How to stage your home: A tired and battered kitchen can really give a negative impression of your home. One quick way of giving your kitchen a fresh look without too much work is to fit new worktops onto old units.

When it comes to choosing a material for your worktop, there are many options. At the bottom of the scale is good old laminate. Easy to cut and shape and available in a variety of colours and textures, it is an inexpensive option. The downside is that it is not as durable as its natural counterparts. Wood gives great character to a kitchen. Options include oiled wood (planks of solid hardwood, glued together and brushed with oil) or lacquered wood. If treated regularly, oiled wood can be more durable to burns and stains than lacquered wood.

Versatile and giving great scope for colour and design, tiled worktops can be relatively inexpensive. Tiled worktops are extremely durable, but watch out for the grout. If the tiles are incorrectly laid the grout can be a breeding ground for dirt.

A stainless steel worktop can give your kitchen that ultra modern look and has many benefits - it's hygienic, durable and very strong. Then there's corian, a versatile man-made product which can be made into curvy shapes for interesting kitchen design. On the downside, it scratches easily and is not heat resistant. Granite is the most popular type of stone used for a worktop. Highly durable, it doesn't scratch or burn and keeps its colour. But for quite an expensive product, it has become almost commonplace.

After granite, limestone and marble are the most common natural stones used in worktops. Limestone can look great in a kitchen and is harder than marble. Because it's porous, it needs to be properly sealed. Marble is low maintenance and hard-wearing and adds a great sense of luxury to a kitchen.