Dark wood kitchen with Silestone® quartz worktop in Alpina White

The ultimate guide to Silestone® quartz worktops

If you’re looking for the best worktop to go with your new kitchen, Silestone® quartz is well worth considering.

This ultimate guide to Silestone® countertops tells you everything you need to know to help you make your decision.

What are Silestone® quartz worktops made of?

Silestone® is a quartz worktop. 93% of its content is natural quartz minerals, and the other 7% is a  resin that fuses the minerals together.

This ratio of materials is the sweet spot that makes Silestone® quartz worktops incredibly hard and resilient. Unlike, other cheap quartz worktops, you can trust the premium-quality of Silestone®.

Who makes Silestone® kitchen worktops?

Silestone® is made by Cosentino. A Spanish, family-owned company who is one of the largest worktop manufacturers in the world. They make the worktops, then use a global network of suppliers and installers to get them into people’s homes.

As well as Silestone®, Cosentino also makes Dekton® (a sintered stone surface), Sensa (a granite surface) and Natural Stone worktops.

How durable are Silestone® quartz worktops?

Kitchen surfaces need to stand up to a lot of abuse over their lifetime. So, when you choose a worktop, it’s important to know how they perform against everyday wear and tear.

Silestone® worktops perform brilliantly. They are:

  • Stain-resistant. Silestone® is a non-porous material which means that anything you spill won’t penetrate the surface. So, even the usual culprits, like red wine, coffee, turmeric and lemon juice, won’t leave a stain.
  • Scratch-resistant. The hard surface of Silestone® is so durable that you can slide things across the surface without worrying about leaving a mark. You can cut on it too, although, as with any worktop, we recommend using a chopping board.
  • Maintenance-free. Awipe down with soapy water after use is all the maintenance that’s needed with Silestone®.
  • Back by a 25-year manufacturer’s warranty. This ishow confident Cosentino is in the endurance of Silestone® worktops.

There are just a couple of things you need to be careful with:

  • Protect the surface from high temperatures with a hot pad or trivet. Silestone® can withstand high temperatures for short periods, but, it’s best to protect the surface.
  • Not suitable for areas with high UV light. You only need to worry about this if your worktop is in an area exposed to a high concentration of UV light because the colour will fade over time. If that’s the case for your kitchen, then we highly recommend a Dekton® worktop instead.

What finishes and colours do Silestone® kitchen worktops come in?

Silestone® worktops come in over 40 colours and three beautiful finishes. And the range is wide. Choose from solid colours to colours and designs that mimic the look of marble and granite. There’s bound to be a colour and design to suit your kitchen.

Here’s a run-down of the range.

Silestone® finishes

Silestone® has 3 finishes: polished, suede and volcano. It’s best to pick your colour and design first, then choose the finish, because not all colours come in all finishes.

Silestone® quartz worktops polished finish
Polished finish

Polished surfaces are rich in colour, have a shiny appearance and are super-smooth to touch.

Silestone® countertops suede finish
Suede finish

Suede surfaces have a soft and velvety texture.

Silestone® quartz worktops volcano finish
Volcano finish

Volcano surfaces have a slightly rugged, bumpy surface.

Silestone® colours

Silestone’s® colour range is split into 17 collections including the Silestone® Loft range. It has a distinct look of its own, and it’s produced using a new technology called HybriQ+.

Silestone® Loft with HybriQ+ technology: This collection is inspired by a style dating back to the mid-20th century when abandoned factories and warehouses in the US were turned into ‘loft-apartments’.

Concrete, cement, beams and pipes were deliberately left visible, giving the apartments an industrial look. And that’s the look that this collection gives you.

The Silestone® Loft range is manufactured using an innovative and exclusive technology called HybridQ+. This new process reduces its impact on the environment by reusing raw materials, such as recycled glass, using 99% recycled water and 100% renewable energy.

Kitchen with Silestone® Loft worktops in Seaport
This Silestone® Loft worktop is called Silestone® Seaport. It’s very similar to dark, worn cement, with striking white shades that blend perfectly with the background.

Here are some of our favourites from the rest of the Silestone® colour ranges:

Kitchen with Silestone® quartz worktops in Et Calacatta Gold
This Silestone® worktop is called Et Calacatta Gold. It has been designed to mimic the popular Calacatta marble from Italy. It has a bright white background with soft grey veining.
Kitchen with Silestone® quartz worktops in Coral Clay
This Silestone® worktop colour is called Coral Clay. Its creamy brown surface gives a harmonious feel to this white kitchen.
Kitchen with Silestone® quartz in Stellar Night
This Silestone® countertop colour is called Stellar Night. It has a rich black colour and small white specks.  
Kitchen with Silestone® quartz in Arcilla Red
This Silestone® countertop colour is called Arcilla Red. It’s a deep and earthy red that creates warm and cosy spaces.

What design choices does Silestone® quartz give you?

When it comes to design, Silestone® doesn’t limit you at all. It gives you total flexibility to create a bespoke kitchen to suit your tastes and your needs. Here’s how:

Silestone® worktops can be installed on any brand of kitchen cabinets

It doesn’t matter where you get your kitchen cabinets from. Silestone® is reasonably lightweight, so any kitchen cabinet brand is strong enough to hold it. This means you’ve got the flexibility to choose whichever kitchen supplier you want.

Silestone® quartz worktops come in three thicknesses

The most popular thickness for Silestone® worktops is 20mm. But it also comes in 30mm and 12mm. However, 12mm isn’t a popular choice, and we don’t recommend using it for worktops.

Kitchen with Silestone® kitchen worktops in Et Marquina
The kitchen has a 20mm Silestone® kitchen worktop in Et Marquina. The contrast of the black worktop against a white kitchen is stunning.

Silestone® kitchen worktops can be curved

Kitchen units don’t have to have straight edges these days. And neither do your worktops. Silestone® is one of the worktop brands that gives you full flexibility to add curves and shapes to match your kitchen cabinets.

Silestone® worktop in Et Statuario
This Silestone® worktop in Et Statuario has been tailor-made to match the cabinet’s curve in this kitchen, giving an overall softer look.

Silestone® has a range of undermount sinks to match or complement your worktop

If you love the seamless look, then an undermount sink is a must. Any undermount sink will be compatible, but Silestone® also has its very own range, called Integrity Sinks. The sinks aren’t available in every worktop colour, so if there isn’t one that matches exactly, you could try a colour that complements your worktop instead.

To work alongside the sink, have a recessed drainer or drainer grooves cut into the worktop. It cuts out the need to install a separate draining board and looks fantastic too.

Kitchen with Silestone® worktops and Integrity sink
This Silestone® quartz worktop has a matching Integrity sink. It blends perfectly with the worktop, giving the kitchen a minimalist look.

Silestone® allows you to have a flush-mounted hob

Flush-mounted hobs have become popular due to their designer looks. They’re sunk into your worktop, making the hob edges and worktop flush. Silestone® is the perfect worktop for this.

Kitchen with Dekton® worktops in Miami Vena
This Silestone® worktop in Miami Vena incorporates a flush-mounted hob to give the kitchen a designer look.

Silestone® allows you to have pop-up sockets

If you’re working at a kitchen island, plugging in an appliance is tricky and dangerous, because you’ll need to trail the cable across to a wall socket. Pop-up sockets solve this problem. Silestone’s® sintered stone is a material that allows pop-up sockets to be installed.

Kitchen worktop with pop-up sockets
Pop-up sockets are stored below the worktop surface. They pop-up when you need them and are concealed when you don’t. Ideal for kitchen islands.

Silestone® has matching upstands and splashbacks available

Upstands and splashbacks are great for protecting your walls from the inevitable food and water splashes a kitchen endures. Installing ones that match your worktop is ideal.

Silestone® upstands are only 100mm tall, so you’ll need to team them with tiles if you want the whole wall protected.

Alternatively, splashbacks cover the full height of your wall, between the worktop and cabinets.

Kitchen with Silestone® quartz worktops in Et Noir
This kitchen has a Silestone® worktop in Et Noir with a matching splashback behind the sink to protect the wall from splashes.

The thickness of your splashback should always match the thickness of your worktop. This is because worktops are produced in colour batches, and the two available thicknesses are made in different batches. Your worktop and splashback need to come from the same batch to ensure a perfect colour match.

Silestone® quartz comes in a large slab size, meaning less joins

Silestone’s® large format slabs are much bigger than the average-sized worktop. The benefit is, you’ll need fewer joins than most other worktop materials. It also makes it the perfect choice if you want a large kitchen island with no joins at all.

But, even if you do need a join in your worktop, some clever techniques can be used, so they’re barely visible.

Joins are sealed with colour matched glue. So, on a solid coloured worktop, the join will blend seamlessly. But on a veined worktop, veins won’t continue across two slabs, so joins will be more noticeable.

Are Silestone® quartz worktops expensive?

Silestone® is a premium-quality worktop material that’s made to measure. So, while it isn’t the most expensive, it isn’t cheap either. But it does offer exceptional value for money because of its high-performance and long life.

And, if you shop around for other quartz worktops, as a cheaper alternative to Silestone®, please remember that not all quartz is equal. There are many unbranded quartz worktops on the market that don’t come anywhere close to the quality and durability of Silestone® quartz.

What’s the installation process for Silestone® kitchen worktops?

Unlike worktops that you buy straight off the shelf, Silestone® countertops are made to order. So, when you’ve decided Silestone® is the worktop for you, you’ll need to go through these simple steps:

  1. Get a quote. At SEH Interiors you can request a quote online, and we’ll get it back to you in one hour.
  2. Order samples. You’ll want to see a real sample of your worktop choice before taking the plunge. At SEH Interiors you can order free worktop samples, and we’ll deliver them to you within a few days.
  3. Look at a large slab. There are nine Cosentino showrooms around the country with large slabs of every worktop colour on display. If you can, we’d highly recommend that you go and visit one.
  4. Place your order.
  5. A home survey is carried out. When your kitchen base cabinets are in place, expert installers will come out to measure up and make a template of your worktop.At SEH Interiors, we can visit you within a week of placing your order. Here’s some advice on how to prepare for a worktop installation.
  6. Your worktop is made. This is done by the fabricators, at their workshop.
  7. Your worktop is fitted. You may have a bit of a wait between getting your worktop templated and installed, depending on the supplier. But at SEH Interiors, we know that wait can be inconvenient, so we’ve speeded up the process. We usually install worktops a week (or a maximum of two weeks) after the template has been made.

In summary

Silestone® is a premium-quality, high-performing worktop that will look fantastic in your kitchen for years. It’s wide range of colours and styles, plus the flexibility it gives you over your kitchen design, makes it an excellent choice that you won’t regret.

SEH Interiors have over 10 years’ experience supplying and fitting premium-quality kitchen worktops at affordable prices across the UK, including Silestone®.
Browse our Silestone® quartz worktop range.