{Counters Shown: HanStone Storm}
If you’ve been following along with my mom’s kitchen renovation (hello #LLProjectMomsKitchen!) you may have noticed that we’ve used HanStone Quartz counters to help bring it all to life. They’re an incredible company that I’ve used almost exclusively on my past few projects, so I was pretty pumped when they agreed to partner with me on my mom’s kitchen redesign. As an influencer and interior designer, it’s really important to me to work with companies I really and truly love and feel confident standing behind, and when it comes to specifying quartz counters, these guys most definitely top that list.
{Counters Shown: HanStone Storm}
If you’ve yet to use quartz counters, allow me to introduce you to your new best friend. They’re made from a naturally occurring stone that’s just about as hard as a diamond. Needless to say, they’re insanely durable, non-porous (hello anti-microbial!), scratch resistant, stain resistant, heat resistant, eco-friendly, and easy to maintain (you will never – ever – have to seal them). Meaning, they can totally stand up to my mother, and those of us who really and truly use our kitchens and don’t want to be too precious as we go.
HanStone Quartz, specifically, also offers a lifetime warranty, meaning they really and truly stand behind their product*. Best of all? They’re beautiful to boot. And while natural stone is so difficult to replicate, these guys have come as close as I’ve ever seen. I mean, they have some of the best marble and stone dupes on the market as far as I’m concerned. Whether you’re on the hunt for said marble look, or prefer a more modern concrete vibe, this is where form and function collide.
Because no two quartz counters are made the same, I thought it’d be helpful to share some of my very favourites. Following are the best quartz counters out there, both in form and function.
For direct links to each finish (which includes helpful photo examples!):
storm – the one we used | coast | montauk
monterey | yorkville | metropolitan
soho| uptown grey | chantilly
*True story: my very unbiased countertop fabricator recently told me that HanStone is by far his favourite quartz to work with. He told me their quality is absolutely unmatched, and he’s always thrilled when his designers specify them
![[break]](https://jacquelynclark.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/line.jpg){kind=small}
Thank you to HanStone Quartz for sponsoring this post, and for partnering with us on #LLProjectMomsKitchen!
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I have installed granite and quartz for 11 years. Any quartz with a shine to the surface (not honed quartz) is stain resistant and doesn’t need to be sealed. The other thing is quartz is thermal forming. Once it reaches a certain temperature it becomes flexible and unfixable, not to mention anything right out of the over on to the surface can burn or crack it from temperature shock. Side note anyone telling you that granite needs sealed regularly is trying to make money off you, all it takes is common sense and cleaning up spills when they occur and you won’t have a problem.
Oh yes, I would never recommend putting anything right out of the oven directly on ANY surface – it is heat resistant (and significantly more durable than other items out there, from my experience), but you still need to take care of your products, no question!
I work for a quartz fabricator in Pennsylvania, and can be considered an expert in the field. While nearly everything you said about quartz countertops is true, it is not correct that quartz countertops are heat resistant. Quartz countertops can show discoloration relatively easily from excessive heat. Additionally, this kind of damage is not covered under warranties, and almost all manufacturer warranties mention trivets multiple times. Quartz is a great material for countertops, but it should be clarified, it is not heat resistant.
I absolutely wouldn’t recommend excessive heat (no product is completely impenetrable and I’m of the firm belief that you need to take care of your surfaces/your home, even if they are significantly more durable than their alternatives), but in my experience quartz has always stood up to low levels of heat
Jacquelyn this is taken directly from the Hanstone website on their residential warranty page: “Exposure to extreme heat and/or thermal shock. Trivets must be used for any hot pots, pans, crock pots, and for any heat generated items. Heat resistant pads are highly recommended.” As a fabricator who does 30 to 40 installations a week, with 70% of those installations being quartz, I have plenty of experience with homeowners discoloring their countertops from heat, and asking for replacement under warranty. This warranty claim will be denied every time, from any quartz manufacturer. I would suggest not including in your description of quartz properties heat resistance.
Thank you for your input, however it also states on HanStone’s site that it is heat resistant: https://hanstone.ca/why-quartz/ And in my experience with this particular product, low levels of heat have never been an issue. Extreme heat is of course a different story – I would never recommend putting extreme heat on ANY surface without trivets