Your personal decorating style is what makes your house a home. Figuring out your style is easy. Your style is the one that suits your life and works for you and your family. You don't have to adhere to a specific look or fashion trends. Style is really combining color, pattern, shapes and texture with the architecture of the house in a way that is pleasing to you. Look at your own home. How would you describe the decorating style? Think traditional, casual, contemporary, formal, eclectic, country, rustic, southwestern or old world? Pick one that best expresses your taste. Look for clues in your existing furniture and accessories. What have you chosen already? Gather ideas. Try decorating magazines and websites. Clip out the pictures that please you. Colors, patterns, textures, features and details. Take photos of things you like in a friend or neighbor's home. Visit model homes for other ideas. These visual clues will narrow your choices and prepare for making style decisions. Tools like Pinterest can help you organize your ideas. Think about your personal entertaining style too. Do you entertain a lot? Does everyone gather in the kitchen? Do you use your kitchen as a buffet? Or are you likely to entertain in the dining room away from the kitchen? Do you and your children cook together? Are their friends often in your kitchen? There are lots of countertop surface choices out there, but only laminate offers that perfect combination of design, durability, value and sustainability. Here are some ideas from the designers at Wilsonart on choosing the right design for your kitchen: If you want your kitchen to have that Old World charm, then consider the tumbled marble looks of Wilsonart HD Laminate. Sedona Bluff - 1824, Sedona Trail - 1826 or Aged Piazza - 1868, in light to mid-tone neutrals, as the perfect complement to this style. Maybe your home is very traditional, but you want a more updated look in the kitchen. Our Bainbrook Grey - 1863, is a white granite laminate pattern with subtle grey tones. It's a timeless Classic. But be careful; don't go too high-tech, because the results will be out of balance with the rest of the rooms in your home. Mix traditional and new looks together. Pick one of the "new neutrals" such as Corinthian Limestone - 1862 or Carrara Santorini - 1855, that go with brighter wall colors or fabric colors used in the nearby dining chairs. Or, a classic granite design series with a contemporary flair, Wilsonart’s Madura Pearl - 4922 expertly replicates real granite with larger-scale movement and subtle contrast with a realistic textured finish. If you like a clean, minimal look, then use a countertop laminate with a smooth matte finish in a quiet design like our Soapstone series in green (Green Soapstone - 4885), grey (Pearl Soapstone - 4886), or beige (Tan Soapstone - 4887). You may also like our new Salentina series (Salentina Nero - 1864, Salentina Rosso - 1866, or Salentina Grigio - 1865) for an antiqued-glazed concrete effect with a matte on matte surface effect, for an urban loft appeal. If your budget is really tight, but you still want to have fun, take a look at Venetian Ale - 4930. This design is a colorful combination of “chips” layered on a grey background. Its neutralized partner, Venetian Ivory - 4928, is a solid white background with white tone-on-tone chips. You can pull accent colors in through cabinet and wall paint, appliances, and pottery. For countertops with a pearl or metal feel, check out these Wilsonart HD Laminate patterns: Luna Shadow - 1853, Luna Crest - 1852, and Luna Glow - 1851. With so many options, narrow your scope by deciding on your color scheme and picking the design that suits you best. Check out our Coordination Tool, which suggests options to coordinate with your cabinet finish and color scheme. Visualize any of the Wilsonart HD patterns – and even mix and match perimeter counters with islands – with our Room Visualizer. Order samples from Wilsonart to help you decide. Tape the samples up on the walls or on your existing counter. Examine them both in daylight as well as at nighttime. Lighting can change the way you look at your color choices. Enjoy your countertops!
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