Sparkly Kitchen Worktops: Sparkle in Nature
So the cold weather is about to arrive. In fact, we had our first snowflakes and crystals fall at Affordable Granite this morning. I have just turned 58, but I am about 8 when it comes to snow – I love the stuff. I love crisp winter mornings when frost sparkles on every blade of grass. And I love the deep packed snow of the mountains.Â
Frosty Dawn on John Lory Farm
For me, part of the magic of snow is the sparkliness. I am not the kind of person who goes all gooey over every last shiny object, but I love the natural sparkliness of crystals, and I love the way that is visible in some of the kitchen worktops we sell.
John Lory Farm in full winter plumage – back in 2010
I can’t explain why sparkly objects are attractive, and I’m not highly qualified to say why they are sparkly. I do know that when molecules are lined up to make crystals, surfaces are formed that reflect light. Here is a starter page on all that…
Water droplets and icicles can reflect white light, as can crystals and metal surfaces, like the silver of a mirror
Gather enough crystals together, all aimed in slightly different directions, and the effect will be sparkling as you move past
When light passes through water droplets, it doesn’t simply come out white! Light gets ‘spread’ into its component wavelengths, and you get a rainbow. This is just one of the ways colours are formed in nature – impurities in crystals, and very narrow gaps between layers can generate colour effects too.
That kind of coloured sparkle is visible in nature in all kinds of ways, and sometimes in living things, like this stunning beetle.
Sparkly Kitchen Worktops: Sparkle in the Home
The simplest kind of glitter in sparkly kitchen worktops is the classic “mirror quartz” look. Bits of mirror are embedded in the main made worktop material, and they reflect sharp pinpricks of light as you move around the room. Because the mirrored surfaces are in glass, you often get flashes of refraction too, so that rainbow colours can be seen. Here, Silestone Blanco Stellar brings light into a Crawley kitchen.
If the big-scale glitter of Silestone Blanco Stellar seems too much, then more subtle options are available. Here is a comparative image of Blanco Stellar with a small sample of Picasso White Stellar, one of a whole new generation of subtly sparkly kitchen worktops.
Straightforward white reflections are not only found in man-made worktop materials, of course. This Azul Platino granite has a remarkable amount of natural glitter, giving life to a set of sparkly kitchen worktops and a big island in Felbridge, Surrey.
The most famous “glittery black granite” for sparkly kitchen worktops is, of course, the famous Black Galaxy from India.
Stargate, from Southern Africa, is a less coppery/goldy glittering granite, with soft, snowflake crystals that still sparkle well, especially under good LED downlighting.
Emerald Pearl Granite with its colourful crystal reflections installed in a Pound Hill kitchen, Crawley, West Sussex.
Blue Pearl Granite in a Brockham kitchen – perhaps one of the most beautiful and well-known of the coloured granites.
Of course, put enough sparkly, rainbow-producing crystals together and stand right back and you get… brilliant white again! Here is one of my favourite moments in the Scottish Highlands. I’m back up there next month, and hoping for this much snow or more!
Take care, and if it gets cold over the next week or so, why not just snuggle up with cocoa or a whisky and plan a new kitchen for the spring… with sparkly kitchen worktops, of course!
We are Affordable Granite. We are the leading installer of granite and quartz worktops in Surrey, Sussex and across the South East. For questions, queries and quotes connected with any aspect of worktop installation or kitchen design, please contact us on 01293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk
