I have a white corian and love it. It brightened the kitchen so much. I think the Only thing you can set hot pots on is ceramic tile. I have made trivets out of pretty tiles. Go to the store and find a tile you love buy one or two and then cut felt slides that stick, like for the bottom of a chair leg or buy precut ones. These are great! I use them on lots of things. They are under my coffee pot, toaster, large cutting board, garbage bowl I keep on the counter, anything I move that's kind of big or heavy on the counter. Corian requires no sealing. Only thing that has thought about staining so far was grated carrots, or the skin gratings from carrots. But then I just worked on the spot lightly with a scotch bright pad. I saw somewhere that someone else tried a mr clean eraser n corian. Staining in my integrated white sink is zero. Installed in January 2013. I have had corian in a previous house with no problems also.

Hi Bernice, Congrats on your new kitchen ! Your new kitchen looks very nice. Very clean, simple, sleek design. Either #2 grey or #3 Cream would work nicely. The cream would make your kitchen feel lighter, brighter; it is very pretty, not bland at all. Since your ovens-side cabinets are already dark, maybe the grey would make the kitchen feel too dark and heavy ? #3 Cream would be my pick, given these 4 choices. :) ( For our recent remodel, I also went with either off-white or cream-ish for all the countertops -- kitchen and all the bathrooms :) From your idea books :) --

Hot pots should stay on the stove, on a stone/metal trivet or on a thick butcher block that can be scorched and put away. The heat from hot pots and pans can discolor whatever is on/in the granite (sealers, cooking oil in the porous surface), cause seams to open on engineered stone and solid surface tops. Suggest your read the Use and Care Manuals published by the manufacturers available on line.

I have a similar kitchen although the work tops are not dark. We have a light, white/Ivory tile on the floor. Looks lovely and bright, especially for our small kitchen.