That’s a fiiiine looking countertop, friends.
November 05, 2012 // Posted in: Kitchen // By: Emily // 12 responsesI’m going to cut right to the chase. The countertops happened. They’re here, they’re amazing, and some might even go as far as to say that they’re totally bitchin’. Mostly me and Pete, probably not our parents, but we think they like them just swell too. After almost four years of dreaming about this day, I’ll use all sorts of elated profanity in exclaiming how happy I am to have totally transformed the oak-blue-dingy kitchen (before here) into this thing of in-progress-beauty:
I bought the new white acrylic countertops several weeks ago, and then waited patiently while the contractors took measurements and placed my custom order. To make sure it’s known upfront, the countertops were not sponsored by anyone and the 41 sq. ft. cost me just shy of $1,600 with tax, and with sink installation costs. Do the math, that’s a darn good deal at under $40/sq. ft.. I chose allen & roth “white” from Lowe’s with a stainless sink and an eased countertop edge (several edge options were provided at no extra cost per linear foot, and eased was one of those options). By opting not to have an acrylic backsplash, it’s estimated that I saved an additional $320, and by going with Lowe’s allen & roth instead of DuPont Corian, I saved another $350.
It was a 5-week turnaround from order to install, a timeline that I’m told can be a little longer or shorter depending on the time of year that you’re installing and also based on what material you’re ordering. Lowe’s had hired a local subcontractor to perform the installation; the cost was already factored into the price of the countertop per square foot, so DIY wasn’t an option for us. All we had to do was clear our belongings out of the lower cabinets (just to keep things neat and prevent dust from getting in our Cheerios) and lift off the existing countertop, which we did over the course of a few hours the day before our install was scheduled. I’ll note that we did effectively remove the countertops but doesn’t mean that they’ve been discarded, sold, upcycled, or even moved from the wall in which we have them leaning against in the dining room – they may sit right there until pigs fly or until we can at least figure out how to get a solid 10-foot length of laminate around the right angle of the staircase into the basement to make a new laundry bench. We also might lacquer up the bottoms and use them for sledding this winter, we shall see, it’s an idea.
In any case, we were able to sit back and watch the countertops go in without so much as having to lift a finger. I reorganized 1,000 pins on Pinterest like a zombie during those few hours, and took photos of the progress sporadically when I didn’t feel like I was in the way.
Our countertop configuration wraps around three walls in our kitchen and arrived in four unique pieces: two small pieces to flank the stove, and two long pieces for the back wall and right wall.
The crew used fused the two joining pieces together using an epoxy and clamps and something that looks like it was swiped from the hospital.
I wish I could say that there is no way for you to tell that there was ever a seam there because I did an unfathomable amount of research on the topic and was very much under the impression that it would be visibly seamless, but oh, what, wait for it, and squint hard:
Not only can I see a division in the two pieces caused by discolored epoxy, but I can also feel a little divot in the finish – there is a seam that runs along the edge of the countertop, and the 2″ closest to that outer edge as visible from above. I’m hopeful that it can be corrected in a follow-up install appointment that I already made for next week. If that’s as visible as seams in acrylic can be though, I’m still OK with my decision.
What’s more obvious is that there’s a bit of work to do to repair walls that were previously covered by a backsplash, and in a few places on the cabinets where I hadn’t been able to stain. I expect that those touchups will go quite well once I get started on them in the coming week.
But back to cool things – can I tell you how SMOOTH the surface is? The crew ran over it with a high grit sandpaper and really buffed it into pristine condition. It’s smoother than an eggshell, and I’m not exaggerating, and because solid surface countertops are the same material through and through, if there are any scuffs or bumps that happen during its life, we can sand it smooth again ourselves.
The undermount stainless sink is also a beautiful thing, and it looks even better with the faucet installed; check back for a full overview on that later this week when I finish taking photos of it. One thing that’s totally noteworthy based on this next photo is that without the backsplash, the countertop is a lot deeper, as in, 1-inch deeper. It’s not something that I anticipated, but it’s shockingly noticeable in person, just look at how much space there is behind the sink:
Shortening one countertop surface (an edge to the left of the stove that overhung in the walkway between the living room and kitchen) proved to be another incredible decision. Our passthrough is now unobstructed, and with the surface smaller, it’s bound to be less of a catch-all space. It forces us to live a little differently in the kitchen, and that’s a much needed change.
Remember what it looked like before, and I mean way before, like before I removed the pet door?
Without that extra foot extension from the kitchen, the view looks a lot different. Ignore those huge planks of Formica, they’ll be there awhile.
The white countertop makes all the difference in the world in how the new stained cabinets present themselves. They look great, and even though I’m still considering taking them down to a matte finish, they do look a lot better than I expected with the satin polyurethane.
Obviously, many of these photos were taken while we were in the midst of replumbing the kitchen sink and installing the new faucet, that accounts for the PVC explosion on the floor, but you may notice something else – the kitchen island is gone. We removed it briefly for the installation and decided to leave it out of the kitchen for awhile. Without its large frame, the kitchen is awkwardly spacious in both a good and bad way; we’re exploring our options for creating or buying a smaller island to take its place. If you have any good ideas, send them our way.
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Rachel
201 days ago -Your kitchen is beautiful! Great job Emily!
Emily
201 days ago -Thank you!!!
Annabel Vita
201 days ago -Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! I love all the changes you’ve made and I’m excited to see how the island situation evolves.
Emily
201 days ago -Thanks Annabel!!
Sara Aaserud
201 days ago -Love it!! It’s such a huge difference compared to the “before” shots with the oak cabinets and blue counter tops.
Megan
200 days ago -Hi Emily
I really like your kitchen redo and how you explained the process. For a non-DIYer like me, it’s so helpful to see all of the steps outlined. I’m thinking of buying new counters for my parents this Christmas (something similar to the allen + roth). Their counter space is about the same size of the counterspace surrounding your sink (one wall only). Would it be reasonable to say that a new counter that size would be about half the cost you mentioned? ($1600)
Thank you!
P.S. I find reorganizing pins on Pinterest oddly satisfying:)
Emily
200 days ago -Hi Megan! Glad you like my kitchen! Yes, the countertop would surely be less expensive if the square footage is smaller. Just remember, the sink “installation” costs get layered onto the bottom line, as do taxes, and that’s why my $1,600 was a little more expensive than the raw countertop cost (40 sq. ft x $32/sq. ft. = $1,280 + sink + taxes… and sometimes + backsplash costs + fancy edge costs). If we had installed our own sink (considered for about .05 seconds) we would have saved an additional $250, but it was just so much easier to have it already attached at the installation process.
Reorg-ing the pinterest boards is satisfying now, but it felt like a total brainpower suck while I was at it. I wish they would make a little easier to bulk-sort pins!
Good luck with the countertops, what a nice daughter you are!!
Victoria
200 days ago -I really love your kitchen. Actually, I love your whole house. In the kitchen, I like that you started with more countertops and went to fewer; and that they started light and went dark. It’s sort of not the typical look, but I love it. I have seen some cool pictures of kitchen islands with the sides made of reclaimed barn wood. In your chic black and white kitchen, maybe a rough, natural-materials element would look nice? Also, you could put one of those brass hanging racks above it for pots and pans if you ever needed more space.
Emily
199 days ago -Thanks a lot, Victoria! We’ve thought a lot about building a reclaimed island base and finding a scrap stone or butcher block top. I definitely think that direction has a lot of potential. We’ve also considered a hanging pot rack but there’s a light and fan up there now, both of which we use pretty regularly, so I think that’s out of the question :-/. Thanks for the nice comment!
Ashley
74 days ago -Beautiful kitchen! I am dying for white countertops and decided on the exact one you have. However, when I went to Lowe’s to order, the sales guy literally talked me out of them. He said they would be too high maintance, stain and scratch fairly easily :( I’ve looked high and low at every other kind of countertop and had decided on a white quartz that resembles Calcutta marble (at nearly triple the price of the Allen & Roth!). Today, I decided to search one last time before ordering to see if I could find anyone that had white Allen & Roth countertops, and I found you!! How are they holding up for you? Any problems with stains or scratches so far?
Thanks so much!
Ashley
Emily
74 days ago -Hi Ashley! I’m surprised they talked you out of them – Acrylic is so practical and popular! The only real concerns our store’s associate had was in respect to the seamless sink – we went with stainless instead because we heard that because it was subject to more banging and liquids it could discolor more quickly than the countertop surface. Our Allen & Roth countertops so far have been really great. We’re careful not to drag our appliances across them to lessen the chance of scratches, and have not had any issues. You would always want to use a cutting board, but isn’t that the case with any countertop other than a butcher block? We definitely have not had staining issues, even when coffee splatters and isn’t wiped up immediately. Acrylic is non-porous so nothing is supposed to soak in, no germs, nothing, in fact I thought that was the biggest reason people chose acrylic. I mean, look at name-brand Corian! They’re huuuuge!
The acrylic countertops are also solid/thick, which means you can lightly sand the surface with a fine grade sandpaper should a scratch appear, and even the surface back out. In fact, during installation, this is exactly what the professionals do to give you that fresh perfect finish.
Of course, your calcutta quartz sounds absolutely delightful too, but if you go the acrylic route I am sure that you will not be as inconvenienced as the salesperson insinuated!
GOOD LUCK! I hope this helps.
Ashley
74 days ago -Thank you so much! The sales man even scratched and poured orange soda on the white countertop sample to show me how easily it stained and scratched. Then, he used a Brillo pad to clean it and he was even surprised how well it cleaned up, but made sure to tell me normal wear and tear wont be as easily cleaned. Thanks again, you have given me hope in a more affordable option :)