Food author and blogger Ciara Attwell needed a durable work surface to cope with the demands of her many hours spent cooking, and with robustness in mind, chose Caesarstone 5141 Frosty Carrina quartz worktops for her new kitchen.
Ciara is the founder of the My Fussy Eaters blog, and recently completed her first cookbook. With Ciara’s focus on developing and writing about healthy recipes that offer appeal to the entire family, her kitchen works harder than most.
Ciara’s previous kitchen needed a substantial overhaul. Whilst on paper, it appeared like a lot of space, it was badly laid out and included a utility room to one side. This in effect cut off a lot of the space and left her with an L-shaped kitchen that felt very cramped and lacking in storage and cupboard space.
In addition, her original wooden worktops were struggling under the demands Ciara’s work placed on them, as she explained:
“We are a busy family with two young children and the maintenance and upkeep required was too much. The wood wasn’t robust enough to deal with our hectic kitchen. Being a food writer I spend several hours a day cooking. I would often place hot pans down onto the wooden worktops which would of course leave dark heat marks. The wood around the sink also started to warp and stain through water damage.”
Working with local builders Countrystile Builders, Ciara decided to knock the wall down between the kitchen and the utility room to open-up the room for a bigger and more family-friendly kitchen, and commissioned Nutshell Interiors to plan the new layout.
With the new structural changes, Ciara had room for a new island, that resolved her need for additional worktop space. “It’s not unusual for me to be cooking several recipes at once and I never felt like I had enough space to do this in my old kitchen,” explained Ciara.
Ciara worked closely with Caesarstone in decided upon the new surfaces that would be used as worktops for both the new units from Nutshell, as well as the focal island. Ciara described the collaboration with Caesarstone: “They were fantastic in helping guide us through the whole worktop selection process, from the colour and design to the thickness of the quartz.”
Ciara settled on 5141 Frosty Carrina, a marble-influenced design with a soft ivory base, and delicate powdery grey veins. Like all Caesarstone quartz surfaces, Frosty Carrina is an extremely durable surface, more robust than marble or granite, and resistant to scratches, stains and chips. This robustness was exactly what Ciara and her family needed, given the high work load the new kitchen faced.
Importantly, the Caesarstone surfaces also offer the functional performance required of a keen baker, as Ciara explained of the surfaces’ cool touch: “Pastry chefs and top bakers have long used quartz worktops as they help to keep dough cool, making it easier to work with.”
The high specification of Ciara’s kitchen was not limited to the choice of kitchen worktops; completing the kitchen was a Belling Range Cooker and Beko fridge freezer, whilst the new large island allowed for the installation of a Hotpoint induction hob that offers an increased cooking area, ideal for the multiple recipes that Ciara can be working on at any given time. Finally, the choice of tap was a Grohe Essence pull out spray tap, finished in a Warm Sunset tone.
Ciara is delighted with her new work surfaces: “The Caesarstone worktops have been an amazing addition to our new kitchen. They are bright and shiny and we get so many compliments about them. They are also very hardwearing and so far have proved to be completely stain resistant. Red wine, the kids’ crayons and markers, tomato sauce, it all comes off easily with a little kitchen spray or even just a baby wipe.”
