Last updated on April 27th, 2019 at 07:47 pm
When buying custom countertops at Downing Designs, we start with how you use your space before we recommend one of our surface solutions.
Do you have kids, are you generally messy, is this for indoors vs outdoors, modern vs traditional, high budget vs low budget, commercial or residential, short-term vs long-term investment, kitchen or bath then we have to take these into account before advising you on a smart, long-term solution.
Our Glass Countertops are highly recommended for all the above.
Textured Glass countertops are a premium counter top material. Hand-crafted, thick, often illuminated with LED’s they create the most sensational look in any kitchen or bath space, especially at night where the textures come alive with proper LED lighting. The expense is often too much to do an entire kitchen. BUT we have a solution! Start with the premise that you do not need to have a lot of textured glass to make a powerful design statement. Reserve your most socially utilized elements (high bar, island, and tables) where to spend the most money. The impact will be highest in your space. These are “high-value” elements. Conversely, where you do prep work, store “stuff”, these are lower-value elements and it is wise to spend less on these items. The overall budget can be well within your reach if you mix and match these high and low value design elements.
Our website is full of pictures from smart homeowners who had the means to furnish their entire kitchen with textured glass, but selected a combination of surfaces to fulfill their needs. Why? Because different color surfaces offer a much more interesting look versus a monotone surface. One combination that is striking to most people is the Textured Glass high bar atop our White Glass lower countertop. It is our most pure combination. Reminiscent of the beach it is very popular with our contemporary, modern and coastal clientele.
A Textured Glass high bar with focused down lighting it is the ultimate surface for making shadows “pop”. Alternately, dark surfaces hide shadows as well as make rooms look smaller.
The White Glass is also renowned for making spaces look a LOT BIGGER. This is the ultimate in value generation as well. Think of it…everybody is looking to expend the lowest cost per square foot of surface material. If you select a surface that makes your space look 33% bigger, that is terrific value…especially come resale time. People want nice, big, contemporary kitchens…even if they have a modest space.
Our White Glass countertops command a slight premium to quartz countertops. It is a much more durable and stain-proof material than Quartz. It is also harder to fabricate. The ability of White Glass to serve so many purposes is its strength. Indoor kitchens, bathrooms, dining tables, outdoor kitchens, cigarette-and burn proof, UV-proof, 100% stain proof, never needs sealing. It is the perfect material if you have renters. It looks terrific atop natural wood cabinets as well as any color cabinet. The only drawback is its is Pure White and this may not fit your needs. It is unique and you can feel the quality and sturdiness when you touch it. You can cantilever it much further than any other stone materials with out support. For commercial restaurants or bars it is simply the smartest investment we can recommend. It also stays VERY COOL to the touch in direct sunlight…something we have seen from no other material ever. This is super important when considering your countertop for outdoors. Test your materials!!! We leave our White Glass outdoors at our fabrication facility to show clients just how much color impacts temperature. We juxtapose our White Glass against white and light grey concrete…the difference is tremendous. I personally feel that outdoor kitchens would be used a lot more if the material was more inviting to the touch. No fun trying to eat, drink and be merry on a surface that is simply uncomfortable to rest your arms against.
I encourage you to visit us and see our white glass and textured glass displays and see for yourself the quality of this durable, easy to love material. Bring us your best staining ideas…I will bet you it does not succeed.
Jeff Downing