How to choose an edge profile

The front edge of a kitchen counter sits at about 36 inches, which is right at head height for a toddler and hip height for most adults. How a household moves past that edge usually settles the profile faster than any magazine photo does.

Start with how the kitchen is used

A household with young kids often leans toward a rounded profile like an eased edge or a bullnose, since there is no sharp corner at counter height to worry about.

A more formal kitchen or a bathroom vanity can carry a crisper look, where a beveled or dupont edge adds a defined line without softening the whole counter into a curve.

An island meant to double as a casual eating spot benefits from a comfortable edge to lean an elbow on, which points toward a half bullnose or a gently eased profile over a sharp square line.

Matching the edge to the style of the room

A traditional kitchen with raised-panel cabinets often pairs well with an ogee edge, which has a soft S-curve that reads as more detailed and formal than a plain eased line.

A modern kitchen with flat-panel cabinets tends to suit a clean, square eased edge or a mitered edge, both of which keep the line simple and let the stone's pattern do the talking.

A chiseled edge, left rough and irregular on purpose, fits a rustic or farmhouse kitchen and works especially well on a thick-looking mitered edge where the texture is visible along the full depth.

A full bullnose, rounded all the way around the top and bottom, softens a kitchen even further than a half bullnose and suits an older ranch-style house being updated without a full remodel of the cabinets.

What some edges do beyond looks

A mitered edge doubles the visible thickness of the slab by joining a second strip of stone underneath the front edge, which is how a 2 cm counter gets the look of a thick, substantial 3 cm or 4 cm edge without the weight of a full-thickness slab.

A laminated edge works the same way and is common on porcelain, where the body color under a printed surface pattern is not something a homeowner wants showing along a thin visible edge.

A cove edge, with its concave curve at the top, is a practical pick for a bar or wet area where a slightly raised lip helps contain small spills at the counter's front.

An edge choice can also be mixed within one kitchen: a simpler eased edge on the perimeter counters with a mitered edge reserved for the island is a common way to make the island read as a distinct feature.

Seeing it before you commit

A profile can look different in a photo than it does in your own kitchen lighting, so we bring physical edge samples to every estimate rather than asking a homeowner to choose from a picture alone.

Standard profiles like eased, beveled and half bullnose are available on nearly every stone we fabricate, while some upgraded profiles depend on the slab's thickness and how the material fabricates.

A thinner 2 cm slab can also carry an upgraded look with a laminated edge, so a homeowner is not limited to standard profiles just because a lighter, thinner counter was the right call elsewhere in the kitchen.

If you are trying to picture an edge profile on your own countertop, send the estimate form and we will bring samples to your home so you can see and feel the options before you decide.