Let's talk about countertops! We spent some discussing this, trying to decide what would be the best route for us. Here's what we ultimately decided:
Our kitchen is granite. I had originally planned on putting quartz in the kitchen until I got the price back. It was about $1,000 more expensive than if we chose granite and we decided that the cost difference wasn't worth it to us. Budget was always top of mind for us! The granite has been great, too but not without its hiccups. Shortly after we moved in (read: less than a week) I left cookies on wax paper on the counter to cool and it left oily circles under each cookie. I cried and called our countertop supplier and after cleaning it and setting baking soda on it for hours, the oil was absorbed. Additionally, our granite is sealed and will need repeatedly resealed in the coming years.
Our bathrooms are quartz. Quartz in the bathroom was not more expensive because we used remnant granite. When we picked out our kitchen slab, they showed us quartz slabs that were too small for a kitchen but large enough for a bathroom and that's what we chose from. This also allowed us a lot of different slabs, so each bathroom has a different feel. We've had no issues with the quartz and it's been great.
Our laundry room is laminate. The laundry room countertop was a last minute addition. We had discussed doing custom cabinetry in here but remember that budget? It had other ideas, so we did DIY laundry room shelves and added a folding countertop. This countertop is laminate and gets a ton of use, plus I don't have to worry about chemicals from the laundry spilling on it.
Something else I was unprepared for during the build was how the countertops were supposed to be edged. I hadn't even thought about it. The bathrooms and laundry room are straight edged. The kitchen is rounded bullnose/demi-bullnose. There are different names for this. We rounded the kitchen counters because we wanted to make sure those sitting at the kitchen counter were comfortable and I'm so glad we did that.
Check out my stories next Wednesday for another Building 101!
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