Please show me your backsplash...

[BlingDreams]

I could just walk around all day and look at granite. I find it absolutely amazing that our planet made this stuff.

I agree. It’s truly amazing when you realize we didn’t make it. And the gorgeous combinations of swirls and patterns... just lovely.

Good luck with your hunt! Do you get to pick your exact slab? I learned the other day that when they’re ready to begin making our countertops we can join them for the selection, but we can only choose the lot we like and not the exact slab (still, I was pretty excited about even that much).

 

[missy]

I agree. It’s truly amazing when you realize we didn’t make it. And the gorgeous combinations of swirls and patterns... just lovely.

Good luck with your hunt! Do you get to pick your exact slab? I learned the other day that when they’re ready to begin making our countertops we can join them for the selection, but we can only choose the lot we like and not the exact slab (still, I was pretty excited about even that much).

Hmmm I wonder why that is? We got to choose our exact slabs when we were doing the granite in Brooklyn and doing our previous beach house in Sea Girt. Maybe the policy is different at different quarries? Or have they changed the process entirely I wonder.

Good luck @ILikeShiny, this part is so exciting.

 

[msop04]

I built a house in a “cookie cutter” subdivision a couple of years out of Rx school in 2005 and didn’t really do many upgrades in the kitchen, because #1. I didn’t cook... at all and #2. I was single and only planned to be there for 4-5 years...

Wellllll... fast forward to 2018, and I’m still here. Although we have about 2000 sq ft, I started getting the itch to move to another house, so my DH agreed to change up the kitchen a bit in hopes I’d agree to stay a few more years. Bless him.

So we just spruced up our kitchen a bit with granite countertops, backsplash, new sink/faucet, and white cabinets. Please ignore the messy in the photo... I was trying to get a quick pic for the countertop ppl and didn’t bother to declutter in the before.

Before - dark and dreary


After - MUCH better

 

[msop04]

White tiles and grout

 

[missy]

I built a house in a “cookie cutter” subdivision a couple of years out of Rx school in 2005 and didn’t really do many upgrades in the kitchen, because #1. I didn’t cook... at all and #2. I was single and only planned to be there for 4-5 years...

Wellllll... fast forward to 2018, and I’m still here. Although we have about 2000 sq ft, I started getting the itch to move to another house, so my DH agreed to change up the kitchen a bit in hopes I’d agree to stay a few more years. Bless him.

So we just spruced up our kitchen a bit with granite countertops, backsplash, new sink/faucet, and white cabinets. Please ignore the messy in the photo... I was trying to get a quick pic for the countertop ppl and didn’t bother to declutter in the before.

Before - dark and dreary


After - MUCH better

White tiles and grout

LOVE! What a difference. Beautiful.

 

[msop04]

LOVE! What a difference. Beautiful.

Thank you! I feel like I can breathe again. LOL

 

[junebug17]

Msop, wow, what a transformation, I love what you've done!

 

[msop04]

Msop, wow, what a transformation, I love what you've done!

Thanks, @junebug! I think I can stay a few more years now!

 

[BlingDreams]

I built a house in a “cookie cutter” subdivision a couple of years out of Rx school in 2005 and didn’t really do many upgrades in the kitchen, because #1. I didn’t cook... at all and #2. I was single and only planned to be there for 4-5 years...

Wellllll... fast forward to 2018, and I’m still here. Although we have about 2000 sq ft, I started getting the itch to move to another house, so my DH agreed to change up the kitchen a bit in hopes I’d agree to stay a few more years. Bless him.

So we just spruced up our kitchen a bit with granite countertops, backsplash, new sink/faucet, and white cabinets. Please ignore the messy in the photo... I was trying to get a quick pic for the countertop ppl and didn’t bother to declutter in the before.

Before - dark and dreary


After - MUCH better

Wow! I love it!!!!! So bright and airy

 

[BlingDreams]

Hmmm I wonder why that is? We got to choose our exact slabs when we were doing the granite in Brooklyn and doing our previous beach house in Sea Girt. Maybe the policy is different at different quarries? Or have they changed the process entirely I wonder.

I think it's because this isn't a custom house; it's a big builder that allows some customizing. They don't wan't the buyers involved in every last detail down to the minute parts

 

[msop04]

Wow! I love it!!!!! So bright and airy

Thank you!

 

[DAF]

Thank you and I am tempted! Love the stone q*uarries. In the past 2 years we must have visited easily over a dozen quarries. Some more than once haha.

This is one of the River white Slabs I saw online but couldn't find enough slabs like this IRL for our kitchen. TDF. Reminds me of a swirling river and I really liked that and the white was prominent. IRL most of the River Granite we saw was much less white and more cream and brown which were colors I wanted to avoid for our kitchen reno.
Isn't this gorgeous granite?


Enjoy your search and cannot wait to see your choice. It's going to be beautiful.

I've also been to two of them twice. I think we've visited four yards. I found myself taking pictures of slabs that were no where near what I would chose just because they were so beautiful. The yard that has the slabs has four of them, in consecutive order, so they match well. They were outside, and looked white.
-

 

[Arcadian]

@msop04 I liked both versions of your kitchen if I'm honest....lol But I have dark cabinets, so maybe thats why. In my current home, I've got that cream colored/off white tile thats everywhere, and those dark cabinets thankfully break up that monotany.

BTW, you have way less on your counters than I do... my mom's favorite saying "working kitchens work"...lol

 

[missy]

I've also been to two of them twice. I think we've visited four yards. I found myself taking pictures of slabs that were no where near what I would chose just because they were so beautiful. The yard that has the slabs has four of them, in consecutive order, so they match well. They were outside, and looked white.
-

Is it awful that I wouldn't mind renovating another kitchen all over again? If it weren't for dealing with a challenging GC (and his wife) when problems occur (which don't get me wrong can be and often is aggravating and exhausting) I really enjoy this whole renovating process. It's creative and it's very satisfying seeing from start to finish your vision come to life.

I guess we (PSers) love stone quarries because we love beautiful stones. DSS is harder with a nice chunk of island

 

[DAF]

Is it awful that I wouldn't mind renovating another kitchen all over again? If it weren't for dealing with a challenging GC (and his wife) when problems occur (which don't get me wrong can be and often is aggravating and exhausting) I really enjoy this whole renovating process. It's creative and it's very satisfying seeing from start to finish your vision come to life.

I guess we (PSers) love stone quarries because we love beautiful stones. DSS is harder with a nice chunk of island

I was amazed to find that the cranberry colored spots in the granite were garnet. I thought to my self that I could get a pick and get some of them out of there and take them to a lapidary. You're absolutely right, an island of stone can distract one from DSS.

DF has been doing most of the work. The man has some serious skills! It's been trying at times. When he gets tired he can get a little less careful in his work. We've had fights about stopping work and picking it up again the next day. I keep reminding him I know what he's capable of. So far he's done most of the drywall removal (all of the ceiling and 1/2 of the walls), removed the soffits, rerouted the electric and plumbing that was in said soffits, removed the wall between kitchen and dining room and rerouted/eliminated electric and one recirculating vent, ran new electrical for the can lights, ran a 220 V line for the ovens (converting from gas to electric), replaced drywall, installed LED can lights, painted the walls, installed hardwood flooring in kitchen and dining room, installed one side of the upper cabinets and installed my island range hood and venting. I LOVE the vent hood. I can't wait to get my kitchen back. It's horrible not having a sink and stovetop. Actually, I have the sink, it's just not installed. This weekend it's gong to be kitchen sink plumbing and moving a gas line from one side of the kitchen to the other. Must go and buy the cooktop now. TTFN.

 

[missy]

I was amazed to find that the cranberry colored spots in the granite were garnet. I thought to my self that I could get a pick and get some of them out of there and take them to a lapidary. You're absolutely right, an island of stone can distract one from DSS.

DF has been doing most of the work. The man has some serious skills! It's been trying at times. When he gets tired he can get a little less careful in his work. We've had fights about stopping work and picking it up again the next day. I keep reminding him I know what he's capable of. So far he's done most of the drywall removal (all of the ceiling and 1/2 of the walls), removed the soffits, rerouted the electric and plumbing that was in said soffits, removed the wall between kitchen and dining room and rerouted/eliminated electric and one recirculating vent, ran new electrical for the can lights, ran a 220 V line for the ovens (converting from gas to electric), replaced drywall, installed LED can lights, painted the walls, installed hardwood flooring in kitchen and dining room, installed one side of the upper cabinets and installed my island range hood and venting. I LOVE the vent hood. I can't wait to get my kitchen back. It's horrible not having a sink and stovetop. Actually, I have the sink, it's just not installed. This weekend it's gong to be kitchen sink plumbing and moving a gas line from one side of the kitchen to the other. Must go and buy the cooktop now. TTFN.

Ooh it sounds so exciting @DAF and woohoo for mad skills. Love men who are skilled and are happy to work with their hands!
Haha and yes fights are par for the course. Our project hasn't been without a few "disagreements"

Good luck buying your cooktop and sending you lots of finished kitchen vibes. It's gonna be beautiful.

 

[msop04]

@msop04 I liked both versions of your kitchen if I'm honest....lol But I have dark cabinets, so maybe thats why. In my current home, I've got that cream colored/off white tile thats everywhere, and those dark cabinets thankfully break up that monotany.

BTW, you have way less on your counters than I do... my mom's favorite saying "working kitchens work"...lol

Very true... it seems the kitchen counter is where bills and other nonsense goes to die. It's a mass grave, I tell you!

 

[Loves Vintage]

msop04 - Kitchen looks great! A few questions for you -- were the cabinet doors sprayed? What's the name of the granite you chose?

Still working on my kitchen design choices. We had our entire ceiling replaced and new leds/fixtures put in. They just finished painting this morning and we are quite happy with the ceiling. Now on to the more daunting ceiling choices. So hard for me!

 

[BlingDreams]

I have an update on our choices for you, but first some eye candy . These are from the granite/marble/quartz company our builder uses (here's a hint... see my next post for WHY I was there ). The photos were taken in a dingy warehouse so they don't do the granite justice at all. Some of the colors were just jaw dropping . It's truly amazing that our earth makes these just for the heck of it!

The first one is my absolute favorite. It's like a work of art.... something Monet would paint. I want to buy it and hang it on my wall!

 

[BlingDreams]

Okay, for our update! I should have known better than to believe that our choices were all done. I woke up the morning after our design gallery appointment and just knew that the cheap "who cares" crap choices we made for our mud and laundry room were going to bug me in the end (because I really do care, even about the small stuff, no matter how I try to convince myself I don't...).

So I went back to the design gallery today to re-choose the mud/laundry room elements and choose the grout for all of the bathrooms (MBR because it's the wonky one with three different tiles (wood-look, pebble, and tumbled stone) and I wanted to make sure what was used went with all three, and the guest bathrooms because I wanted bright white grout instead of a matching gray grout to help pull the room together).

In the end, I chose these pieces for the mud/laundry rooms:



They are black cabinet doors with "New Caledonia" granite and a light gray 12"x24" rough tile that will be placed on a 1/3 offset. It's different enough from the other rooms/choices in the house but still in the same scheme that it should tie in together okay. Below is how it looks with the wood flooring (the tile will adjoin the wood in the hallway to the kitchen)



Phew. Done, right? Nope. I made the "mistake" of pulling out my kitchen cabinet door choices again to verify things and realized that a) I'd given her the wrong choice of main doors (chantilly twilight instead of chantilly espresso ) and b) I was pointed towards a larger example of the granite I'd chosen for the kitchen, as it had just been installed on a model sink, and low-and-behold there were garnet dots all over it. Yikes! That's not what I wanted at all! I wanted white/black/ivory/gray. As they say, badda-bing-badda-boom and suddenly I found myself at the granite dealer looking at all of the possible options. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun! And I was REALLY glad I went because the slabs to look SO different compared to the 6"x6" samples...

The guy who helped me was great. Showed me all of the samples in the warehouse and then took me to the "secret" warehouse when I hadn't found anything that tickled my fancy. That's where I found my slabs . "White Delicatus"; it's a beautiful creamy white with lots of black striations and patches of ivory as well. The variations of this pattern can vary greatly so I was THRILLED when the guy said he'd tag three slabs from that lot for me and hold them, even though they wouldn't be needed for nine months or so. Here it is with the cabinets as well as my exact slabs







Last thing I chose was the countertop for my vanity. I wanted something classy but simple... a little flash but nothing spectacular. I ended up choosing Black Galaxy - it's all black but with flecks of copper throughout, so when the light hits it it lights up in a beautiful way



That's it for now. Next up is choosing the sinks, faucets, and other such things

 

[DAF]

I have an update on our choices for you, but first some eye candy . These are from the granite/marble/quartz company our builder uses (here's a hint... see my next post for WHY I was there ). The photos were taken in a dingy warehouse so they don't do the granite justice at all. Some of the colors were just jaw dropping . It's truly amazing that our earth makes these just for the heck of it!

The first one is my absolute favorite. It's like a work of art.... something Monet would paint. I want to buy it and hang it on my wall!

Gorgeous!

 

[partgypsy]

I went to a granite place the other day as well! Not ideal, because right before it closed and it was drizzling. But it was fun to look at lots of different kinds. There were definitely ones on the website I didn't look twice at/dismissed which were striking in the big slabs; Hawaii and Volga Blue, which was grey with splotches of iridescent blue splotches, really cool. I need to go either lighter or darker (new black pearl, verde peacock, volga blue) than my light maple cabinets, leaning towards lighter (adromeda white, hawaii, artic white). I am also open to quartz and synthetic solid surface countertops.

 

[Austina]

If I can find the photos, I’ll post them of a show home we visited that had beautiful slabs of agate on the wall under the staircase, it was wow!

I have the black galaxy granite as pot stands in my kitchen

 

[missy]

Okay, for our update! I should have known better than to believe that our choices were all done. I woke up the morning after our design gallery appointment and just knew that the cheap "who cares" crap choices we made for our mud and laundry room were going to bug me in the end (because I really do care, even about the small stuff, no matter how I try to convince myself I don't...).

So I went back to the design gallery today to re-choose the mud/laundry room elements and choose the grout for all of the bathrooms (MBR because it's the wonky one with three different tiles (wood-look, pebble, and tumbled stone) and I wanted to make sure what was used went with all three, and the guest bathrooms because I wanted bright white grout instead of a matching gray grout to help pull the room together).

In the end, I chose these pieces for the mud/laundry rooms:



They are black cabinet doors with "New Caledonia" granite and a light gray 12"x24" rough tile that will be placed on a 1/3 offset. It's different enough from the other rooms/choices in the house but still in the same scheme that it should tie in together okay. Below is how it looks with the wood flooring (the tile will adjoin the wood in the hallway to the kitchen)



Phew. Done, right? Nope. I made the "mistake" of pulling out my kitchen cabinet door choices again to verify things and realized that a) I'd given her the wrong choice of main doors (chantilly twilight instead of chantilly espresso ) and b) I was pointed towards a larger example of the granite I'd chosen for the kitchen, as it had just been installed on a model sink, and low-and-behold there were garnet dots all over it. Yikes! That's not what I wanted at all! I wanted white/black/ivory/gray. As they say, badda-bing-badda-boom and suddenly I found myself at the granite dealer looking at all of the possible options. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun! And I was REALLY glad I went because the slabs to look SO different compared to the 6"x6" samples...

The guy who helped me was great. Showed me all of the samples in the warehouse and then took me to the "secret" warehouse when I hadn't found anything that tickled my fancy. That's where I found my slabs . "White Delicatus"; it's a beautiful creamy white with lots of black striations and patches of ivory as well. The variations of this pattern can vary greatly so I was THRILLED when the guy said he'd tag three slabs from that lot for me and hold them, even though they wouldn't be needed for nine months or so. Here it is with the cabinets as well as my exact slabs







Last thing I chose was the countertop for my vanity. I wanted something classy but simple... a little flash but nothing spectacular. I ended up choosing Black Galaxy - it's all black but with flecks of copper throughout, so when the light hits it it lights up in a beautiful way



That's it for now. Next up is choosing the sinks, faucets, and other such things

Great choices and glad you got to pick your own slabs. Nice going ILikeShiny!

 

[missy]

I went to a granite place the other day as well! Not ideal, because right before it closed and it was drizzling. But it was fun to look at lots of different kinds. There were definitely ones on the website I didn't look twice at/dismissed which were striking in the big slabs; Hawaii and Volga Blue, which was grey with splotches of iridescent blue splotches, really cool. I need to go either lighter or darker (new black pearl, verde peacock, volga blue) than my light maple cabinets, leaning towards lighter (adromeda white, hawaii, artic white). I am also open to quartz and synthetic solid surface countertops.

It is fun looking at all the gorgeous slabs. Funny -it always was drizzling when we went to the outdoor quarries haha but the stone was dewy beautiful in the rain. Sounds like a good plan to go lighter or darker than your light maple cabinets. In Brooklyn we have unstained Maple cabinets and all these years later I love our black matte granite island and countertops there. Enjoy your search.

 

[missy]

Here are some pics I have from our visits.
In front of our almost choice (close second) the opal white marble. We almost went for these slabs but ultimately I knew the thassos white was my perfect choice. But I was tempted!






Here was our first marble choice but we could not get enough slabs to make it work for us.
Snow white Marble from Italy.

Who knew there were so many different variations of white. And all quite beautiful in their own ways.





and lest you think I'm a one note chick we did entertain other options and I do love blue...
Everest polished is gorgeous.





A few more delicious options.

Got everyone involved in helping us haha. My dh and our marble "designer" assistant Lisa.



and another photo of my favorites from Italy at the quarry a few minutes from our beach house.






But it came down to me wanting a white kitchen for decades now and the heart wants what the heart wants yanno. But oh so many gorgeous color options out there. It was not an easy decision. We had fun making it though.


Uh oh reached my max allowed photo allotment for this post. Time flies when sharing marble pics. Hahaha.

 

[missy]

Ultimately I am very pleased with our choice of island material and countertops. And it is also super practical which doesn't hurt with 4 very messy (not typical I know) kitties.




North wall


East wall


West wall


We still have (lots of) stuff that needs to be finished and we also have to figure out what we are going to do with our original dutch kitchen door. My vote is keep it but have my dh refinish it. Only problem is how to make it more secure but we are working on that and hopefully can figure it out.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else is doing and what progress is being made.

 

[partgypsy]

It's really enjoyable looking at the slabs. They really are almost like pieces of art.

 

[Arcadian]

@ILikeShiny I got chills and gasped when I saw those slabs. Those are GORGEOUS!!! I'm such a color freak, I'd probably get some of those cut to hang on the walls...


Love the new choices. I think its good to revisit when you have the feeling "something isn't quite right" and this is definitely the time to do it. And your kitchen granite is going to be spectacular!!! (reminds me of mine, so...yeah!)

With the new granite in the bath, how is that going to pair well with the fixtures? I only ask because I know you were doing antique bronze there.

 

[missy]

@Tekate how's your reno going? Thinking of you and hope it's going smoothly!

More marble photos as I am going down memory lane. Haha this morning reading the latest posts here started me going through all my pics over the last 2 years and hope you don't mind me sharing. I hope you are enjoying seeing these beautiful slabs.

One of the reasons I didn't want a busier print is that for me, I go crazy not being able to tell if it is super clean so I guess that's a bit OCD on my part. The last few years dealing with the busy granite print we have now was challenging.

Aren't these gorgeous?





















and the Snow White again. If I was going with marble this was my dream choice for marble.