If you’re working on renovating your home, chances are you have some plans for your bathrooms. Whether you’re redesigning your master or guest bathroom, it’s a perfect opportunity to create a relaxing retreat for your guests or yourself through the use of clean, minimal design. Most modern bathroom designs focus on eliminating clutter and using large swaths of color to create a soothing and inviting space.

One of the most striking features of modern bathroom design is the bold use of stone for countertops, flooring, or covering walls. Stone can add beautiful natural patterning, create bold straight lines or geometric shapes, and give surfaces a polished shine that will add an elegant shimmer to the room.  The only question now is what kind of stone should you use?

Here at NEKA Granite Marble Quartz, we recommend using one of our varieties of engineered quartz for your bathroom remodel. Why use quartz? For starters, it’s incredibly tough and can easily withstand daily use. Quartz is also completely nonporous, making it bacteria and stain resistant. Most other types of stone are porous, which allows any spilled substance to seep into the surface of the stone and cause a nasty spot that’s nearly impossible to get out. Quartz also comes in the widest variety of colors, allowing you to pick subtle tones that will blend in effortlessly, or a bold statement color if that’s more your style.

If you need another reason to use quartz, it is also one of the more eco-friendly stone choices. Quartz is one of the most common substances on earth, and many manufacturers of quartz, like CaesarStone and Cambria, are committed to using environmentally friendly manufacturing processes. CaesarStone offers a full line of quartz slabs that use up to 42% post-consumer recycled materials, while Cambria recycles 100% of the water it uses during manufacturing processes. If using eco-friendly and sustainable products is an important part of your renovation, quartz is a natural choice for your project.

Here are some of our favorite quartz options for a stylish modern bathroom remodel:

Tebas Black

Silestone’s Tebas Black quartz is the perfect choice for a bold modern bathroom. Chrome and white porcelain go hand in hand with this inky black reflective quartz. Tebas Black is perfect for adding some much needed contrast to an all-white bathroom. Modern minimalist design often leans towards a monochromatic color palette, making Tebas Black an easy choice if you’re looking to offset the porcelain of your sink, toilet, or bathtub.

Calacatta Gold

For bathrooms featuring cabinets made of dark wood, Silestone’s Calacatta Gold is a perfect choice. This beautiful quartz features light patterning to set it apart from the white porcelain fixtures of most bathrooms. Calacatta Gold is absolutely luxurious when paired with dark wood and brushed steel fixtures. If you’re going for a clean white design for your bathroom, think about using Calacatta Gold for your countertops, backsplash, or flooring.

Bamboo

If you’re not into the stark black and white bathrooms that are so common these days, you might look into an aesthetic that features more tan, beige, and brown tones. Bamboo quartz by Silestone is the perfect complement to an earthier aesthetic. The pebbly pattern of Bamboo quartz fits perfectly with natural color stone tiles and can help to break up wide swaths of flat color. Bamboo looks great with all types of cabinets, whether they are natural wood or painted. It also works with a variety of different hardware and fixtures.

These are just a few of the different varieties of quartz you can use for your bathroom renovation project. If you’re still not sure exactly what kind of aesthetic you’re looking for your bathroom, schedule an appointment to come talk to the friendly design specialists at NEKA Granite Marble Quartz. We’d be happy to take you through our showroom and help you choose the perfect quartz for your dream bathroom.

When it comes to taking care of your granite, marble, or quartz countertops, there is quite a bit of conjecture about what you should or shouldn’t do to keep your countertops looking their very best. Often times, stone countertops are one of the biggest, and most expensive, additions you can make during a kitchen remodel, so it makes sense to take excellent care of your countertops to keep them looking fabulous for decades to come. By taking the proper precautions and following these easy care instructions, you can keep your countertops looking as good as they did on installation day.

Here are several easy steps for taking care of your stone countertops:

1. Apply a high-quality granite sealer to your countertops semi-annually, some stones may not need it that often, but it won’t hurt to re-seal it a little early. This will increase your countertop’s shine, and also protect it from stains.
2. Make sure to wipe up any spills immediately. The longer they sit on your countertop the higher the chance for a stain. Granite is porous and once a stain seeps into the stone, it’s incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to remove it.
3. Never use regular cleaning solutions on your granite countertops. Most of them have harsh chemicals that will strip the seal right off, leaving your countertop exposed to stains and bacteria.
4. Keep anything acidic off of your granite countertops, as it can eat away at the surface of your countertop.
5. Use a cutting board when preparing food. Cutting directly on your countertop will damage and dull your knife blades incredibly quickly, and could also damage your countertop.
6. Don’t put meat directly on your countertop. It can leave a stain behind, and also cause bacteria to seep into the porous surface of your countertop.
7. Put any wet containers, or bottles that might leak or have residue (bottles with cooking oil are a regular culprit) in a shelf or on a tray. Any moisture that sits on your countertops can cause a ring or stain if left long enough.
8. It’s always a good idea to use a trivet for hot pots or pans. While you can place a hot pan directly on a granite countertop, grit can get between the pan and the counter and scratch the surface of your countertop. It also creates a hot spot on your countertops that can burn you or others.
9. Take off diamond rings before cooking or preparing food on your countertops. Granite and quartz are pretty hard, but not as hard as a diamond. If you slip while cutting something you can permanently gouge your countertops.
10. Try to avoid sprinkling oil on the countertops, and make sure to wipe around the stove top after making bacon or other greasy food that might cause oil to spatter.

By following these easy steps, you can keep your countertops looking brand new. With the proper care, granite countertops can easily last as long as the house they are installed in, and raise property values tremendously. For any further questions about granite, marble, or quartz care you can always call the friendly team at NEKA Granite Marble Quartz.