Kitchen Remodel, Counter Tops

While I was away for the week, work on the kitchen continued without me. Photos via e-mail kept me up-to-date, but even so I walked straight to the kitchen last night to view the progress for myself.

Even before I left, the partial floor tiles were chipped out and replaced. Tape marked the new tiles to remind us not to step on them until the mastic was dry. The puck lights in the glass uppers were also installed, as well as part of the crown molding.

The sink was set into place, with a small issue due to the fact that the apron is 9" tall while the sink itself is 10" deep, and the cabinet was made for the deeper measurement. This was addressed with an insert of granite into the gap. The sink itself is flush mounted with the granite counter top, a rather fussy and delicate operation done on site that was probably best missed.

The Brown Antique granite is absolutely gorgeous in contrast with the creamy cabinets. Along with the espresso stained island, it nicely relieves that huge expanse of white. Although the granite reads as black from a distance, there is lots of action on close view, but hard to photograph.

with flash

no flash

The prize of the kitchen so far is the Calacutta Oro marble on the island, which returned after an excursion to rectify originally reversed Shaker legs (rather odd looking, I must say).

Overall, I've made selections of materials for the kitchen to blend with the overall look, but this stone was the one thing I went home after seeing and said I had to have, even though it was expensive. After all, it's only a small island, and luckily it was a half slab. The veining was perfect to run across the diagonal. I can hardly wait to roll out pastry.

The marble is more cream than white and the veining is quite brown rather than the gray I had seen in most stone yards. Finally I understand the Oro in the name, as this piece has flecks of metal (both gold and silver) in it that sparkle on close inspection.

Undercabinet lights are also installed, as well as the pendant over the sink. Despite the admonition that I might have enough lights for an operating room, I am still looking forward to two more pendants to brighten up the place. All appliances but the fridge were delivered to our garage while I was gone, and we purchased the new counterdepth French door refrigerator this morning during the Independence Day sale for the lowest price we've seen since we've been looking. Next week: backsplash, grout, moldings, lights, paint, cabinet hardware, faucets, disposal, appliances.