Concrete Kitchen Island Design Tips
This past week, here on our blog, we began taking a look at this particular concrete kitchen countertop island. It’s a really interesting and unique type of kitchen countertop. There is a sink at the left hand side of the countertop shown below. There are a set of cabinet doors which hide that kitchen sink at the parts below the sink. They are open shelves, similar to cubbies on the right hand side of that kitchen sink.
From this side of the overall assembly, you can see the main work surface which is about 36 inches above the finished floor. The bartop then extends beyond that area to a seating area. From this side of the countertop though you can basically serve people sitting at that countertop. Normally, a configuration like this works pretty well. You can work at the lower countertop and people can eat right next to you at the upper countertop. This type of layout is good for a gathering space in the middle of a kitchen area where people can both prepare and serve food together with people while they sit and eat or drink adjacent to them.
We particularly say that this is a minimalist style because it lacks a lot of the frills in elements of design which are added just for the sake of visual flare. Here there is almost nothing like that, the countertop and cabinets are simple and basic, for example the cabinet doors are a flush style wood door with no accents or excess lines or details in the design.
The countertop itself is one continuous plane. We would argue that it’s much better to always have the countertop in a continuous flat surface to avoid areas of build up of debris or liquids (other than the occasional seam). The backsplash, as well, is almost just a continuation of the countertop work surface but in a perpendicular vertical plane.
The area below the countertop is a ledge, both like a shelf or a cubby space where things can be stored. This area is basically built in a similar way, except the finished surfaces have not been rubbed smooth and applied with a sealer to make the concrete surface as uniform and consistent. The surface here therefore remains less smooth and the finish has more of a matte type sheen.
Often, in a countertop surface like this we might suggest adding elements of under cabinet lighting. Often under cabinet lighting is reserved for upper cabinets mounted on the walls to shine down on top of the countertop surface below. That type of installation works fine, but here in this example, the island doesn’t have a set of complementary upper cabinets. Generally upper cabinets will be installed where cabinets and countertops are installed against a wall instead of in an island type configuration.
A closer view of the countertop surface follows below. We talked about the sheen of the less finished surface below the countertop. Hear the this particular surface has been rubbed and a sealer has been applied during the casting process. Sealers can often be applied after the casting process, but in this particular case, while the concrete was still wet, plastic, and work-able, the sealer was added directly to the cementitious mix. That helps a bit because now the sealer is integral with the surface of the concrete. That doesn’t mean it’s indestructible. Repairs need to be treated separately. Nonetheless, this particular application helps for durability. By reducing permeability it also helps reduce staining of the countertop surface.
Nonetheless, concrete surfaces are generally more porous than similar types of granite and or natural stone materials. Even though those stone materials might be less porous, it doesn’t mean that you can let liquids like coffees, spaghetti sauces, and or wine sit on top of the surfaces,because they can still leave stains, in some cases.
In this coming week, we’ll take another look at this countertop and explain some of the nuances of working with concrete and the type of natural or typical imperfections found in the surface of concrete.
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