You’d think replacing your kitchen countertops would be a one-step process. Pick the new material and you’re done, right? Not if you’re Nate Berkus. The interior designer recently revealed there’s another detail he obsesses over when it comes to counters: the edge.
“A novice decorator or designer is going to help you pick out your marble and then be like, let’s just do a straight edge, or what’s called an eased edge, which is slightly softer,” Berkus shared with cookbook author and TV food critic Katie Lee Biegel, one of his longtime design clients, on her podcast, All on the Table. “But as you’re in this business for years, you realize that to create moments of beautiful character and personality in a space, the edge of a countertop actually matters.” His preferred profile, and the one he used in Biegel’s latest kitchen? Ogee.
His big reveal gets even better: It won’t cost you extra to achieve the S-shaped curve—the fabricators are running a machine over the surface anyway. “It has to be cut!” he points out. As we looked over some of our favorite kitchen renovations that have ogee counters, we realized that the detail pairs well with a whole range of styles.
On one hand, the finish can appear more traditional in a space with white countertops and raised cabinet panels (the example, the above by Arterberry Cooke and Captex Construction stars Bianco Olinda marble). But when used on a superdark surface, such as the black Silestone in the London kitchen on the right, it reads modern and helps make budget-friendly design choices like the stock cupboards look more expensive than they really are.
The intricate groove can also act as an arrow of sorts, helping call attention to the hardware on the cabinets—or in the case of the June Motel, the skirt fabric—below.
