You guys have heard so much about my countertops, and yet I've never gotten a chance to actually tell you all about my countertops! All you know is that it took a while before I got them; and can I just say... totally worth the wait!
Now let's get into why...
When exploring countertop options, our top two considerations were butcher block and quartz. Similar to my process with designing and choosing our cabinets, I started with a close to home resource. I went to our local IKEA and grabbed finishes similar to want I envisioned, comparing them up again their wood and laminate countertops.
While we loved the warmth of the wood, we decided to rule out the butcher block & incorporate wood elsewhere. From there I began exploring different options — quartz and quartz alternatives.
I've always been familiar with Formica, however, only for their laminate surfaces. While I was doing my research, Kim & Scott of @yellowbrickhome were revealing the kitchens of their 2 unit flat. Unit 2 featured supermatte black shakers cabinets from Semihandmade — yep... the same ones in our media room! — with a white countertop... a design that paralleled exactly what I had in mind for the hygge ranch.
I was shocked to find out their countertops were (1) not stone, (2) from Formica, and (3) not laminate.
I started to do more research on their Everform™ Solid Surfacing because if Kim loved it, I knew I'd probably love it too!
Everform™ Solid Surface by Formica Corporation, formerly known as Formica® Solid Surfacing, turned out to be exactly what I was looking — it offered a number of beautiful looks, without sacrificing performance. It's nonporous, durable, low maintenance nature made it the perfect solution for our family's lifestyle.
Design
I browsed the entire Everform™ collection, which includes 38 patterns, and quickly fell for their white surface options. I requested samples for Arctic (102), Bleached Concrete (601), Luna Brite White (408), and Tumbled Glass (413).
These choices would all satisfy my design ambitions for the kitchen — a simple but distinct design that would compliment (not compete with) all the other elements I'd be choosing... no matter how many times they'd change.
Performance
Everform™ is an acrylic surface made from natural mineral fiber and binding resins, and features color all the way through to its core. As such, this makes it an ideal choice for high-traffic environments that need hardworking, easy-to-clean surfaces.
Since our kitchen is where we spend large portions of our day, I didn't want a countertop that I'd have to "babysit" — i.e sealing maintenance — or constantly worrying about cracking or staining. I wanted to be confident that we could do our daily routines, and that our countertop could support our lifestyle.
“When choosing a countertop, 56% of designers say ease of care is an important attribute their clients ask for. 85% of homeowners also say it would be useful to have a nonporous surface, yet granite and marble are top materials homeowners are considering (42% and 27%, respectively).”
With this being a complete kitchen renovation, I also wanted assurances that we wouldn't need to replace this countertop anytime soon...not if we didn't want to.
For all intents and purposes, Formica checked off all of our prerequisites; and after comparing our four samples up against the other finishes in the renovation, we went with Bleached Concrete.
Once the selection was made, it was all about getting the countertop measured, fabricated, and installed.
As someone who has never been on site for a countertop installation, I had no idea what to expect. I just knew that I couldn't wait to see it all come together. The temporary plywood countertops we had in place could be removed because each slab comes fitted with support wood underneath, and on site, they were able to make any necessary adjustments once each section was dry fitted.
Our kitchen featured one small countertop between the fridge and the stove, a waterfall edge *swoon* on the other side of the stove, a single countertop for the cafe, and one final countertop cut for the apron sink and plumbing fixtures. We went with a 1/2" thickness + over hang. Up against the matte black and matte white cabinets, with the leather & brass pulls, the countertop is just... chef's kiss!
Okay, this is where I'm gonna have to leave y'all so you can fully take it all in when we do the final reveal, but I will say this...
As a family that uses the kitchen all day, everyday, we knew we had to have a countertop that would work hard, without sacrificing style. It's so funny that we started this project wanting quartz countertops, went another direction, yet people are always assuming we have quartz countertops!
And after weeks of cooking, cleaning, spilling, and dropping, our Formica countertops owe us nothing!
* Note: This study was conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Formica Corporation among 250 U.S. interior designers, both residential and commercial, between March 22 and March 30, 2021. For the interviews conducted in this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 6.2 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
