Countertops

[concretegurl]

Ohh soapstone sounds interesting.
Concrete is great antique and industrial style.
I like the living stone from costco too now.
Quarts and south americal marble remnants are cheap and beautiful.
I 'm strange I really like butcher block counters but what a pain to clean!
I don't get the granite craze personally I don't love granite.

[CouversMom]

Soapstone would be great! I have a weird feeling that granite is just a phase and will look outdated in 20 years, so I don't really want granite in my house.

[McheleM]

Originally Posted by CouversMom

We have an old house too (1912 bungalow) and also have 90's laminate counters. We however have the original kitchen cupboards (which I LOVE!) and hope to eventually get butcher block counters. I love the look of the wood with white cabinets, and butcher block is very inexpensive compared to the other options out there. I also think a subway tile backsplash would be fun, but I guess we will see!

Here are my beautiful laminate countertops!

I was going to suggest butcher block. I just love how the wood looks with with cabinets!!!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by CouversMom

Soapstone would be great! I have a weird feeling that granite is just a phase and will look outdated in 20 years, so I don't really want granite in my house.

I so agree. One reason I think granite will be outgrown/outdated is bc it's just so "busy" for the eye, ya know? And almost anything really busy eventually looks dated bc it's so easily traced back to a time when it was a trend.

We have granite bc that's what our builder was doing 7 yrs ago - and it looks great, we always get compliments on it. But I'm more "meh" about it. I think it's fine, but not really that aesthetically interesting.

[linz06]

I did a little more research last night and it seems that soapstone has issues with water marks. The only way to get rid of the water marks is to oil the counter which gives it an all over darkness, but then if you spill anything that would absorb the oil, or have unfinished ceramic on it, or even anything with rubber feet on the counter (such as my food processor) would leave white-ish marks, and you'd have to re-oil again. It just seems to be a little more work than I was hoping for!

Quartz also seems like a pretty good option from what I looked at last night. There seems to be less maintenance.


I was also looking at the kitchen last night and I feel like butcher block, although I love it, would just be too much wood. Our kitchen is pretty large and the original wood floors are a huge feature, and there is also one original wood doorway on one side of the counters. The floor and doorway are a different color so I'm not sure which way I would go with the counters - try to match one or the other, or just go completely different again, and I think it would just look too woody for me!

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by linz06

I did a little more research last night and it seems that soapstone has issues with water marks. The only way to get rid of the water marks is to oil the counter which gives it an all over darkness, but then if you spill anything that would absorb the oil, or have unfinished ceramic on it, or even anything with rubber feet on the counter (such as my food processor) would leave white-ish marks, and you'd have to re-oil again. It just seems to be a little more work than I was hoping for!

Quartz also seems like a pretty good option from what I looked at last night. There seems to be less maintenance.

I was also looking at the kitchen last night and I feel like butcher block, although I love it, would just be too much wood. Our kitchen is pretty large and the original wood floors are a huge feature, and there is also one original wood doorway on one side of the counters. The floor and doorway are a different color so I'm not sure which way I would go with the counters - try to match one or the other, or just go completely different again, and I think it would just look too woody for me!

Oh what a pain...that sounds too high maintenance. Have you thought about a black counter? I love that classic look of a black counter w/ white cupboards. Like this one, for ex: http://media8.dropshots.com/photos/1...6/b_101918.jpg or this http://artsandcraftshomes.com/wp-con...6/2-5-blwh.jpg

These next links are from a girl whose blog I follow...she does all her own renos, and has a great eye. She did her kitchen, and used marble - looks amazing (pics attached below). I think there may be some maintenance issues w/ marble, but I don't know what they are.

These are her renos: .. in the Fun Lane: Our Renovations!

Her main blog: .. in the Fun Lane

[linz06]

I love black counters too and I think a black and white kitchen would be pretty timeless. That first picture looks very similar to our kitchen with the floors! They are a very similar color.

I am also trying to convince DH now that we should probably have a farmhouse sink. I do like a double bowl sink, and there is actually a farmhouse double bowl sink at Ikea I have been dreaming a lot!

I really like marble countertops but I think I like them better with dark cupboards. All white is just a little too bright for me

[shelimcallister]

Ohhhh! I love your kitchen! We have granite and it looks beautiful and I really love it! A new counter will really give your kitchen a facelift. I would love to see pictures after you cahnge it!

[linz06]

Originally Posted by shelimcallister

Ohhhh! I love your kitchen! We have granite and it looks beautiful and I really love it! A new counter will really give your kitchen a facelift. I would love to see pictures after you cahnge it!

Do you have to do much work with your granite? Does it need to be re-sealed and stuff?

[KazzyK810]

I have white kitchen cupboards too and just had new countertops installed last week!

I went with granite. After looking at 5 different warehouses and walking by thousands of slabs of all types of material, I picked the one the had the colours I liked. I knew it as soon as I saw it!

My advice would be to go out and look and see what you like, that will work in the space you have available. I saw some beautiful stones that I really liked & would look gorgeous if you could utilize a large piece of it, but they just couldn't work in my small space being cut up.

[Deadbug]

OMG I'd have a field day with a remodel like this.

With the exception of laminate, nearly any natural stone countertop you install is going to require yearly maintenance.

Black granite is probably what I'd go with because it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Marble is a maintenance nightmare. I have black marble around my fireplace and it's already got white spots where Gabby peed on it. However, I need to caution you that anything citrus left on the black stone will etch in, even if sealed. The rule is, wipe up as soon as you're done prepping food and you'll be fine.

Concrete would be my second choice. It's a little less maintenance but a little too industrial for a house of that period.

Give me a minute to think on it.
I wish I could walk through to get a feel for the room. Pictures are so hard to go by.

[linz06]

Originally Posted by Deadbug

OMG I'd have a field day with a remodel like this.

With the exception of laminate, nearly any natural stone countertop you install is going to require yearly maintenance.

Black granite is probably what I'd go with because it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Marble is a maintenance nightmare. I have black marble around my fireplace and it's already got white spots where Gabby peed on it. However, I need to caution you that anything citrus left on the black stone will etch in, even if sealed. The rule is, wipe up as soon as you're done prepping food and you'll be fine.

Concrete would be my second choice. It's a little less maintenance but a little too industrial for a house of that period.

Give me a minute to think on it.
I wish I could walk through to get a feel for the room. Pictures are so hard to go by.

Thank you! Do you have any opinion on quartz? I know it is man-made, but from what I have read it seems to be less maintenance than granite.

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by linz06

Do you have to do much work with your granite? Does it need to be re-sealed and stuff?

Granite is very easy to care for...just soap & water cleanup (best cleaner I've found is mixing water, rubbing alcohol & dawn dishsoap in a spray bottle...it's cheap & works excellent!)

Sealing is a breeze & in my experience, only needs to be one once a year or every other year...it's like a waxed car...you see when water no longer beads up like it should & then you know it's time to re-seal. Then just clean the counter and let it dry thoroughly (I let is dry overnight). Spray on the sealer, wait about a half hour to an hour and wipe off the excess..don't use the counter for 24 hours.

Are you much of a DIYer? Do you have a budget in mind that might limit choices?

Personally, I love building & remodeling and really dislike having to hire others to work on my home, which is why I had such a hardtime deciding on my countertops. My temporary countertops (after I'd ripped out the old ones, moved cabinets & changed the floor plan of my kitchen) were ones I built myself out of MDF. I'd thought about laminating them (a very easy & very cheap DIY weekend project) or tiling them, or pouring concrete (a DIY project I did for a friends office table & counter) but I just don't like the look. I much prefer the look of natural stone, but that takes DIY out of the equation, which means hiring a fabricator/installer, which means increased cost. My kitchen is very small so price wasn't much of a factor.

[linz06]

Granite doesn't sound as bad as I thought. We are newlyweds and we hope to have a family in the future so I'm sure there will be a lot more wear and spills! Even now we aren't the greatest at cleaning up after ourselves in the kitchen so I want something that can stand up to it!

We are very DIY kind of people and have never hired anyone to do any work for us (new flooring, new kitchen, new bathroom etc. all done by us with the help of family members in our old condo!) I know we would have to pay for installation of stone, but of course it's something I want to be done right.

We got a quote for granite for about $7000. We thought that was a lot! But it seems any kind of stone would be pretty close. That's why I looked at Corian for a little while too, but I do think I like stone better. We do have a large kitchen and a lot of counter space so I know we will have to spend more money no matter what we get. I think I would feel better spending that much money if I know it is going to hold up for a long time. I don't want to change them again in 10 years!

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by linz06

We are very DIY kind of people and have never hired anyone to do any work for us (new flooring, new kitchen, new bathroom etc. all done by us with the help of family members in our old condo!) I know we would have to pay for installation of stone, but of course it's something I want to be done right.

Well hi there, fellow DIYer
Getting an excellent fabricator & installer is the most important part. This is where you want to get references and talk to people who have had work done by them. Anyone with the right tools can cut stone. Cutting it so it is scribed to your walls and has a perfect fit in your corners & to your cupboards is a whole other ball game. Many fabricators want you to go with a granite backsplash as the thickness of it covers many cutting sins. I plan to tile my backsplash myself to I wanted my counters to fit perfectly...and they do

Originally Posted by linz06

We got a quote for granite for about $7000. We thought that was a lot! But it seems any kind of stone would be pretty close. That's why I looked at Corian for a little while too, but I do think I like stone better. We do have a large kitchen and a lot of counter space so I know we will have to spend more money no matter what we get. I think I would feel better spending that much money if I know it is going to hold up for a long time. I don't want to change them again in 10 years!

That sounds reasonable for all your counters as you'll need a couple of slabs. All mine counters came out of a single slab & was $3000 (and I have a couple of pieces left over).

I too looked at Corian & quartz...but they looked like the artifical product they are. Personally, I prefer the more natural look of stone. This is my second home with granite counters. I thought I might want a change this time around, so looked alot before I made my choice. It helps if you know yourself well & know what YOU like...not what your friends like, not what's the trendy thing to have, but what appeals to you time & time again....so the best thing you can do IMO is to get out there & actually and see what appeals to you.