Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Countertop Decisions

Kitchen Update: Part Four

Okay, I need to take a quick break and tell you what I've been up to here in the kitchen. 



Cramming- that's what! I went ahead and scheduled a date for the granite countertops to be templated because I felt that it would keep us moving- you know, on track. Well, the template was supposed to be made last Friday and sure enough I had to reschedule to yesterday. I am truly struggling with my own kitchen decisions. Choosing a countertop was a biggie!


Here are the three that I narrowed it down to.



Black (with a little gray),



 Ivory (with black and a little red), or



 Black (with bluish/greenish and some brown)


I decided on a black granite (the one right above). I really wanted a honed slate or a honed absolute black granite but shockingly those are not in my budget. Sooo, I like this last one- it's called peacock and actually doesn't look anything like the picture- the red that you see is actually the reflection of my phone.



They gave me a larger chunk when I went to visit our slab. It looked much prettier when I saw the entire slab and now I'm in love. I know it's destiny because it's called peacock and guess what- my favorite pattern of Polish pottery dishes that I use are also called "Peacock". It was meant to be :)



The contractor (my husbands brother) built the open shelves on either side of the vintage sink. They still need their face frames which I think we will end up doing ourselves and then on a whim I decided to replace the base cabinets. That's what really held us up because they will not measure for the countertop until all cabinets are installed. Saturday night and into Sunday morning & one large bottle of wine later, we got it done. I purchased "in-stock" oak cabinets which I'll paint and glaze and trick out with some trim to give them a more custom look. (A future post!)


Yesterday they came and made the template. I had never seen them do it this way before. They stuck sensors all over the surfaces of the walls and cabinet tops. 


They used another instrument that I unfortunately didn't get a picture of but it recorded all of the data from these sensors and will directly transfer the information to the computer that is used at the cutting machine.
Pretty cool- not a lot of room for human error.
I've been painting cabinets all day. The granite is scheduled to be installed next Monday and I want to at least have the cabinets finished before then. 
I was going to say I hope your weekend was better than mine but in retrospect, our weekend was kind of fun- the hubster and I work pretty well together!

16 comments:

  1. Michelle you must be so excited! OK how come you didn't just buy cabinets in the color you wanted? I can't wait to see what you're doing to them.

    Enjoy your Evening!
    XX
    Debra~

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    1. I thought someone might ask that Debra. Two reasons: 1. The "in stock" cabinets that are white are not solid wood. and 2. I want a certain cream color finish that you can typically only get when purchasing higher end custom cabinetry. That type of cabinetry generally has a four week lead time and I had two days so "in stock" it is :)

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  2. Exciting......you made a great choice and I am sure its going to be fabulous. Look forward to seeing the progress!!

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    1. Thanks Tina, I always appreciate your kind words and feedback!

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  3. My across the street neighbor has the black ooba tooba granite. It is pretty, and she uses windex to clean it!

    Your kitchen will be so pretty when it's done!

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  4. You're a smart cookie! And I love that sample that you showed us of your countertop selection. Good choice! I call my cabinets white just for simplicity sake, but they're really a cream color. I love our cabinets and I will be sad to leave them one day when we move. The natural light coming in those windows is awesome! And looks like there is a third window to the left of middle. Very nice! Thanks for keeping us updated - I know it's probably a lot of work to figure out logisitics of your kitchen plan and draft up a post - but I guess if it's fresh in your mind it's not so bad. And instant material for the blog too! Have a good day!

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    1. Thanks Holly, It is a really bright kitchen in the morning,which I do absolutely love. The window to the right frames the morning sunrise coming up over the hill- one of those little blessings that I try not to take for granted :)

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  5. Your kitchen is going to look great!! Interesting bit about the sensors too -have not seen them before. The close-up pics of the granite look 3-D, like they are alive. :)

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  6. I love it! We replaced our laminate a few years back with granite and we love it! Have fun, it's worth the work!
    Debbie

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  7. I was curious if you looked into buying cabinets that were painted as opposed to painting the oak yourself. When we built our home it came with toffee glazed maple standard but later someone told me that painted cabinets are less expensive-wish I would have known, I'd rather have had white ones. I do like my black granite though, I'm sure you'll love your finished kitchen.

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  8. Great choice! Fun to see the process you went through in choosing it - thanks for sharing with us!

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  9. This is so exciting! Love love love the granite you selected. The layout of your kitchen is looking quite fabulous too. I bet you are thrilled to see it come together...even with the delays :)

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  10. Before I read your answer I had chosen the last one so yay!! I think it's going to look fantastic.

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  11. Awesome, Michelle!! How exciting, its coming along so well! Thanks for showing us how they do the counter top template, I had no idea! (We are going to have to redo our kitchen too, but its a couple of years down the road...thank goodness, it seems like so much work, and money!) Love the black granite you chose. Can't wait to see the cabinets painted!!!

    Really hope you can join us for the Mood Board Monday party. I had so much trouble narrowing down the art, there is just too much good stuff on etsy!!

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  12. You can't go wrong with black granite--so classic and beautiful, you will love it forever!

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