Granite, part two

If you haven't guessed yet what this post is about, it starts with G and rhymes with Janet.

We moved here with a determination to enjoy any upgrades we did, after frantically finishing home improvements in the last house to put the house on the market for the next owner to enjoy.  We have been saving to do a few upgrades to the house.  As I'm sure you know, kitchens and bathrooms are where you want to spend your remodeling dollars if you think you might ever sell your home in the future. 

Though our kitchen is wonderful, and quite pretty, the counters are not very nice. 

They are white laminate, stained in places and knicked in others.  We investigated putting in concrete, quartz, or granite {again}.  We love the idea of concrete, but, frankly, we have to consider resale, and concrete can be pretty polarizing.  The other two rated equally in all the research we did, and cost about the same, but we love the look of natural stone so much more, so that was what we went with.

We checked out lots of companies, took home countless samples, debated colors, and got several quotes.  Originally, we wanted to have a quiet, monochromatic granite on the outer counters, with something contrasting and vibrant on the island.  The problem was, we couldn't come up with two types that we liked together, and had no help from the sales people here.  When we would ask questions, they would say things like, "Sure, if that's what you want to do."  Not helpful.  We ended up deciding one granite was best for us.  Then the decision had to be, do we stick with a light color to go with our light and airy kitchen, or do we ground it with a dark, bold granite?

To solve the problem, we used a favorite trick.  We googled "kitchens with white cabinets" and selected images.  Then we looked through and saved all the ones we liked in a file.  After that was done, we scrolled through our choices.  Across the board, in kitchens resembling ours - white cabinets, light floors - we preferred dark granite.  It made such a beautiful contrast.  Decision made.

So we cleared the counters, removing the old faucet.

Now, that was sad.  If you remember from this post, we replaced our kitchen faucet only about six months ago.  This was the original faucet,

which we changed to this!

We loved this faucet, but Handsome Hero found a brand new undermount sink at a yard sale this summer {can we say Woo-hoo to saving money!}, but it's shape wouldn't allow for the four holes this faucet takes.  That was a bummer.

Anyway, we plugged the expresso machine in in the dining room {I have my priorities straight},

And the men got to work.

There was this one worker who caught my eye.  What a cutie!  What a looker!  Overalls and everything.

When it was done, it looked like this.

Notice that we changed the shape of the island slightly, curving it so that it's less of a Superman shape.  That was our friend, Drew's, idea.  Here it is before.

And more afters.

The granite is called Verde Peacock.  It has blacks, browns, and greens, with flecks of white.  I love how nicely it compliments the walls.

Handsome Hero will be doing some wall repair and re-doing the beadboard backsplash, of course.  We love it, and, hey, he already has a template!

Our gorgeous new faucet.

I love how substantial it is.  It reminds me of a tulip.  Is that weird?  And I have a soap dispenser!!!!

There you have it.  Our new kitchen.  Are we done?  Well, at least for now, but if you know me at all, you know that I'm never done.  NEVER!!!!  {picture maniacal laughter here}