Published on: 14 January 2019
Last Updated on: 08 August 2019
Kitchen countertops take a considerable amount of beating from daily use. It is vital to choose a material that is not only appealing but also durable. Two of the most popular options available today are granite and quartz. Both materials are high-quality and look quite expensive. While some say that there is not a significant difference regarding the features of each kind of kitchen countertop material, there are several differences that may help you make a decision.
Heat resistance:
Regardless of how well you take care of your kitchen countertop, it will still undergo a fair amount of abuse over time. If you love to cook, damage caused by direct contact with heat is worth considering. Granite worktops London suppliers manufacture are sourced from quarries because it is a naturally occurring stone. As such, granite has high heat resistance. Putting hot pans directly on top of granite will not cause any damage, but if your granite countertop contains any sealant, it is best to avoid putting hot pots directly on it.
In contrast, quartz is not as resistant to heat as granite. Suppliers strictly advise never to place hot objects directly on top of a quartz surface. Quartz contains a resin which binds the particles together, and this resin will melt or warp when exposed to high temperatures.
Resistance to scratching:
Scratch resistance is another factor to consider in selecting a material for kitchen countertops. The resin binding used in quartz also makes it more prone to scratching with regular use. Granite, on the other hand, is more resistant to scratching; you can even cut food directly on it. Be careful however because the ruggedness of granite may cause knives to become dull, so it is best to use a wooden cutting board instead.
Easier maintenance:
One of the weaknesses of granite is its susceptibility to staining. Some varieties of granite tend to be more porous than others; hence, the possibility of staining. Nonetheless, you can reinforce granites stain-resistance by applying sealant at least once a year. The resin binding used in quartz makes the material non-porous and less resistant to staining, but the more resin content quartz has, the higher the chances of discolouration and damage caused by heat. Before assuming that quartz is superior to granite regarding maintenance, consider the resin content of the quartz countertop you are buying.
Cheaper option:
When it comes to cost, there is no doubt that granite is more affordable. However, several factors will affect the final estimate such as the size of your kitchen, the finish you choose, and the installation charge. When you are working with a set budget, it is essential to have complete estimates to avoid surprises down the line because costs do add up when you are building a kitchen from scratch.
Eco-friendly option:
Engineered materials like quartz may appear to be an eco-friendlier option, but keep in mind that the materials used to manufacture quartz are quarried off-site as well. This means that quarrying granite and producing quartz will likely use the same amount of resources and energy. Granite is a natural stone and won’t require further engineering. If you are concerned about the environmental impact of the material you are selecting for your kitchen, ask the supplier about their processes and sources.
Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.
Life bombards us from almost every direction. Phones, commutes, stress in and out of the workplace. We all need a place to relax. Call it Zen, Feng Shui, or merely carving out your personal space. Here are 5 tips to help make your home a haven.
Get Organized and Eliminate Clutter:
Where do you store items in your home? If the answer is any flat surface, you're not alone. Design experts say this is the most critical place to start in bringing more serenity to your life. Everything should have a home. For items, you no longer use or want, get rid of them. Buy storage bins for that pile of papers you will probably never get to. Take a hard look at your counters, desk, and tables. These are usually the first surfaces to get covered in junk. Toss it, and then keep it clear.
Create balance and Texture:
Furniture and décor should calm or energize you, depending on what you’re seeking. Designers suggest adding texture with wood and fabrics. Feel good pieces such as sports rugs for an office or entertainment area add interest and help create a mood. Think about how furniture is arranged. Experts suggest, for example, having only the headboard of your bed against a wall so that energy can travel over, under, and around you while you sleep. Consider adding scents. Smell is a tremendous memory trigger that can also create calm.
Cool off with Cool Colors:
Earth and water tones such as browns, grays, blues, and greens also help to create an aura of calm in our homes. If you don’t want to achieve this through painting walls, add it with furnishings from cool, colorful throws, to window treatments.
Make Nature Your Friend:
Consider interior landscaping. Plenty of evidence exists about the benefits of having plants indoors. They reduce carbon dioxide, help clean the air, and increase humidity, to name just a few. Picking the right plants, or getting an expert to help you with it, ensures you won't increase your stress worrying about caring for those plants. Philodendron, succulents such as a jade plant, aloe, or peace lilies are all relatively low maintenance. You might also think about herbs, which have added benefits of adding aroma and edibility to your indoor landscape.
Keep Lighting Low:
Harsh, overhead lighting raises stress levels. Bright lights create energy rather than relaxation. So the key here to bring more Zen into your home is to keep it low—both in brightness and in height. Ditch those traditional ceiling lights in favor of lamps. Newer, warm LED lights and incandescent light tend to be more relaxing than fluorescents. Besides, consider adding dimmer switches to your lighting so you can adjust just how much brightness you really want.
Conclusion:
Bringing calm into your home and eliminating stress may have added health benefits by helping to improve your sleep and preventing weight gain. Best of all, these tips are easy and inexpensive to implement.
Read Also:
Upgrading Your Home To A Smart Home
Leading A Stressful Life? – 5 Strategies For Stress Reduction
Las Vegas Electricians Share Fun Lighting Ideas For Your Home
There are many options that you can choose from if you are looking to decorate your room based on your preferences. You can choose more mundane products like posters, figurines, decals, and many more that are available on the market.
With that said, you can now use gadgets for much the same thing thanks to the emphasis on gorgeous designs. Some electronic products are made with beauty and grace in mind. This is to complement your room's aesthetic, while upping the technology game.
With gadgets becoming such a big part of everyday life, it’s only natural that they would evolve in function, as well. These days, you can count on smartphone makers to spend a lot of money on designing their products to perfect detail.
There has been a huge emphasis on making smartphones and other electronics beautiful to look at, as well. This means that you can use gadgets to make any room seem more stylish without losing function.
LED Frames
The great thing about LED is that it has so many unexplored applications in terms of decorations for most people. In terms of decorations, you can use them to literally light up any photo or image you might have on display.
This includes family pictures, paintings, sketches, and even printable. This will then help establish your personality in the things you display and what you want everyone else to notice.
It’s also worth noting that these LED frames can come in any color and with any setting, like Christmas lights. They can blink, cycle, spell words, or form certain shapes that would add more substance to the item being framed.
This would then go a long way toward catching even more attention and injecting some merriment into the room. These LED frames can be purchased from stores or ordered online as is, or you could have them customized, too.
Stylish Screens
Screens are often thought of as a means of watching videos, playing games, or working with various computer programs. This is not wrong, per se, but screens have also undergone quite an evolution over the years in terms of design.
Many of them have become sleeker, more stylish, and, best of all, more eye-catching when displayed alongside other gadgets. This is the ultimate expression of the fusion of both function and fashion in a clear and tangible manner.
Now, these screens can take on many forms, including computer monitors, flatscreen TVs, and commercial video display units. They can play different media files while they are not in use, such as screensavers, looping video files, and more.
This is one of the most effective and most common ways that gadgets are used for decoration. Imagine a huge screen that spans a wall and features crackling flames and see if it doesn’t inspire you.
Neon Lighting
A lot of rooms have neon lighting and for good reason, since they are some of the most attention-grabbing implements. You will find them among commercial districts, blaring invitations to dine or take part in their services.
In the case of decorations, you will appreciate the amount of interest that they can draw from others. The best part is that you can make them into literally anything you could imagine, from names to entire landscapes.
If you are looking for some neat neon sign ideas to base your own decor on, there are plenty available. You can find them on the web via photo-sharing platforms and video streaming sites like YouTube or Instagram.
Once you get inspiration for your own neon light decor, you can have them customized via specialized service providers. However, it would be best to make sure that you choose the right sizes relative to the space in your room.
Fashionable Accessories And Gear
Who would have thought that something as simple as a keyboard could be stylish, but they can be bought? You will find accessories and gear in the market that were made for the specific purpose of looking good.
At the same time, they are also functional in that you can use them for their intended purpose. This goes for a mouse, speakers, controllers, cooling fans, and many more that you can find on the web.
Then, there are the various other appliances, gear, and novelty items that you can order or even get customized. Fans, coolers, humidifiers, lamps, and so many others are available in stylish, ultramodern designs that will enhance your room’s sophisticated air.
It would be advisable, however, to keep things minimalist as much as you can to maintain neatness. It’s important that you don’t put too much clutter in the room that can distract you from the main attractions.
Thin, Minimalist Laptops And Tablets
Laptops come in all shapes and sizes, with some models being as small as an iPad or as big as a suitcase. These are worth decorating your room with if you are aiming for a more modern style.
Gadgets are now a part of everyday life, and tablets, laptops, computers, and smartphones are intrinsic to how society functions. If you are going to get them anyway, you might as well get the ones that add to your room’s elegance.
Choosing this route would also complement a minimalist theme for your interior, where everything is simplistic and has neat tones. The idea is to make the room less cluttered and more organized but with a hint of grace and poise.
More Digital Aesthetic To Add
Let’s check out some more cool gadget options to spruce up your room! The sky is the limit, and gadgetry has gone to a whole new level in not just functionality but in style as well.
Smart Mirrors
Who knew mirrors could use some sprucing up? Smart mirrors are a great chance to infuse tech with class in your room.
Visualize a classically posh mirror on your wall that can not only show how you look but give you details about the weather, time or even your plans for the day!
Believe it or not, some of these get built with lights for those flawless selfies and make up routines. Literally form meeting function at its finest.
Floating Speakers
Yes, you read that right!
Floating speakers are a fun and futuristic way to play your favorite music while adding a unique twist to your room decor.
These speakers use magnetic levitation, making them hover in mid-air, and instantly drawing everyone’s attention. And they don’t just look good. Trust us when we say that these floating sound systems sound amazing too!
Ambient Lighting
Lighting that sets the vibe of the space you’re in is something that’s always been popular. LED lights have already proven their staying power, but ambient lighting with smart bulbs or light strips takes it to another level.
You can change colors, brightness, and even patterns all from an app on your phone. Want a relaxing feel? Do it right from your bed. Want a party room? Go crazy! So much easier and better than changing out the colors of different colored light bulbs.
Wireless Charging
Wireless charging has been around for some time now, but not as easily accessible as it is today and not through matching technology centers with USB plugs built in without paying custom prices for everything.
These stations are sleek gadgets that do double duty, adding style and convenience to your room. They come in all shapes and sizes, some even sleek pad or stands that fit right into your decor. Plus, you just put your phone or other device on it an bam! they start to charge. Another use for this if you work at a desk is they can serve as one of those really cool desk accessories and keep your area clean.
Read Also:
Your own space: decor ideas for your private place to relax
How to Make your Home Look Beautiful in the Upcoming Holidays
Here Are A few Of The Benefits Of The LED Strip Lights
How To Increase The Value Of Your Home
Everyone wants their house to be more beautiful than others. They try to go for new designs, new ideas about interior decoration available in the market. One of the ideas that attract many of us is wooden flooring. Wooden flooring gives your house a fresh and sophisticated look making it far better than others.
If you are going to remodel your house, it is a beneficial idea to opt for wooden flooring in a couple of rooms. When researching this topic, you will get tons and tons of information. Thus while going for wooden flooring, you should keep in mind certain basic things. Going for a wooden floor gives you three main options:
solid hardwood
laminate flooring
engineered wood
Solid hardwood flooring:
As the name suggests, this sort of flooring comprises of solid wood everywhere; right from the top to the bottom. No materials are added to this flooring. The material is the raw wood which is directly extracted from the logs of the trees. They are the typical wooden floors. Hardwood flooring comes in two type- unfinished or pre-finished. The unfinished ones are seen to be quite cheaper than the prefinished ones. The unfinished ones need quick light sanding, followed by staining (non-compulsory) and sealing; whereas with the prefinished ones, you can walk on it right after the installation.
With the prefinished ones, the advantage is that it does not take much time and can be used instantly. In the case of the unfinished ones, the usage should be limited until the sealing has been done. The sealant takes around forty-eight hours to dry. Additional coatings may also be needed afterward. This has the advantage to get the exact specifications demanded by staining it.
A popular type of hardwood flooring is bamboo flooring. It is a grass rather being hardwood and is highly valued for its environment-friendly qualities. The hardwoods need to be cut and nailed to a wooden sub-floor or else it is not possible to install it. Unlike others, it does not get installed straight on concrete or top of the existing floor. Because of this requirement, it is necessary to hire hardwood floor installers.
Hardwoods are prone to scratches and dents, thus looking for the perfect hardwood type satisfying your pocket and lifestyle is very necessary. This flooring method can be changed again and again and stays for many years but this type of flooring is also not suitable for most areas.
Engineered wood flooring:
Engineered wood flooring can be called as an option to the solid form of hardwood flooring. They are made of plywood and finish wood. The finished wood is the visible portion and on which we walk on. The lower portion i.e. the plywood comprise 80 to 90 percent of the floor. The plywood differentiates the engineered form of wood flooring from the solid ones.
Engineered wood flooring comes with a variety of installation choices. The thinner models can be discarded and the thicker ones can be set up as floating floors. They are easy to install and can be easily installed by anyone as it does not comprise of any largely sized staplers to drag around or any sub-floors. The floating floor can be installed on top as long as the current floor is flat and firm.
One disadvantage of engineered wood flooring is that the thinner top layer can be sanded but not many times. It can be sanded like around once or twice. In this type of flooring, it is difficult to sand out the dents and scratches like the solid hardwood type. It is better to consult the flooring firm prior to sanding or taking any action as it can cause any damage which may not be fixable.
Laminate flooring: this is the third type of flooring and is not genuine wood flooring like the previous ones. The top layer comprises a resin-infused sheet, and it is usually quite thin. So it can be termed as wood but does not satisfy the name in literal terms. This is a popular kind of flooring as it has a great imitation of wood. The layer of resin is nothing but a photo of wood very finely crafted. This artificial texture cannot be differentiated by the naked eye from the real ones. This kind of flooring is in high demand and is seen as an option of wood flooring.
This type of flooring is very easy to install and is scratch-resistant and works very well in moist environments thus has a lot of advantages. This flooring is again slippery, hard to walk on and can’t be sanded.
Thus we can come to the conclusion that before going for any kind of wood flooring, everyone must know about these different types of flooring along with their pros and cons. A very efficient flooring company is Evolution Floors Brisbane who can make it easier for you and help you to create a better home with better flooring.
Read Also :
Hardwood Timber Flooring: Gives A Classic Look To Your Home
List Of Most Durable Kitchen Flooring
