Happiness is....

 

Out with the old, and in with the new! I was told that the countertops would go in today, but I wasn't told a time. I have learned that "Monday" sometimes means "Tuesday or Wednesday" or maybe even later But that wasn't the case this time. Around 9:30am today I got a call, and I had to drop everything and head over to the UF to let the countertop guys in. They worked until about 2:30pm, and then I had magical new countertops!

 

I feared that the removal process might damage the painting job on my cabinetry, but they removed it like pros. Minimal touch-ups will be needed. They asked what I wanted them to do with the old countertops, and I told them to take them far far away.

 

Soapstone going into the kitchen! This is how it looked when they took the blue cling film off. The gray color is a patina on the soapstone. You can either leave it like this, or you can wipe it with mineral oil from time to time to get a totally different effect.

 

This is the Shadow Storm granite. I will always capitalize Shadow Storm, because it is my super hero. This was a sort of last minute substitute when the price of doing all soapstone caused me high blood pressure. My husband thought I might regret making the change (and gave me the green light to spend all our $$), and TBH I thought I might too, but this stuff is beautiful. It's got a slight hint of a sparkle in it. It looks great with the Fieldstone Gray cabinets and the nickel hardware that I picked out. Note that I cut the leaky shower to the right out of the photo. It still has a teeny trim piece of the old granite in it, but we are ripping that stuff out. Be gone J. Evans Pritchard, PhD! (I must watch a lot of movies.)

 

All oiled up and ready for a photo shoot! Isn't this stuff gorgeous? 

The veining in the Porto Alegre is especially pretty. It's also got a subtle hint of sparkle to it, as well as a lot of different mineral colors. I'm so excited to get the cabinet doors and drawers back together. However, I've discovered that the nickel hardware that I purchased (that goes perfectly in the bathroom) just isn't going to work. It needs black hardware. I know, it told me.

I told my family that I wanted to stay there tonight with my new countertops. I love them that much.