little jacki, big nerd

As a part of our home beautification project series (both to help sell our house and just enjoy while we’re kid-free and have some extra dough), we recently had new countertops installed!

After doing some research, pricing things out, and looking at samples at Lowe’s, we decided to go with granite. I just couldn’t get over how much shinier and more slick it looked than the other options. We picked out a black color with green and tan flecks called Ubatuba.

We literally were at Lowe’s for over two hours, giving them our kitchen dimensions and signing the paperwork. I’m pretty sure I signed my name more times than when we bought our house. Sheesh!

We actually ended up ordering the granite from a local stoneworks company, rather than the company Lowe’s advertises. It was almost like a sneaky deal, as the Lowe’s associate offered this to us after we had already priced out the normal brand they sell (they can’t advertise it in marketing materials due to their agreement). The cost ended up being practically HALF for virtually the same granite, so we just couldn’t turn it down.

A couple days after we placed the order, a guy came to make a “template” for the counters, which basically means he constructed a version of the countertops with a bunch of wooden boards. They use this template to custom-make the countertops just for our specific kitchen.

About a week and a half later, the guys arrived to install the countertops! It only took about 2 1/2 hours for them to complete the job. Much quicker than I expected!

John and I both LOVE how they turned out. We’ve had them for over a week, and I still squeal with excitement every time I walk into the kitchen. :)

The ugly laminate countertops before:

And the gorgeous granite after:

My favorite part, without a doubt, is the sink!

I adore this faucet that we bought (the sink itself came free with the counters). I love the simple lines of it. And the spout pulls out, which means no extra sprayer is necessary. As you may guess, my design philosophy is always less is more.

Coming up next: new floors :)