Kitchen Remodel – How to Shop for Granite Countertops

There are many countertop material options, and I read quite a bit about each one.  Check out Houzz for a helpful article about pros and cons of different surface materials.  We decided that granite countertops were best for us – it’s durable, sophisticated, and every slab is unique.

Shopping for granite has to be done in person.  Sure, you can see photos online, but you have to see the actual slab you will be getting with your own eyes.  I headed first to a granite supplier that a friend recommended, armed with my wood samples.  There’s a nice glossy showroom, but the actual slabs of granite are in the warehouse area.  I found a slab that I loved and snapped some photos to show my husband.  They chipped off a sample for me to take home, and we headed to another supplier.  This one had a great selection as well, but I compared every piece to the first one, and none measured up.

So I had the granite I loved (it’s called Arandis Classic), but it didn’t look great with the wood samples I had chosen.  Back to the kitchen place to look at a few more, and Designer Guy ordered two different cabinet doors to be sent to my home so I had a bigger wood sample.  Wait around for a week, then head back to the granite place with door and husband.  He approved of my choice, one of the wood colors looked great, and we had made up our minds.  A deposit was placed and two slabs were tagged for us.

I am by no means a granite expert, but I can offer a few pieces of advice when shopping for this stone surface:

• Each slab is unique – I saw Arandis at the second place we visited, but the colors had a gold undertone that the Arandis I loved at the first place did not. Colors can vary, as can patterns, and you can’t assume that all granite of the same name will look the same.

• Think of granite as a loaf of bread.  When the stone is extracted, it is sliced into slabs that will become counter tops.  All the slices from the same loaf are generally consistent in color and pattern. Two slices from different loaves may be more like mixing pumpernickel and white bread.  This is why it is crucial to pick your slab(s) – do not let anyone else to it for you. Granite is a natural stone; variations are part of its beauty. But you need to see what you are getting in case one slab is not to your liking (before it is installed in your kitchen!).

Our kitchen requires two slabs to make our granite countertops.  I will go back to the supplier and lay eyes on both pieces before they are cut.  We’ll look at the pattern and lay out which portions will go where in the kitchen.  Here are some photos of the granite we chose; it doesn’t read that well in a photograph because the lighting wasn’t great and I couldn’t avoid the shadows – but you get the idea.

Come back next time when I shop for floor tile and a back splash – excitement abounds!

 

Kitchen Remodel To Do List:

√Scour photos online, in magazines, and in person for ideas
√Visit showrooms, interview professionals, and get estimates

√Sign contract, tweak design, and start making material choices

√Choose cabinets and counter tops

NEXT: Shopping for flooring and backsplash