As designers and manufacturers of exquisite bespoke, furniture, kitchens and interiors, we place a great deal of importance on the quality of the raw materials and hardware that we use in our products. There is nothing worse than spending hours designing and days or weeks making something beautiful only to have it ruined by substandard constituent parts – and we won’t tolerate that for our clients either. With several decades of experience behind us, we have built strong relationships with a small number of core suppliers we completely trust to provide us with the very best their industry can offer and we felt it was time to celebrate ‘Six of the Best’.
As furniture makers, the skill of making beautiful objects out of wood is in our DNA. Cut us in half and you will find the word ‘CRAFT’ running through us like a stick of rock! But the fact is that wood, whilst it looks beautiful and has natural disinfectant properties, is not hard-wearing enough to make durable kitchen worktops: Spill the red wine, drop the potato masher or put down a hot pan in a hurry and you have marked or stained your beautiful wood for ever – removing a worktop to return it to the workshop for refinishing, whilst possible, is a time-consuming and expensive process.
That is why we always recommend our clients choose either a natural stone like granite or marble, a composite quartz like Caesarstone or Silestone or a sintered stone alternative. Eaton Stonemasons are a family run business which has been sourcing, cutting and fitting stone worktops in Dorset for 21 years, and we have been working with them on the majority of our kitchens for the last 15 of those. During this time we have fostered a professional relationship which means the team at Eaton understands exactly what our client’s requirements are and can give expert advice on which stone to use. In return, we can prepare the kitchen ready for the his team to first template and then fit the worktops. Over the years we have got this process down to a fine art which keeps time and costs to a minimum and means our clients can have absolute trust that Eaton’s worktops will beautifully compliment our cabinetry in their kitchen.
Whenever we have a new kitchen project, 
the materials palette is discussed with the client very early on in the process. It is important to establish what they have in mind for their worktop: light or dark, patterned or solid colour, matte or sparkling so that we can then approach Eaton to find out what may be in stock or, if time allows, what they know may be being cut from one of the many quarries they deal with across the world.
Stone worktops are stunningly beautiful. The natural stone, like wood, gives an infinite variety of pattern, texture and colour but for those who prefer more predictability in their interiors, quartz or sintered stone provides greater uniformity and a much broader colour palette. Both natural and sintered stone can be polished to provide whatever finish the client desires from dull matte to super high gloss. In short, it is incredibly versatile and while, from an environmental perspective, natural stone worktops may not on the face of it appear to be the best solution, it is important to remember how durable these products are. They are hard-wearing, heat resistant and hygienic, they do not leach chemicals from the manufacturing process and they do not deteriorate over time. Consequently, your worktop is likely to outlast pretty much everything else in your home. If someone decides to have a change of kitchen, the worktops can be carefully removed and reused elsewhere and there is a thriving second-hand market which means there is no reason why any stone should end up at the tip. If it did of course, as a natural product it would do no harm there.
There are many reasons why we choose Eaton Stonemasons for our kitchen worktops:
• They have a huge range of natural 
and sintered stone for our clients to choose from and have a wealth of knowledge about each and every one; how it is produced, where it came from and how it is best used.
• They will always work with us to make
the very best use of a slab to minimise the amount of waste and use recycled water from their own water treatment systmen to feed their machines.
• The product and service they provide is of the highest quality and they take as much pride in their work as we do in ours.
• They represent exceptional value for money charging a fair price for a premium product.
To find out more about Eaton Stonemasons and the products and services they provide, visit their website or their Facebook page.
Kitchen images by Double Exposure
Eatons team images courtesy of Eaton Stonemasons
Written by Bridget Pirie
May 2023