11 Amazing Countertop Upgrades That Are Worth Every Penny

When deciding on the details for your new kitchen countertops, the process often starts with the biggest decision — choosing the best material for your needs, aesthetic, and budget. After all, the cost of installing new counters is not a small chunk of change; aside from cabinetry and maybe flooring, it's often the third-biggest ticket item in a kitchen remodel. Once you've painstakingly selected the perfect slab of marble, granite, soapstone, butcher block, quartz, or whatever gorgeous material floats your boat, you may think your job is done. However, this is where the fun really begins!

Instead of opting for a standard countertop, your renovation is the perfect time to consider more unique design details, which can take the aesthetic and functionality of your countertops to the next level. From decorative edging to integrated sinks and electrics, there are so many beautiful upgrades to consider during the planning process. If you're remodeling an existing kitchen and you've had a lot of time to learn how you use the space, these countertop upgrades will provide an especially impressive transformation of the way your space flows and works. And some upgrades just look like a million bucks! So, let's dive into our 11 favorite countertop upgrades to elevate your kitchen's look and functionality.

For a truly high-end seamless look, allow your countertop material to carry on up the walls, creating an integrated backsplash. Not only is this look utterly chic, but it's beyond easy to clean, and you'll never have to contend with grout. Keep in mind that the material will be the thickness of the countertop, though. This may mean that you need to get it milled down thinner, or you'll otherwise have to keep its depth in mind when planning window trim or the locations of plumbing and appliances.

Nothing ruins a kitchen aesthetic faster than poorly placed, extremely obvious electrical outlets on the backsplash, countertops, or sides of cabinets. When it's not possible to hide these necessary evils under overhangs or in other discreet places, you may want to consider adding integrated pop-up outlets into your countertop. The material removed to create the hole for these outlets is used as the finished top surface, meaning that the outlets practically disappear when not in use. When you do need them, simply push to pop the outlet unit up from the countertop like magic.

In the never-ending battle to wrangle and hide the cords that power our favorite devices, why not go high-tech and turn your kitchen counter into a no-wire charging station? Utilizing a halo of light that's revealed when you swipe a compatible wireless charging device over the area, you simply place your device anywhere inside the halo to charge it. Since this element is routed into the underside of the countertop, the area looks like any other spot on your countertop when it's not in use. Genius!

If you do a lot of food prep and hate to have your trash pull-out open all the time for the clean-up process, consider adding an integrated trash chute into your countertop. Often coming with a seamless top made from the same countertop material for a subtle look when not in use, these handy little holes in the counter allow you to simply slide your scraps directly from the countertop into the trash or compost bin below. It's a nifty way to streamline your cleaning and save a bunch of time in the kitchen.

While this isn't necessarily practical for every material, those with quartz or granite counters may love an integrated sink, in which the basin is actually built into the countertop itself using the same material. Proponents say the seamless material makes cleaning a breeze — and it helps that it looks great, too. This detail can be done with other materials, such as marble, but may require additional sealing and maintenance to make it work. Just be aware that integrated sinks can be expensive to install, and just as expensive to replace if damage occurs.

If you spend significant time cooking or baking in your kitchen, you may want to consider incorporating a permanent or semi-permanent cutting board into your countertop design. One option for this involves choosing a specific material for the kitchen's standalone island. Alternatively, you can carve out a prep area or strip to have a secondary countertop permanently installed. Others looking for a more flexible approach can notch out a space on the primary countertop, resting a removable board on top for easy washing.

Countertop slabs can be absolutely breathtaking — so why not lean into the drama and allow the material to wrap around the sides of your kitchen island? This style, known as a waterfall countertop because the material appears to spill over from the tops to the side, is a beautiful, luxurious way to create a continuous surface that's mitered at the corner for a seamless effect. Though it's usually done in natural stone or quartz, you can waterfall most countertop materials to provide some extra design interest in your space.

One particularly elegant countertop upgrade to consider is integrated runnels, or sloped channels etched into the counter's surface that allow water to drain back into the sink basin. The benefits of building a drainboard right into your countertop is that it's a much cleaner, sleeker alternative to purchasing and storing a standalone dish drying rack — which aren't usually very attractive to begin with. Even better, you can also still make use of the countertop space when not in use. Plus, this high-end, unique detail is certainly a conversation starter!

People go to great lengths to hide their kitchen appliances for the sake of aesthetics, but have you ever heard of a completely invisible cooktop? Some of the newest cutting-edge tech in the induction cooktop world is centered all around installing the burner mechanisms on the underside of the counter. Compatible with large-format porcelain or specially modified granite counters, the material you love becomes the actual cooking surface — but it can also be used as a regular countertop when not in use, making it easy to clean and pretty to look at.

For an appliance garage, coffee station, or bake-mix center that sits in a cabinet at countertop level, you can run your countertop material back into the space for an easy-to-clean, streamlined surface. If you've got an extra-deep garage or a bake-mix stations that has usable counter space in front of it when the door is closed, you should be able to run your material the full depth with no seams, as the average stone or quartz slab is about 5 to 6.5 feet deep.

If a standard eased or bullnose profile doesn't quite have enough flair for you, consider upgrading to a decorative countertop edge. Traditional kitchens look stunning with the extra detail of an ogee edge. You can also ramp up the texture of any aesthetic with a stunning fluted stone edge. Alternatively, lean into your kitchen's natural side with a raw wood or stone edge — or take a more dramatic approach with an extra-thick mitered edge. With endless profiles to suit your tastes, a unique, countertop edge will make a great detail to level up your kitchen's design scheme.