Dekton For My Fantacy Countertops

Photo of Dekton countertop on Instagram here

In Manhattan, whether you are single or a family of 4, regular people learn to live in smaller spaces. Sure, I’d love to have an extra room or more square feet in my apartment. Who wouldn't? Still, I’ve chosen to live in a Manhattan high-rise over a bigger stand-alone house in the suburbs. Manhattan is culturally diverse, relatively tolerant, and unbelievably convenient, and I’d never ever trade living here for a maison outside of Manhattan. Living in New York City has made me more mindful, more minimalist, and less impressed by opulence and materialism.

Photo: Noel Y. Calingasan

But don’t get me wrong, I want a modern, comfortable apartment with all the necessities of a large house, and I think we Manhattanites do a fairly good job of having it. For example, our washers and dryers are usually in a communal laundry room in our buildings rather than located in our apartments. The same goes for our recycling and garbage bins for sanitation pickup. They’re communal. Frankly, less of a burden to an individual shareholder! The multimillionaires in Manhattan live in larger co-ops and duplex condominiums where they set their recyclables and trash out their back doors, and their maintenance crew swings by several times a day to collect it, but sheesh, I don’t mind dropping off trash myself into communal bins. I don’t need our maintenance men to come around to me, individually, to feel well-to-do important!

However, just like homeowners everywhere, I entertain if-money-were-no-object fantasies about what I’d do to upgrade my home.

Today I’ll share one of them. My fantasy kitchen would have Dekton countertops. A Dekton countertop is an ultra-compact, high-performance surface (a blend of 20 natural minerals and materials used to make glass, porcelain, and quartz). It’s not cheap, costing $80 to $160 per square foot depending on surface thickness. I think it's smart to have at least 20 mm thick. Dekton is completely non-porous, resistant to starches, extreme heat, UV rays, and never requires sealing!

The Opening of Late Night with Seth Meyers

Hot pots and pans will not scorch Dekton. Sunlight won’t fade it, and food spills won't stain it. Since the surface is non-porous, you don’t have to seal (or ever re-seal) it, and it’s easy to clean. Be still my heart!♥

Sounds indestructible, right? But it’s not. The surface is brittle, so stuff you shouldn’t be doing -- abuse such as hitting the surface with heavy objects -- will chip a Dekton countertop along its corners. Moreover, installing Dekton isn’t an amateur's job, as special tools are required, and Dekton is more expensive than quartz or granite.

The builder of my Manhattan high-rise installed laminate countertops, and they serve me well enough. I use silicone mats to protect them from hot pots. There’s nothing wrong with laminate countertops, but high-performance, smooth, sleek Dekton is my fantasy surface and what I’d install if I desired to bear the expense.🙂

IMHO, it might be wiser to upgrade to a new abode before you put more than a set sum into upgrading your present home, but perhaps I’m still thinking like la classe moyenne. We, regular wage earners, are always weighing when and what to spend money on ... as are some of the wealthy, who can also be careful and value-oriented.

That said, what’s your if-money-were-no-object home improvement?

You may also enjoy:

Buying Light Bulbs

My Little Man Broke!

Shelf Helpers To Organize

Talk Show Product Deals Weariness

On Broadway Captures The Spirit Of New York

I stopped posting my list of guilty pleasure songs because the videos get removed from YouTube leaving my blog with broken links. But today I'll upload a single song I remember hearing on my parent’s stereo while still a child. As my mother, father, and I did our own seperate things in our home, sometimes we'd play the radio in the background, or my Dad might put on a few albums. We had one of those 3 combination entertainment units comprised of a big center television with a record player on one side and a radio on the other side. A blast from the past! I remember the evening it was delivered. My Mom had gone out to run errands. My Dad and I were engaged in our own interests in our living room, when our doorbell ring. Two deliverymen announced, “We're here to bring up your stereo unit.” We said, “Are you sure this is the right house? Who bought it?” The name on their papers was my Mom! Unbeknownst to us, she had gone to an estate sale!! Busy bee that she was at the sale, she also bought a lovely wooden china cabinet that day! So through our house came our new furniture that Dad and I only found out about at the moment of delivery! Mom arrived home about an hour later. I guess she had a few more errands left? :)

Photo: Insider

One of the songs I remember hearing on the stereo throughout the years I lived with my parents is the song I’m posting today. Although I first heard the original version, I’m posting my favorite version, the remake by George Benson of On Broadway.

It’s a song that never gets old about a city with good, positive, creative energy, a city that celebrates not only talent and hard work, but education, culture and diversity. Excellence thrives here because of it. Once visited, New York becomes the favorite city of many of its 62 - 66 million tourists per year. New Yorkers can be abrupt, but don’t let their abruptness fool you. Faint or get injured and in a New York minute, you'll be surrounded by 5+ people, all working to get you the help you need. They won’t leave you alone until help arrives.

Another thing to know about New York is its innate sense of right and wrong sprinkled with fairness and optimism. The Empire state is the home of our Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and 2 of our greatest Presidents, Theodore Rosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s where our Constitution was written. New Yorkers will pay a little more for the good of the community. I’ve never heard any resentment from New York taxpayers about being a donor state or helping people who have fallen on hard times. Finally, the city is as tough as nails. Strong like the bedrock (Fordham gneiss, Manhattan schist, and Tuckahoe marble) it’s built on. Nobody beats New York into submission.

You may also enjoy:

Guilty Pleasure Songs 4

The Southern Cross (Crux)

Enjoy The Vibes of Vienna Blood

5 Gifts For New York City Lovers