I ran my hands across its smooth, solid surface, and fell instantly in love. Dekton at Salone del Mobile welcomed my touch as I embraced its strength and sheer brawn, its steadfast tolerance of anything under the sun, including the sun.

Photo: Robin Plaskoff Horton, Urban Gardens.

But Dekton is more than meets the eye. No, it’s not one of the many handsome Italian men I kept spotting while in Italy with BlogTour Milan. But Dekton is equally stylish and well-proportioned. And stamina! Dekton can outlast any of its competition.

Dekton is the new ultra-compact solid surface material that’s resistant to just about anything you can think of, including fire and ice. Unveiled at Salone del Mobile 2014 by Cosentino, makers of Silestone, Dekton is a low maintenance but long-life material that loves the outdoors as much as the indoors. Talk about falling in love inside and out.

Dekton is Born
Made from a complex mixture of inorganic raw materials found in glass, porcelain materials, and natural quartz, Dekton’s manufactured using Cosentino’s patented Particle Sintering Technology–a high-tech process which mimics the natural metamorphosis of stone when subjected to extreme heat and pressure over thousands of years. The versatile Dekton is available in white, grey, black, and natural stone hues and in three finishes and textures: wood, matte, and slate.

Dekton’s Slim But Its Got the Brawn
Move over granite. Dekton is over 5 times strenger than granite enabling installation of thinner and larger slabs even allowing for up to a 12-inch unsupported overhang on countertops, islands, bartops–and even a permanent outdoor sculpture (above) Beyond One Wall by famed architect and designer Daniel Libeskind for Cosentino’s headquarters in Almeria, Spain. 

Dekton Doesn’t Tan or Burn
Highly UV-resistant, outdoors Dekton surfaces will outlive you: they’re stable and will not fade or degrade over time.

Dekton Likes It Hot
Dekton can withstand high temperatures without burning, scorching or cracking– so you can put that hot casserole directly on it sans trivet.

Bring On the Cold, Snow, Ice
Yep, Dekton outdoors can even hold up to the Polar Vortex, in fact it loves the cold and is thaw resistant. Think walkways, pavers, and driveways and what about exterior walls? Perfect.

If Dekton Gets Into a Scrape…
Although Dekton is the most scratch and abrasion resistant material of its kind on market, you might not want to test the gods scraping that diamond across it. But when used in high traffic areas such as flooring, Dekton’s finish will last forever and will never need re-surfacing or re-finishing.

Photo: Robin Plaskoff Horton, Urban Gardens  

Dekton Will Take That Glass of Wine
Dekton is not just stain resistant, it’s completely stain proof. That means stains from red wine, coffee, rust, and even your kid’s markers are easily be removed from the surface. As the material is non-porous, it never needs to be sealed and it’s also chemical resistant–so even bleach will not harm Dekton.

Goes With the Flow From Indoors to Outdoors
I love the design possibilties with Dekton. Imagine it as a flooring surface which flows seamlessly from the kitchen outside into the outdoor living room. With Dekton you can literally extend the indoors out into one continuous indoor/outdoor living space.

Photo: Robin Plaaskoff Horton, Urban Gardens

In addition to flooring, the possible architectural applications include cladding, staircases, exterior facades, kitchen countertops, bathrooms, pool surrounds–and I’d love to design outdoor furniture with Dekton. What do you think, dining table, chaise…add a few outdoor cushions?

Next up: Trend reports from Milan Design Week, Salone del Mobile, FuoriSalone–including a day at Ventura Lambrate–and much more!

Nota Bene: My trip to Milan with the Modenus BlogTour was made possible by the generosity of the following sponsors: Modenus, BLANCO, Clever Storage by Kessenbömer, Dekton by Cosentino, National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), and Gessi. All opinions exressed herein are uniquely mine and not indicative of any sponsor opinions or positions.

Unless otherewise noted, all images by Cosentino.