There are many different types of kitchen styles and designs available when you are upgrading your home. Choosing between them depends on the rest of your home design theme, your personal preference, and how it increases the value of your home. To meet this criteria, a popular kitchen theme that is chosen are traditional or classic designs. As the name of these designs suggests, traditional and classic kitchens are absolutely timeless. They are a design that can update with the changes in trends and not lose its unique and beautiful design.
Some homeowners try to avoid traditional or classic kitchens because they picture a very specific architectural theme, such as English Cottage or French Country. But that is part of the benefit of traditional and classic kitchen design – you have room to add a certain architectural style to the design! There are basic elements that are required to frame a traditional kitchen, but the details you decide to implement can make it a little bit rustic or modern or go full blown into a Tuscan theme.
One of the details that allows you to be fluid in the design of your traditional or classic kitchen is granite countertops. Much like traditional kitchen details, granite countertops come in a huge variety of colors and patterns that fit in with any kitchen design. Whether you want strict traditional or a specific theme within a classic kitchen, granite is the best countertop material to achieve it. Elements of a traditional or classic kitchen are achieved with granite countertops and the longevity of the natural stone emphasizes the timelessness of the design. Here are some details a traditional or classic kitchen design requires and ways granite countertops can help you achieve the look.
Textures and Variation
Leave the sleek and simple lines, zero clutter, and uniformity to the modern kitchen design. Traditional and classic kitchens have warmth and variation in their design. This is best achieved with carefully placed textures and patterns. Since the countertop takes up so much of the visual space in the kitchen, using granite is the perfect way to draw in this textured look without overwhelming the design. You can choose a light river veining or a more chunky pattern in your granite to match your design, but the veining in the block will provide a great texture to the design. The edges you choose for your granite countertop will also have an impact on the variation of your kitchen design. Instead of choosing a plain square edge to your countertop, opt of a rounded bullnose to provide a tiny detail of variation and texture that supports the rest of the kitchen design.
Natural Materials
One of the details that truly emphasizes the traditional or classic style is the use of natural materials. Taking materials that are from nature instead of manufactured details, like laminate or plastic, really help give that authentic, Old World feel to your design that helps make it timeless and avoids trends. This means choosing wood cabinets for an earthy feel and a natural stone, like granite, for your countertops. The cabinets and the countertops are the first indicators to your kitchen atmosphere when people enter the room, so you want to make sure these natural materials are emphasized. Granite has been a traditional material in kitchens and homes for thousands of years. Incorporating granite in your kitchen will really achieve that classic look.
Neutral Cabinet Tones
While the cabinets should be wood to emphasize the natural materials of classic design, you have freedom to choose any shade of cabinetry you want. Some people go for wood grain colors, from pine to walnut, but others opt for neutral tones of white, gray, and black. Regardless of what you choose, granite has the colors available naturally in the stone to match the cabinet coloring.
If you choose a wood grain, find a granite pattern that takes similar coloring in the veins to tie the texture together. If you choose white cabinets, add a white granite base countertop with a chunkier veining that provides color and texture to your design. If you choose gray cabinets, you have the freedom to go lighter or darker with your granite countertop coloring to ground the design. If you choose black or dark cabinets, add a light and bright granite countertop with minimal veining to emphasize the cabinet drama.