04 January 2011

Let's play "Guess the Counter Material"

OK kids, here's a bit of a challenge. What follow are nine photographs of new kitchens in a variety of styles. Each photograph has a letter and the challenge is to identify the counter material used in each kitchen. There's no prize on the line other than the satisfaction of being right, should you get any of them right. Here goes:

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

So let's see how everybody does. Leave your best guesses in the comments and I'll write a follow up later with the answers.

17 comments:

  1. They all look like the 180FX laminate to me. They all have top mount sinks. The first one looks like an inconsistent edge - a bullnose on the leading and back edges with an eased edge on the end of the penninsula.

    Don't get me wrong, I think they are all beautiful and would totally upgrade any kitchen they were put into. I especially like the super chunky edge on C, but I think they would feel plastic-y under my hands. Disclaimer: I have soapstone counters and caress them daily.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are they really all laminate? Well, I was guessing incorrectly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's getting harder and harder to up-sell cabinetry, the lines are becoming blured between low, middle and high end cabinetry and counter tops (not to mention everybody with access to the internet thinks they're an expert now). I have some of this in my showroom and most people can't believe what it is. Just for the record, I'm NOT a fan

    ReplyDelete
  4. They all look like laminate to me because of the edges. I might not have noticed except you told us to guess. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm not revealing a thing until later today or tomorrow. I do want to thank laxsupermom for popping this up on Garden Web. My traffic's getting a big bump today and I love it when that happens. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  6. At first glance I thought stone, but the give-away that it's the laminate is the edge treatment. Too bad the homeowners didn't spend a little extra on that. I'd have been completely fooled!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I could tell that some of them were laminate, but not all of them, until the comments pointed out the top-mount sinks and edges used...that's pretty crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, I was sure they were stones for the first sight. If no one had mentioned laminate, I would still believe that. Lol. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. They're all laminate! I had a rep in a few weeks ago talking about Formica looking more like granite slabs. If I remember correctly, the pattern repeats itself every 8'...?
    -Marissa

    ReplyDelete
  10. It is the 180FX laminate from Formica. It is getting harder and harder to tell from pictures. Since I have their huge binder with those pictures in it, I may have had an unfair advantage. I have sold several projects using this cost effective alternative option.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hmmmmm... they ALL look like they would be FAB in any home! I'm soooo out of the loop since I gave up interior designing biz.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I was pretty well fooled until I got to the marble/soapstone lookalikes, with their zero radius corners and edges, and then I clued in.

    When you click on a picture to get the original size photo, they all have filenames that end in "+180fx.jpg" (cough, cough)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Paul, thanks for being so gracious and thanking me for the GW post. I thought, "Oh, crud - I ruined the game" as soon as I hit the post comment button. You know you've probably spent too much time looking at kitchen porn when you look at a pic and say, "Oh, it's Antique Mascarello."

    Thanks for feeding my porn habit - kitchen porn that is.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lax: I'm happy to indulge your obsession, it's one we have in common. Working for Houzz.com keeps me wallowing in it in fact. Thanks so much for posting this to GW, my traffic's off the charts and that makes my day in more ways than you can imagine.

    Rachele: Stop looking behind the curtain. :)

    Fifi: I'm in the throes of pulling myself out of that world and stuff like this makes me want to rush right back in.

    Brenda: You might be right, I'm not saying yet. But it's a pleasure to meet another designer who doesn't turn up her nose a laminate.

    Thomas and Marissa: You might be right but I'm not saying anything yet. Hah!

    BreakfastBarStools: It's always a pleasure to hear form the UK, thanks for stopping by.

    Christine: Stay tuned for the big reveal. I promise thrills and shocking endings.

    Lauren: Thanks for checking in.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've seen Rich from @ConcreteDetail do something just like it with concrete (varying shades of green with marbled veins)- really cool end result, by the way. But the edges of C, H, and I look closer to a laminate. Hmm...the suspense!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I can smell laminate from three parsecs away... even with Tampa Bay at low tide wafting over the interwebs. Mmmhhhh...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Heh, looks like I'm not the first to spot they are laminate... I was a bit hesitant for C, as I personally haven't seen pre-made laminate slabs that thick, but thinking more about that, putting that piece of stone on a wooden cabinet might not be the best of ideas :)

    ReplyDelete

Talk to me!