How Much Should You Spend on Kitchen Countertops?

When it comes to choosing a kitchen countertop, Jesse Vickers, principal designer at JLV Creative, has one piece of advice: "Don’t be afraid to go bold. Bold countertops can be a love of a lifetime, and actually help you sell your house down the line, setting you apart from a sea of white quartz with grey veining."

That being said, there are many, many options when it comes to countertop material, and unlike some design decisions, it’s not one you can just throw money at. The highest-end countertops are actually some of the trickiest to maintain; it can be easy to spend too much on a look you love, but is a maintenance nightmare.

How to Choose a Kitchen Countertop Material

Think about your needs first and foremost. Do you do lots of food prep right on your counter? Avoid porous or soft materials—and while seals can help keep natural stone and concrete looking lovely, required maintenance is rarely a check in the "positives" column for any material. 

Durability and maintenance should be top of mind. "Countertops take a lot of abuse. The most beautiful marble in the world will not last if it is not properly treated and installed," says Terri Lee of Appel Architecture, who works in New York and Los Angeles. "We always recommend testing samples based on how it will be used. How does the material hold up to heat or spilled liquids? Does adding special sealers or finishes change the look significantly?"

Consider, also, where the materials will be placed. Will you have a kitchen island? Will you want to use the same material for your backsplash, or will you mix and match? "Consider if you want to cover an entire backsplash or create a waterfall edge on a countertop," says Sarah Latham, principal at Latham Interiors in Ketchum, Idaho. "These materials are coming up in new locations that are surprising and elegant." 

Style and color are key, too. "A stone countertop material can literally instigate an entire design," Vickers says. "I’m very drawn to marbles with a ton of movement, like Arabescato Corchia and Arabescato Vagli, Calacatta Blue, Lasa Bianco, and Oyster White, to name a few." But if you want vibrant colors and more modern designs rather than the natural look, concrete, laminate, tile, and porcelain will be on the table.  

Next, we come to the price. "Before installation, you’re looking at a range of $35 to well over $100 a square foot," says Vickers, although the much-maligned but resurging laminate can be as low as $10. "Generally speaking, countertop materials that are easier to come by—meaning there is a lot of it—are going to be less expensive," she says. "Higher price points also generally correlate with whiter backgrounds in marbles." 

An important item to remember is that the material costs are one part of the budget, but fabrication and installation can easily double the cost of the overall countertop. "Spending more on countertop materials can sometimes relate to a better installer, or when it’s specifically the countertop itself, you are getting a better manufactured or sometimes more unique, natural material," says Latham.