Both the wooden and granite surface materials exhibit a striking finish with the variety of options each portrays. Granite surfaces come with a variety of natural, rocky texture choices similarly, wooden tops offer a range of shade options and vintage preferences too.

Despite this, there are a few pointers to consider when coming up with an effective surface for your kitchen.

Cost: Wood is easily obtained, hence making it a cheaper option to granite surfaces. This renders wooden tops more affordable.

Sustainability: Granite surfaces require less maintenance as they are resistant to heat, water, and chemicals, unlike wooden tops that require regular lubrication to maintain the material and prevent damage caused by any moisture or heat. This will impose an extra cost to give the wooden surface a long lasting effect, and in the long run seem draining.

User friendliness: The nature of wood allows it to absorb sounds and ample heat, hence making it relatively warm to the feel, whereas, granite surfaces are subject to a cold feel due to the nature of its material.

A lot of modern kitchens now include an ” island ” – an area as any other work area in the kitchen but standing apart, often in the middle of the kitchen. You will find a number of good reasons to incorporate a kitchen island within your design, but additionally, quite a few other considerations to weigh up first.
The kitchen island is additional working and storage space, having kitchen units set against the wall limits the amount of available space, particularly when you also need to take windows and doors into consideration. Adding visual appeal is another benefit, as an island will help “connect” potentially disjointed zones and also make your kitchen seem more interesting.

Some people exploit their kitchen island as an additional work area and install sinks, hobs and ovens, while others choose to style it as a formal dining area or clear working space. Islands are a great excuse to bring stylish lighting to your kitchen, such as a suspended kitchen pendant light from the ceiling. These can not only provide functional lighting when either working or eating at the island but function as decorative features too. A kitchen island is intrinsically a centrepiece feature that demands and can absorb a lot of attention, and there are few more stunning contemporary effects than plinth or floor-level lighting using LED spots or light strips.
But although it is hard to think of a single measure to boost the look and usefulness of a kitchen that rivals putting in a kitchen island, it is not always the right choice. Especially if your kitchen is modestly proportioned, then you need to reconsider a few options.
It is certainly feasible and often beneficial to put an island unit in even a modestly sized kitchen, just so long as you don’t sacrifice space you really can’t afford to lose, restrict manoeuvrability or install something that just seems out of place. The whole point of a kitchen island is to complement and enhance the rest of your kitchen, not detract from or overpower it.