For and against the artificial stone in the kitchen: we deal with the pros

Granite countertop or bar countermarble? How about an apron made of ore with gold veins above the work area? If you decide to use artificial stone in the kitchen, nothing is impossible for you Stone is one of the oldest finishing materials. One of the most beautiful and most expensive. Until recently, it remained so. Until artificial stone appeared. Is the replacement equivalent? Let's try to figure it out together. Artificial stone is made of stone chips, various fillers, polyester resins - and then it is an agglomerate; from clay and mineral additives - and then it is porcelain stoneware; and there are also options made of colored concrete. Any of these materials is perfect as a finishing or main material in the production of furniture and equipment: countertops, bar counters, sinks, washbasins. And recently, they have even been used to decorate window sills, walls and floors. The different composition of fillers allows you to imitate the pattern of any natural stone. Moreover, a drawing can be applied to the stone. With the help of new processing methodsArtificial stone is given any shape. And then you get sinks and washbasins that form a single whole with the worktop. For equipment that is constantly in contact with water, this is very valuable. Artificial stone has quite high strength and durability. It is difficult to spoil or scratch it. Marina Chernova, designer:— It is difficult to find another material like artificial stone, which would be so easy to combine with almost any other. And the variety of its types allows using artificial stone in a variety of interiors, no matter what design style they belong to. The ability to easily remove any dirt, soot, organic stains from a surface made of artificial stone makes this material the most popular for the production of kitchen aprons and worktops. Artificial stone offers unlimited possibilities for furniture designers, as it can be used to make furniture of any configuration. Svetlana Ozerova, Natalia Jung, designers of the bureauprivate interiors Oybureau: - The undoubted advantages of artificial stone include its rich decorative possibilities. The material is presented in a wide range of colors, can be monochromatic, have a grainy pattern or a rich "stone" texture, inclusions. The surface of artificial stone can be from mirror-glossy-smooth to velvety-matte and even the so-called "vulcanized" - pleasantly uneven, imitating hewn stone. The disadvantage of this material is its artificiality - the composite is not suitable for adherents of eco-design. It will not age with us, will not give unique natural patterns, like natural stone or wood, will not tell a unique story of its origin. This is a very modern material in its spirit and, in our opinion, is unlikely to be appropriate in traditional interiors of country estates and "old Moscow" apartments. And due to the circulation inherent in artificial stone, it should not be used in exclusive, individual, especially classical interiors. It is better to turn to the diversity of natural stone. facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004683243495 Artificial stone has one more important thingadvantage: if you are bored with the interior of your kitchen, you can always change it, because artificial stone, unlike natural stone, is relatively inexpensive.