Granite and Quartz Kitchen Worktops and Trends this Autumn
I am not quite sure where this year has gone but here we are again in Autumn and thinking again about changing trends. It is interesting to see some of the trends that Cassie & I picked up on at the Salone de Mobile making their way into the UK. Whilst I was waiting to get my nails done the other day, I was reading the Next Home Catalogue and, sure enough, there were the baby pink soft furnishings and lantern-style lights that we had seen so much of at that show.
Quartz Kitchen Worktops: The Top 6 Interiors Trends
- Texture
Mixing different textures in different materials is the key here, warm rustic woods and industrial concrete. Padded opulent velvets and faux fur bring a cosiness to gloss units and warmth to neutral greys and buffs.
Tweeds and fur soft furnishings - Patterned floor tiles.Strong geometric patterns are making a comeback.
- Hot metals especially copper and rose gold.
This has been building for a while but doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. - Midnight blue units
- Marble
From marble-look worktops to the cakes that sit on them – anything marble goes (even my phone case) - Concrete textured kitchen units
The greys are still with us but seem to be going darker and with more texture
Focussing specifically on kitchens we are seeing some darker colour doors, especially midnight blues and darker textured greys. Lewis Charles of Oxted and Redhill have very kindly lent us some of their most popular slab style doors. Slab doors, as their name suggests, are basically flat which means that they work very well when combined with other textures in the kitchen whilst maintaining a modern sleek look.
We love this Velvet Blue high gloss lacquer door from Lewis Charles kitchens. This type of door works well as a feature wall for a bank of appliances and larders, or to give a dramatic contrast colour for an island. Many customers have used a dark blue like this on the island with a white on the wall units. The two-colour look remains popular and the challenge is to marry the right worktop with the two different door colours. Marble-look quartz worktops often work well for this situation, as the darker veins keep the worktop from blandness on the light units, and the light background looks great on the dark units. In this mood board, we have chosen Pearl Jasmine suede finish quartz from Silestone for its faux-marble effect.
If you have chosen a strongly-patterned floor tile then you may feel that you need to stay slightly simpler in terms of the marble-pattern on the top. Swanbridge from Cambria is definitely worth a look, as is Misty Carrara from Caesarstone. From our own stock we would recommend the Bianco Carrara from Novaestone.
We have been asked quite a lot recently for blue quartz worktops. To be totally honest there really hasn’t been much available for a while. We have continued to sell natural stones that contain blue, such as Blue Pearl and Midnight Blue (also known as Angola Blue or Blues in the Night). But many quartz companies have discontinued their dark blue sparkly products, and we haven’t had much blue quartz to offer our customers. So it was with great delight that we greeted our new representative Granite Granite, Ben, who brought us a lovely dark blue sample with some fine white and lighter blue fleck. This is Torricola from Quarella. We are not normally lovers of very dark quartz, but Torricola has enough light colour in it that I think it will not be hard to live with.
Copper and other metallic tones work beautifully with these dark blues, and there is now a huge range of kitchen accessories including sinks and taps. We particularly love this White Courbe mixer tap with its small accents of copper.
BQS Bianco Venatino Quartz on Blue doors – a lovely design from Novella KitchensÂ
Lovely blue slab doors from Windsor Kitchens of Hampshire
Classic Quartz Marbre Carrara in a Benjamin Allen Kitchen
Silestone Eternal Calacatta Gold quartz worktops on a stunning bespoke kitchen by Oxted Kitchens
Quartz Kitchen Worktops – Full Key to our Midnight Blue Moodboard
Kitchen Cabinet Door
Velvet Blue gloss lacquer – from Lewis Charles –
40 Ormside Way, Redhill, Surrey RH1 2LW 01737 773792
12 East Hill | Oxted | Surrey RH8 9AB 01883 714582
Fabrics
Soft baby pink and white striped fabric – supplied by our farm neighbours Charlwood Interiors for bespoke home furnishings. For more information talk to Barbara or Linda on 01293 863071 or email info@charlwoodint.plus.com
Rose Gold Quirky-Oxidise and Kingfisher Quilted Velvet from Sweetpea and Willow
Wallpaper
Lotus – Farrow & Ball
Flooring
Engineered Oak, Brushed, lacquered by Posh Flooring
Lights
B & M home store
Tap & Waste
Courbe White Mixer Tap with copper accents & a matching copper basket strainer waste, both from our friends at The 1810 Company
Quartz Kitchen Worktops
Silestone Pearl Jasmine from the Silestone Range
Radianz Makalu Silver from our stock quartz range
Quarella Torricola from the Quarella Range
Glass
Cuprum from our colleagues at Southern Counties Glass
My personal favourite of the doors lent to us by Lewis Charles,  that we are using in our mood boards today, is the Laser soft Aquamarine. I think what really attracts me is the tactile surface finish you just can’t stop touching it!  It doesn’t seem to show finger marks too much either. The name aquamarine suggests a deeper greeny-blue to me whereas in the flesh it appears to be more of a petrol blue which in some lights looks more green or more grey; either way, the Praa Sands from Cambria is the perfect complement to it. The Praa Sands has a perfect match for the petrol blue, and also has darker grey tones which go beautifully with a dark grey flooring, black or gunmetal appliances. Praa Sands from Cambria is pretty unique in this style of worktop but if you wish to bring out less of the blue colour you could also consider Milan Macchiato Radianz Quartz. Natural stones are also very forgiving for blending in with the colours around them and in this mood board we have chosen Blue Pearl, an easy to maintain natural stone. The plain colour and smooth soft finish of the slab door lends itself to big patterns and we have chosen this lovely dramatic Orla Kiely Fabric loaned to us by Charlwood Interiors.
Quartz Kitchen Worktops – Full Key to our Aquamarine Moodboard
Kitchen Cabinet Door
Laser Soft Aquamarine – from Lewis Charles
Fabrics
Orla Kiely leaf pattern fabric courtesy of Charlwood Interiors
Italian Velvet – Champagne and Teal from Arlo & Jacob
Quilted Velvet – Abyss from Sweetpea & Willow
Tap & Waste
Spirale Blue Mixer Tap and stainless steel waste from The 1810 Company
Quartz and Granite Kitchen Worktops
Cambria Praa Sands Quartz from our Cambria Range
Blue Pearl (Labradorite) Granite from our stock granite range
Glass
Sky Blue from Southern Counties Glass
We are on the slope towards Christmas, now, folks! The Bank Holidays are gone, summer holidays are a distant memory and we have mists and fog and darker evenings to look forward to. For us in the granite kitchen worktops business it is a busy time of year, as many people aim to get their kitchen sorted before the Christmas holiday. Although our product is not seasonal in itself – no one buys a set of solid stone worktops for three months! – the seasons affecting fashion and home decor in general do affect us. Whatever your cup of tea in quartz or granite worktops this Autumn, we are confident that we can find products that you will love and which will suit both your taste and your budget. Send us your kitchen plans – even early-stage – for a no-obligation quotation. And have a lovely Autumn!
Naomi King – Sales Manager 
A stunning slab of Juparana Bordeaux arrives at our our warehouse from famous granite wholesaler Gerald Culliford, ready for installation in the season of “mists and mellow fruitfulness.” A great autumnal stone!
