Annie and Kyle bought their first home in Snodland a year or so ago. The area is a good one for first-time buyers – for a neighbourhood fairly close to London it represents good value. They had some work to do on the house, and the kitchen was a priority. They bought the units from Kitchen Makeovers (Caterham) but Kyle himself installed them. He did a good job! Unit style Tullymore Shaker; colourway Matt Cashmere. Tullymore is a striking Shaker – a bit different with the extra beading in the door frames.

Once Kyle had installed the kitchen units, we came to template ready for new BQS Capri Quartz Worktops to be installed.

The home is a compact Seventies semi, with the kitchen half tucked under the stairs, giving it a very spacious feel. The kitchen opens onto the garden, at the side of the house, the two windows and back door making it light and airy.

The kitchen is a G-shape (U + peninsula) with the sink run on the right as you enter, with the window behind facing onto the garden. The worktop runs are broken into by the Flavel range. Bought from Currys, Flavel offers an economical way in to the look and pleasure of a range cooker in your kitchen. Annie is very happy with hers – her only criticism being that the width of the left-side oven is awkward for many standard baking trays.

The sink is the 1810 Company Luxsoplus 340/160 – the classic L-shaped one-and-a-half bowl sink from the Luxsoplus range. Smart and practical, the stainless steel sink teams up nicely with the 1810 Co. Courbe tap in brushed steel. The sink layout is completed with parallel drainer grooves.

Annie and Kyle chose BQS Capri quartz worktops. This amazingly natural-looking stone is fast becoming a major seller in our market. Annie chose it because of the warmth – with its mix of grey and cream/greige tones, she knew that Capri would go well with her units and paintwork. She really wanted a warm natural marble look, and a year ago there just weren’t that many of them available on the market. With the Silestone Le Chic series now available, that is changing, but at the higher end of prices. Annie could afford Capri – it is amazingly inexpensive for the look it offers.

The delicate patterning of the Capri quartz can be seen most effectively on the 1480 x 950mm peninsula. The breakfast bar overhang is on the outside, near the door and looking into the kitchen – bottom of this photo.

The side of the kitchen under the stairs is interesting. Aside from the neat use of space, the area features a shelf behind the worktop. This (like the windowsill on the other side of the room) has been clad in quartz, with an upstand and a shelf creating a continuous stone surface. Kyle and Annie find it a useful shelf to keep those bulkier appliances off the worktop proper.

It is interesting to look closely at that shelf and upstand, and at the windowsill and upstand. You can see the challenges of getting good vein-matching in a quartz worktop job like this. The difference between a poor installation and a really good one comes down to the attention and skill of the sawyers in the workshop as they plan how to use the slabs for the worktop template.

It gets especially difficult when working in three dimensions at the ends of runs. There is always some element of approximate matching in this kind of situation. I think the vein-matching at the left hand end of the shelf run is particularly impressive. In the pictures here you can also see it clearly in the image of the peninsula.

Note that the thickness of the upstands is 20mm, whereas the worktops are 30mm. To ensure good batch- and vein-matching the 20mm material is made from the same slabs – the back 10mm is milled off as part of the manufacturing process. This is just one reason why Affordable Granite has a reputation for professionalism and care; we are ready and willing to take the extra effort that makes the difference between an OK job and an excellent one. Even so, remember that perfection is impossible when working with stone in three dimensions!

We are proud of our work in all kinds of homes, large and small. This kitchen in a young couple’s first home is a thing of beauty – and all credit to Kyle for his excellent kitchen fitting. We are so glad that the Capri worktops are working out well too – really easy to clean and keep looking good.

Annie was kind enough to write a testimonial:

“Affordable Granite were helpful from start to finish. Turnaround between templating and fitting was very quick. I’m so impressed with the workmanship especially the joins at the corners of the worktops, you’d barely notice them. Very happy with our new Capri quartz worktops!”

BQS Capri is a lovely marble-look quartz stone which represents incredible value – we do not know another stone which is so natural at anything like the price we are selling it at. (Currently as stock in our Premium Plus Extra price band.) The warmth of Capri works well with greige and cream kitchens. The surface has a great feel and is easy to clean.

BQS Capri quartz worktops are strikingly full-bodied. Almost all ceramic materials and many quartz stones have an element of “printed on” to their patterning. Real stone isn’t like that, of course. And nor are good quartz worktops – but many of them are at the most expensive end of the market.

It was only when we put this circular Capri quartz tabletop into our showroom with an Ogee edge profile that we ourselves realised just how good this kitchen worktop material is. The way the vein runs into and through the stone is incredibly realistic – full marks to BQS!