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 I want to brighten up a kitchen. I am on a tight budget. I am considering painting the pine kitchen units and perhaps replacing the black laminate counter-top. Any ideas on colours - the room is north/ north-east facing?

You should probably think of the floor covering in the overall plan as a light colour or dark colour may have an impact on whether you choose a light or dark colour for the worktop. Two different worktops, one on the island and one on the rest of the units might look well too. I like timber for an island but only if you don't need the worktop to be heat resistant and it's not near the sink. We've picked a dark grey for our island and will probably choose an off white worktop with a vein in it to contrast with it. Good luck with your decisions!

My new kitchen counter island is 90 cm high floor to counter surface. What is the ideal stool seat height to sit comfortably under the counter top? I do not want adjustable height stools. Thanks Mike