It’s been almost exactly a year since we revealed our new kitchen. And I think for the last year, I receive an email at least once a week* from someone contemplating Minerva worktops, asking me how mine are holding up, whether I’d recommend them, if they’ve been at all problematic. There wasn’t that much information on them online when I was researching myself so it was a bit of a leap of faith for us choosing these. I can understand all the questions because I was in the same boat.
(Also, if you Google ‘Minerva Worktops’, my blog post comes up in the #4 spot so that’s another reason I get so many questions about mine!)
We all know that there are about a million different worktops to choose from. When we’d initially started our kitchen planning, it was the one thing that I was stuck on literally for years – what worktops should I choose? I did so much research on the pros and cons of just about every material out there – from cheap and cheerful laminate (which has come a long way in the last 20 years) to natural stone products to man-made products like Corian and acrylic.
In the end, we settled on acrylic and more specifically, the Minerva brand. I wanted something that would work well with our marble-effect tiles and the Minerva Cararra Marble effect seemed to be a winner. It’s high-quality and mid-range which made it perfect for our budget and hard-wearing. The pattern in the acrylic goes all the way through which means that any scratches could be buffed out quite easily.
Can Minerva Worktops be DIY’d?
We struggled initially to find someone to install our Minerva worktopsΒ (you can read all about that debacle here) but in the end, decided we would attempt all the cutting and joining and installing ourselves. And when I say ‘ourselves’, I really just mean Wayne. Now, he’s a pretty confident DIYer and I would say unless you are a confident DIYer yourself, you may want to leave this one to the professionals. But it’s entirely do-able and is probably very similar to fitting butcherblock worktops – a decent router blade goes right through it and you can sand them and buff them in the same way you can with wood so if you’ve done butcherblock worktops successfully in the past, you shouldn’t struggle with this material.
Why Minerva?
The reason I chose Minerva worktops was that they ticked every single one of my boxes in terms of durability, stain and etch resistance, the fact that they were non-porous, getting the look of stone (which I really liked) without the ridiculous price tag (which I didn’t) and the fact they were super hard-wearing. It feels lovely to the touch as well – not as cool as stone but not that plastic-y/room temperature feel of laminate either and the fact that it’s almost soft to the touch like honed marble is.
How Are They Holding Up?
Do Minerva Worktops Scratch?
Would You Get Them Again?
Hi Kimberly
I wanted to add some comments about the process of buying a Minerva work surface because I really liked the fact that they are solid acrylic – unlike Corian – and not backed by MDF. However after a really great conversation with Minerva (can’t remember the parent company at the moment) they then pass you onto their stockists and it all fell apart. In my area (SW London) the supplier was Selco (and my contractors use them all the time) but the mark up that Selco put on the two lengths of work surface PLUS the fitting costs from the contractor meant that this was more expensive than a quartz work surface fully fitted. I was so disappointed and I mean GUTTED because I had really bought into the idea of an acrylic work surface. So the honest answer is if you are going to DIY it, yes it’s a less expensive option than quartz or any other stone but if you need to pay a fitting fee, forget it!!!
Hi Diane, thanks so much for your sharing your experience! I find it really strange that Selco put a huge mark up on the product itself? I was able to order the worktops via their supplier but there was no additional markup at all. They simply supplied them and then our fitter was going to fit them (I think I was quoted about Β£400) but because our fitter bailed on us, we decided to fit them ourselves. I’m wondering if it’s a London thing or if it was just Selco being greedy!? xxx
Your kitchen looks gorgeous! I don’t own my own home (yet!) but I’ve always wanted marble countertops but know it would be far too expensive. This looks like a great alternative and they will last!
http://champagne-lifestyle.com
From the photos that you post of them they still look as good as when you first put them in xxx
Can you share the source for you brass hanging rail below the cabinets? I couldn’t find it on any of the source pages.
Hi Hillary, the rails are from Rowen & Wren:
https://www.rowenandwren.co.uk/bitra-hook-rail.html
But you can see all the sources of everything in this post:
https://www.swoonworthy.co.uk/2016/11/kitchen-remodel-sources.html/
Hope that helps!
Thanks very much!