Countertops and Backsplash in Bright Desert Light

A polished surface shows every scratch when the sun hits it at a low angle. In Palm Springs, CA the sun does that most afternoons, and the running record kitchen remodeling palm springs lach today holds shows glare changing more countertop decisions in a kitchen than any color chart does.

Gloss and honed

A honed or leathered finish scatters light, so it hides fingerprints, water spots and fine scratches. Polished stone looks deeper in a showroom with soft light and harsher under a clear desert sky or a wall of glass. Take a sample home and set it by the kitchen window at four in the afternoon before choosing.

Dark colors and heat

Dark stone and dark quartz surfaces take in heat from sun through a window. A tray left on a surface by the glass can warm to the touch. Resin in quartz can discolor under long direct sun, so the maker's own instructions about strong UV matter near a south window.

Seams and support

Slab houses in the Coachella Valley move very little, but a seam over a dishwasher or a sink cutout is a weak point. The fabricator places seams where the span is supported and keeps them away from the sink corner.

Backsplash and the light line

A glossy glass tile throws light back across the room, which is welcome in a dim kitchen and tiring in a bright one. Matte ceramic or handmade tile with slight variation reads calmer. Many owners of desert modernism homes pick a plain, flat tile and run it to the underside of a high shelf or window sill.

Edges and thickness

Thin, square edges suit the low horizontal lines of a mid-century house. A thick built up edge looks heavy in a house where every other line is slim, and the view of Mount San Jacinto through the glass already supplies all the weight the room needs.

Sealing and cleaning

Natural stone such as limestone, travertine or marble takes a sealer, and in dry heat the sealer wears faster where sun falls on the surface. Hard water in the Coachella Valley leaves white rings around faucets and on dark counters, so a pH neutral cleaner and a soft cloth do better than abrasive powders that dull the finish over time.