I told you last week that we’re moving and I’m so excited to be (hopefully) closing this week! We won’t be moving right away because we have projects out the wazoo to get done at the Stone House Lane house.
If you’ve been hanging out with me for any length of time you know that The Husband and I use our home to express our creativity. We all have things we love to do, things that inspire and give joy. Things that relax us and maybe even makes us feel productive. Well, for The Husband and I it’s simple…we love hanging with our family and doing all kinds of projects around the house.
For this new (old) house, we have Mr. Max-the contractor, (and his talented son, Buck) lined up to do some of the bigger projects, but The Husband and I will be doing lots of projects too!
One thing I’m excited about is updating the kitchen. I think it’s true what “they” say: the kitchen is the heart of every home ~it’s also the wisest place to spend your investment dollars when updating.
Although we aren’t doing a complete overhaul here’s the rundown:
* Change countertops
* Change electric stove top to a gas stove top
*Change dishwasher
* Back-splash
* Sink/faucet
* Paint Walls
*Paint cabinets
*Change globes on lights
* Mount TV to the wall
* Have under- counter lights installed
*Add more recessed lighting
Because we want the counter tops to set the tone in the room, many of our projects in the kitchen can’t be nailed down until we choose the counter top material. Do you know how many choices there are for counter tops????
Holy Cannoli guys…it’s daunting!
In making a decision here are some of the choices we considered…
I love butcher-block countertops!
And something I’d never heard of, but I love the idea of, is Recycled Glass Countertops
This Champagne Silver Recycled Glass countertop!
Stainless Steel Countertops look clean and sleek don’t they?
(Source unknown)
How about Zinc!?!?
According to THIS article, the Zinc trend started in Europe…I didn’t know there WAS a Zinc trend, but I like it!
There are also lots of great laminates to choose from these days…
And good ole Martha has a beautiful line with Corian…I love this one it’s called Shoreline!
I also really love the look of soapstone …it’s supposed to be as functional as granite in every way.
And speaking of granite…
When we were looking at houses over the past month, we saw 20 houses with granite that looked similar to this:
and this…
These granite counter tops are gorgeous and apparently uber popular in our area and price point!
Anyhoo, this is what I’m 100% in mad love with
My daughter Emma is the one who got me looking at marble. She’s about to get new counter tops and in her search, she found herself drawn to the fresh ageless look of Carrera Marble.
When I started looking I had to agree with her, I love the look of marble in a kitchen…but alas…I’m one of those people who would be driven batty by my kitchen counter tops showing patina…aka: stains! And I’ve heard tales of marble staining and etching like crazy…
…so I kept searching for something that reminded me of marble. Soft, light color with the contrasting color almost fluid throughout…
I found several articles recommending a quartz surface called Lyra (by Stilstone) – Stilestone is having pretty good luck with it “Lyra”-it’s their best shot at imitating marble and I think it’s beautiful.
DuPont also has a quartz that looks similar to marble, it’s from the Zodiac line and it’s called Bianco Carrara …I kinda love it and if we decide to go with quartz I’m going with the DuPont Bianco Carrara.
Again though…The Husband’s not sure he loves it…What The Husband does love is the mirror shine of granite …and there are a couple of granites that share some of the same qualities I love in marble, so we’ve narrowed it down to these two choices (if we decide to go with granite)…
River White -is our #2 choice…it has a lovely soft look and gorgeous fluid contrast. But the undertones are definitely more creamy than white and I really want white…
And Galaxy White is our #1 choice…We saw a slab of Galaxy White that we loved (at Crowe Custom Countertops) and we’re waiting on more slabs to come in next week, if we like them, (because every bundle of slabs is unique) this is what we’ll go with…
It’s been so overwhelming trying to figure this out and I’ve changed my mind 5 times-who knows I may change it again before it’s all said and done!
I’d love to know what kind of kitchen counters you have and if you like them?!
xo
We decided on the quartz and we’ve never looked back! Love ’em to bits, I do. Very durable and never have to be resealed. No staining, no etching. Simplicity at its best.
I just want to run my hands over your Galaxy White counter tops. So smooth and lushious.
We have granite. Can’t remember the name of it. It’s black with flecks of gold/brown. Yes, I do love it. I also love materials like copper, tin, and the zinc one you showed us is wonderful too. Since we live in a log cabin, I’m drawn to the rugged ones. I think I’ve even seen a hammered copper. Loved that one too. xoxo xoxo
Good morning sweet friend! We will have granite in our new house, I really wanted granite and we only had a few colors to choose from, but I love what I chose. The quartz you have chosen is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it. I know this new house will be fabulous after you and Mike get your hands on it. It sure looks fabulous from outside:):) Have a beautiful week. XO, Pinky
Even though it is fun to pick everything out for your new house I’m sure it is hard. I know you just want to make the “right” decision. 😉 When we remodeled we looked at quartz and granite but ended up choosing granite. It is brown with black flecks. Even though my kitchen is white, it beside our family room so we wanted the granite to go well with the brown walls and leather sofas in there.
LUV anything with a zinc top – which is just perfect for an island! But I also love your final choice of that gorgeous white countertop! 🙂 Right now we have ugly, icky bumpy tan tile on our counters and I hate them!!! Someday I’ll have Galaxy White…that’s for sure! 🙂
xoxo laurie
My favorite countertop has been wood stained with a dark mahogany or dark cherry color… I keep telling myself this is not the house to put them in, but oh how I want them!
Love your choice Robin. I don’t envy having to make so many decisions though…but with my one little word being ‘decide’ this year, it’d be just like God to get me in countless ‘deciding’ situations like you are in…big prayers and guidance as you decide.
I’m in love with the white cabinets. They look so good and I’m definitely going to look at remodeling my kitchen and making it look similar.
Lauren, there’s nothing better than a kitchen facelift! It makes the whole house feel new! Good luck my friend xo
OMG!! I think we must have been twins separated at birth. I have gone through most of the choices and back and forth indecision that you have. I am torn between Colonial Gold and anything that might look like Carrera Marble. I love the look of the Galaxy White Granite but not sure if anyone carries it around So Cal. It’s so comforting to read that someone else is struggling too. I have a friend who just “picked” her granite from a board of 5 choices!! I think she eventually went to see the piece at the granite yard but didn’t waffle on her choice at all. Best of luck and if I ever decide on something I will send you a picture. Thanks!!
Dorothy! I’m so happy to meet you! It’s been a little while since I picked the granite and I went with galaxy white…while I truly like it, if I had it to do over, I’d go with a quartz- they are manufacturing quartz that looks soooooo close to Carrera Marble that you can’t tell the difference! Good luck with your kitchen my new friend…please keep me posted! xo