Countertop Choices HGTV Stars Are Tired Of Seeing In Homes

There are many different types of countertops out there. Yet there are quite a few of those choices that HGTV stars are tired of seeing in homes. From passing trends like laminate to materials that are too hard to clean or simply look bad, the designers, architects, and visionaries attached to your favorite home improvement channel rarely hold back their opinions about what does and doesn't work. Sometimes their dislike stems from a practical reason, like the cost of upkeep. Other times, it's more about fitting the countertops to the overall vibe of a home. That said, there are some clear winners and losers when it comes to materials.

While reading, you might notice a few conflicting opinions about countertop options between your favorite HGTV stars. This is to be expected, as there is no definitive "best" material to choose from. For each designer, each of the options has pros and cons. These might include tile being hard to clean, cultured marble being overdone, or even engineered stone not being universal. With all this information in mind, it's ultimately up to you to choose which one might work best for your aesthetic, lifestyle, and budget. But be sure to read the warnings about each option carefully to make the best choice!

While some people might decide to give their historic homes a completely modern interior, Erin Napier isn't a fan of this. Instead, while she and her husband Ben often breathe new life into older buildings on "Home Town," they always try to keep the homes period-appropriate — or at least in the general spirit of things. This is why she doesn't often use white marble in these houses. It's too modern. "I'm so tired of seeing slabs of white," Erin tells the crew during the "New-Stalgic Restoration" episode of her show. "It would feel really out of synchronicity to put a countertop like that in a house from 1900."

Instead of marble, Erin chose a granite countertop for the home in the episode. The surface was flecked with bits of brown and off-white, matching perfectly with the off-white subway backsplash and gray cabinets. While these options are not traditionally associated with Victorian homes either, they are more demure choices than the starkness of white marble. By choosing to style the kitchen in this way, Erin ensures that its original charm will not be overwhelmed by elements that are too modern. If you are renovating a historic house, she recommends you take the same approach.

If there is one thing the brothers are quite vocal about, it's how much they want you to avoid laminate countertops. According to them, the material has been out of style for years and really brings down the overall vibe of a space. The designers urge any of those considering the option to reach for literally anything else, no matter the price. "Yes, laminate is cheaper, but in many cases, you can actually take value away from a house by installing it," Jonathan told HGTV.

His brother Drew couldn't agree more. "It frustrates me to no end when people spend their budget on a product, like laminate, that automatically seems dated," he said. So, if resale value is important to you at all, stay away from this low-quality option. Most potential buyers will take one look at it and immediately see your home as one in need of major updates. Those dollar signs dancing in their heads might knock a few thousand off of their offer to you. "It's like throwing money away," Drew continued. Instead, if style and price are important to you, Jonathan added, "I can't think of a single kitchen design where laminate would look better than stone, butcher block, or a solid surface like Corian."

In modern builds, most designers would agree that the best countertop choice is one that is durable and within your budget. Yet, for older homes of a particular style, HGTV hosts like Emily Henderson have more specific tastes. She believes that any engineered materials can really damage a home's appearance and character. "I prefer natural stone slabs in more traditional or vintage style homes (cottages, cape cod, bungalows, farmhouses, colonials, Tudors, etc)," she shared on her blog. "I also think that real stone is best in homes that were built before 1950 if you are remodeling an older home (pre-mid-century)."

For these types of houses, options like Corian, laminate, etc. would not only not match, but also bring down the style and value of the room. "My rationale is that quartz didn't exist then so it stays more integral to the house," she explained. "The real stone patina works with the age of the house, especially if you are trying to add charm." Always go with real stone whenever you have the option to, as it adds character to your property.

Marble countertops are beautiful, but they can often be difficult to care for. Because of this, Jasmine Roth is quick to tell her readers that they might not be for everybody. "Alright, this is more of a cautionary tale. Everyone thinks they want marble, but honestly, it's SO easy to damage," she wrote on her blog. "Brett and I had marble countertops put into the first house we ever built — the 11th Street Retreat — and we spent years babying the countertops." For most folks, this level of carefulness isn't realistic. Things are going to get spilled and there will be damage done — especially if you entertain often or have a busy family.

"Marble stains and etches so easily that we were using coasters and wiping spills frantically left and right," she wrote. Without spending the extra money for the coating that acts as a barrier, your marble countertops are in danger of being quickly ruined. However, as a secret tip, Roth also recommends porcelain as an option if you like the look, but hate the upkeep. "It looks like marble, but it has the durability of porcelain. So it won't stain, won't scratch, lasts forever. It's large-scale, and it's printed to look like marble," she said during the "You Don't Complete Me," episode of "Help! I Wrecked My House," per Realtor.com.

Designer Nate Berkus is all about keeping things classic. Because of his interest in sticking with tried and true materials, he is tired of seeing people constantly looking for the next best thing for their countertop. Instead, Berkus is all about using what has already been working for decades. When asked about what homeowners might be looking for, he told MyDomaine, "They go to an expo and see a countertop that when you lean on it, it changes color, or they see these sort of bright lacquered colors on kitchen cabinetry that — I guess is new and exciting."

Yet as early as next year, that countertop material could be out of vogue. Having it in your home is no longer innovative and stylish, but instead is clunky and out of place. His advice for those selecting countertops is to not think outside the box. "This is not the place to start experimenting with trends," he said. "Your kitchen should be a mix of finishes that have been around since 1920. The more classic, the cleaner, the plainer, the better ... the idea of going with a trend that would require you to call a contractor to change it out is something that I don't believe in." His personal favorite countertop material is marble.

While some designers encourage clients to go with a neutral palette for their kitchens, insisting it will last longer, "Fix My Flip" guest-host Francesca Grace thinks that the more color in the kitchen the better. "As a maximalist, I tend to stay away from neutral palettes, and I think we're going to be seeing a lot more color in the kitchen," she told Forbes when asked about kitchen trends that are here to stay. "Think lots of rich colored hues, like dark greens, blacks, and blues, even merlot colored cabinets, with countertops with more character, like beautifully veined marble."

Grace is tired of seeing mono-colored, boring countertops in everyone's kitchens. Instead, she recommends options that add visual interest to the room. Your countertops shouldn't just be a surface, according to Grace. They should be more of a fun statement. While the marble she mentioned can add a pop, other stones like quartz and granite also come in beautifully colored variations and can accomplish a similar goal.

Subway tiling is all the rage for backsplashes, but continuing the material down to your countertops might be a mistake. At least Jonathan Scott thinks so. The HGTV host wants you to pick something way easier to clean. In Season 7, Episode 13 of his show "Property Brothers: Buying and Selling," Jonathan exclaimed, "I hate tile counters ... They just suck up all of the grime and grease!" He doesn't mean that tile is an especially porous option. In this case, it's that the small valleys in between each piece are magnets for everything from food crumbs to bacteria to grease. 

If you don't want to devote your time to scrubbing the grout, tile countertops are definitely a dated kitchen trend to stay away from. If you must use tile in your kitchen, leave it on the backsplash where debris is less likely to get stuck. But when it comes to countertops, both brothers love using quartz. "We love quartz countertops because they look like natural stone but are so much easier," Jonathan told Apple.

The "No Demo Reno" star typically isn't a fan of changing out major bits of your home, like countertops. However, if you are thinking about what material to use for the initial design, she is tired of plain 'ole quartz being the first option. It's too boring, she thinks, and doesn't add any visual value to the space. Instead, she recommends quartzite. "Really, the hot item is quartzite right now," Jenn Todryk told The Dallas Morning News. "It's a lot different than quartz. It gets more moody. It's got more movement, a lot of tans again, dark tans." This stone shows emotions and is more visually interesting, making the kitchen countertops more dynamic. For Todryk, this is the real win.

And Todryk isn't the only one who thinks this way about the material. In fact, David Bromstad of "My Lottery Dream Home" wholeheartedly agrees that quartzite counters are superior. "It kind of looks like marble, but it's much more durable," he said of the option in Season 14, Episode 4, per YouTube. "That's what I'm putting in my house." With glowing recommendations from two HGTV stars, it definitely sounds like quartz is out and quartzite is officially in.

Cultured marble countertops were once very popular, particularly in bathrooms. The material is made by mixing ground-up natural marble with artificial materials and colors. After being shaped into a countertop with sinks, workers cover the material with a clear protective layer. Cultured marble can be less expensive than real marble, which is why many people like it and have used it so much. But not Jenny Marrs! She thinks the style's hallmark of colored swirls can really date a home. During Season 5, Episode 2 of "Fixer to Fabulous," she pointed out the blue coloring on her client's countertops. "Is this toothpaste, or is this the marble?" she quipped, per Realtor.com.

Cultured marble is definitely a home trend that is out for Jenny Marrs. Later in the same episode, she and her team decide to replace the countertop with a more solid black granite piece. When describing another home with a similar look, Marrs remarked that the "black honed granite countertops are modern and sophisticated," per Facebook. Compared to this, cultured marble is old-fashioned and clunky. If you don't want to go with black or granite, Marrs is also a fan of quartzite because it looks similar enough to classic marble, but is tough like granite.

Certain countertop materials are significantly easier to keep clean than others. For this reason, Martha Stewart is tired of seeing wood options in homes."I did use wood originally for my outdoor working kitchen, but I don't like wood as a countertop as much as I like stone," she told Frederic Magazine. "It's much easier to clean."

Wood is a naturally porous material. To keep the everyday mess of a kitchen from seeping into the countertop, you need to seal the wood properly. If done poorly, or not done often enough, bacteria, mold, and other nasty things can begin to take root inside the wood. This is especially true when talking about outdoor kitchens, as Stewart is. When exposed to elements like rain, sunshine, and high humidity — which are all things that can cause wood to warp — the lifespan of wooden countertops is going to be shorter. This is why Stewart recommends going for a stone option in these situations. Popular stone options include quartz, granite, or even quartzite.