Want to read about our kitchen makeover from the beginning? Start here!
So I thought this was one of the easiest decisions we would make. I wanted Corian by Martha Stewart in Sea Salt. Period. We have been Lowe’s people more than Home Depot people since we bought the house because we were just geographically closer to Lowe’s (when we needed items that we couldn’t get from our local hardware store), but Martha Stewart is only available at Home Depot.
Let me back up for a second. Of course I wanted Martha Stewart because I (for the most part) love all her products! And the color was perfect for my almost-all-white-tones kitchen vision. Except I was never a huge fan of Corian, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about that! So, we continued on, determined to purchase the countertop of my dreams. So there we were, ready to place our order…at $76 a square foot. Oh. Soooo…yeah, maybe Martha Stewart countertops weren’t going to work out even with the (already increased) budget! Well it turns out, they were having a sale on granite, and the color that we liked the best, Azul Platino (which I couldn’t find on their website anymore!) was on sale for $43 a square foot (installed). We hurriedly ran over to Lowe’s to see if they had anything for a better deal or something we liked better and since they didn’t, we went back to Home Depot and signed on the dotted line.
Now I know not everyone is a fan of granite for many reasons, but you know what, this isn’t our forever house and it was so pretty! Plus the 15-year guarantee was nothing to sneeze at and we would get to go to the quarry and pick the slab and have all that fun. Of course the color and pattern was quite a bit different than my original vision, although honestly I think (now) that vision doesn’t really work very well with the rest of the house and will be more suited for a house where I get to start over (knowing all I have learned working on this house). Plus, I am SO happy with how they turned out (and the paint color I was debating for the last few weeks looks perfect – so more to come about that!).
Selecting our granite at the quarry in the sunlight.
Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Designs
A closer look at the granite we chose – look at all the blue-gray and silver sparkles!
Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design
And we have a new countertop – what a difference without the countertop backsplash.
Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design
I love these countertops so much already! 
Image by Kristen for Kristen Loves Design
So, Lesson #2 is – don’t let your original vision of a makeover cloud your judgement when faced with obstacles like a higher price, etc.; be open to changing your vision!
Stay tuned for how we decided on our faucet, garbage disposal, and sink configuration!
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