kitchen update # 57 - choosing countertops, the saga continues

very picture heavy

i went down to MSI surfaces, the warehouse of one of the quartz suppliers i looked at samples of at pacific quartz and granite. MSI surfaces doesnt sell to the public. you have to go to a dealer/installer to buy it (pacific quartz). MSI also does floors, backsplash tiles, and hardscape/outdoor stuff.

i looked around at all their samples, including the big slabs. it is wonderfully different looking at the whole big slabs rather than just a tiny little sample. you get *such* a better idea how it looks.

in the big warehouse area they had all the slabs arranged, and a big overhead crane that picked them up and moved them around. they actually had to tell people not to try to move the 1200 pound slabs themselves. that if you want to pick out your own slab, let them use the crane to move them. apparently some guys have thought they were strong enough to flip thru the slabs like a stack of posters. except they cant, and they had pictures of the broken slabs. (THAT would be an expensive fuck up!) not to mention these slabs are nearly as tall as i am! 5' tall x 10.5' wide (152 x 312 cm).

SO many choices. i zeroed in on just the white and gray ones.

statuary classique


blanca statuarietto


close up of blanca statuarietto


glacier white


close up of glacier white


alabaster white. each slab comes with a protective piece of plastic. some had been peeled off some were only partially peeled off.


alabaster white close up


close up of calacatta botanica



close up of cashmere cararra




then they have a medium room lined with like 5' tall by maybe 2' wide vertical strips of all the samples, all the way around the room. and really good lighting (the light in the warehouse wasnt as bright). there were some tables and chairs too.

cararra marmi


calacatta botanica


fairy white


glacier white


blanca statuarietto


statuary classique, on one of the tables in that room


then there was a little room off that lined with shelves/cubbies filled with samples. little square samples, and larger rectangle samples. so i pulled out little samples of all the ones i was interested in and went back to the medium room and laid em all out on a table side by side to compare. because there were SO freaking many options. so many. omg so many.

blanca statuarietto


glacier white


calacatta botanica


cashmere cararra


fairy white


blanca arabescato


cararra marmi


calacatta venice (you can see the other samples lined up above)



once i had them all laid out, i could see some were more ivory than white and i eliminated them. i was looking at the white ones with gray in them, either thick bands or thinner vein lines or even little squiggles. like i said, SO much to choose from. i went back out to the warehouse slabs multiple times with the samples, comparing a sample of one next to the big slab of another trying to figure out which one i liked more. and i walked around the room looking at the vertical samples and comparing them with the little samples of other ones.

i was there nearly two hours. and happily, they left me in peace to figure it out myself. i could have gone back to the front at any time and asked for help. but they asked when i came in if i knew what i wanted and i emphatically said no! i knew i was looking towards white and gray but that was as far as i'd narrowed it down to. so the guy showed me around and left me in peace and i really appreciated that. people hovering around me make me nervous. and i cant think or make decisions when i'm nervous.

eventually i narrowed it down to four, and then two. then i took the bigger rectangle samples of those two to the front desk and asked how the samples worked. the pacific countertop place told me the samples were free at this MSI place and they were indeed free. they said yes, take them home, see how they look in your house. use them to figure out your tile or whatnot. and when i was done with them, they suggested i could bring the samples back to them, or bring them to the pacific countertop place. so that was really cool.

since this place was down by my parents house, i stopped by there after and showed them the samples. both parents liked both samples and could see the appeal in either one. and mom said she was happy to NOT have to make that decision. she said it took her 6 months to choose curtains she liked for their living room.

now i have the samples sitting in my kitchen. and i still dont know which one i want. hopefully time will help me figure it out. this is what i narrowed it down to. one nice, plain, simple. the other a little busier, less plain.



these are the final two: blanca statuarietto left, calacatta botanica right


blanca statuarietto left, calacatta botanica right


calacatta botanica left, blanca statuarietto right


calacatta botanica left, blanca statuarietto right

kitchen update # 56 - looking at countertops

last thursday i went to ikea and got a countertop estimate and picked up the counter top supports for stone counters that i need to screw in to the sides of the cabinets.

even with having my detailed kitchen plans right in front of her on their computer (because they provided the cabinets according to those specific plans made on their software) she goofed up the estimate and shorted it by one cabinet. for some reason she excluded countertops over the dishwasher and didnt realize til after i left. she left a message for me while i was driving home letting me know, and saying she was mailing out a corrected estimate. it was slightly more than home depot, but pretty close. around $3500 for quartz. estimates have been around 40-44 square feet of countertop. plus backsplash. formica was around $1700.

i looked at their countertops and found two possibilities


this one was also available at home depot




this is the second one






i also looked at some of the home improvement stores and saw these options










saturday i was looking thru the ads that came in the mail and found one for Pacific Granite and Quartz in maple grove. i try to avoid going places on the weekends because theres usually too many people. so today (monday) i went to check them out.

they had so many samples to choose from. so many. and they were very polite and helpful and they knew what they were doing. they did up an estimate for me that included everything (even a free undermount 9" deep stainless steel sink!) and they were happy to print out any other estimates right then and there for any other samples i was interested in. (i figured the one was enough, i need to figure out which one i want first). they also printed me out a price sheet for three of their suppliers for quartz so i could look up anything i saw that interested me. (the other few suppliers were higher end/pricier stuff and i let the guy know i was looking for low-mid range prices, not high-end prices). he told me that two of those companies i was interested in had warehouses locally. one in plymouth, one in shakopee (the third was in canada, the other ones he told me but i didnt pay attention since they were the more higher-end stuff).

the company that had the most samples i was interested in was MSI surfaces in plymouth, so i'm going to stop by there tomorrow and will be able to look at whole slabs to get a better idea of how it'll really look. i like that idea, of being able to see large samples, in person. they told me it will take one whole slab for my kitchen. and that place can send me home with little samples to look at in my kitchen. i debated going today but it was already 2:30pm and i didnt want to be anywhere near highway 169 during rush hour, which i would have been by the time i left there for home. (i try to avoid rush hour almost as much as i try to avoid crowds.)

i really like this pacific granite and quartz place. SUCH a different experience that home depot or ikea or lowes or menards. they knew their shit inside and out. they were happy to let me roam the floor on my own and look around while they did an estimate based off my ikea printout pictures and my measurements.

but better yet, even the low-mid range priced samples they had were far more classy and high-end *looking* than the ones in the home improvement stores and ikea.









some questions i didnt think of
-how do they handle a hump in the wall/uneven walls?
-are there any other possible costs not included in the estimate? (other than potential measuring differences/size outcomes)
-do i need to have all the doors and drawers in the lower cabinets, or do they need me to have all that cleared out for ease of installation?
-what if the cabinets are not level enough?
-will they attach the top front of the dishwasher to the underside of the countertop since i cant just screw in that clip like on a formica counter?

and dad cut the boards for the filler piece above the stove 1/16th inch shorter for me on his table saw and then i glued a 2x4 to the back and screwed the end pieces on. (well technically 2 2x2's because thats what i had on hand in the garage to cut up). now its tucked in above the cabinet over the stove. i'm still not sure if is right yet. i need to do some cabinet door adjusting first.

kitchen update # 55 - filler piece for cabinet over the stove and changing drawers again

to keep a screw free front, i screwed boards to the back of the filler piece


and screwed the side pieces to those boards


you can see the ironed on white edge piece over the end of the filler piece. it didnt go on so great. but the cut end would show so it had to be covered.




the gap over the cabinet above the stove (we lowered the cabinet so the vent hood would be at the recommended height over the stove) (you can see the potential trim piece above


it fits... a little wonky. its a little tall for the trim piece above, and a little wide on the left side. needs work.




i changed out another drawer front, changing the bottom extra tall drawer for a medium drawer and another low drawer.

old drawer setup - 3 low drawer fronts and 1 tall drawer front, 4 drawers


new drawer setup, 4 low drawer fronts and 1 medium drawer front, 5 drawers.


my towels and washcloths in the bottom drawer didnt take up that much room.


old drawer front next to the new drawer


see how much taller the old drawer front was? but the 'tall' drawer sides didnt go all the way up. you can see the screw holes how high they went.


i kept the bottom drawer at the tall height. funny, the tall height is only high enough for the medium drawer fronts, and the tall drawer fronts dont get sides that go all the way up. (those are glass sides)

kitchen update # 54 - dishwasher filler piece and trim

dad cut a 2x4 to screw into the wall for the countertop support in the corner by the dishwasher.

theres also a board screwed into the back wall to help us get the height of that countertop support board at the right height.

theres a board along the floor to support the dishwasher filler panel that will go between the dishwasher and the wall. this board will keep the bottom of the panel lined up with the top.


the 2x4 board slides between the boards screwed to the wall and keeps the panel in the right place. the 2x2 board attaches to 2x4 to the panel in a way that there are no screws thru the front of the panel. this is the bottom of the panel.


the top of the panel - the 2x4 stops short from the top edge so that the 2x4 attached to the wall will fit right there.


here you can see that. this is looking down on the dishwasher from above.


sliding it into place


in place and all lined up nicely


holding the camera by the back wall looking forward at the backside of the filler panel


view from the front. (oops forgot to take the tape off that told dad what size to cut it)



i also set pieces of the trim above the upper cabinets (they're just sitting loose up there, not installed), choosing the curved edge facing out (top)


over the flat edge facing out.


curved edge


flat edge


its a subtle difference. but the more i look at it, the more i dont really like either edge.
they're boring.

maybe i'd like the more decorative trim piece better. but that will require another trip to ikea.

and theres a problem with this trim. the underside isnt finished. when you open the door you can see the unfinished brown. i'd have to paint it white. i dont like this.


still need to finish the toe kicks on the sink side and dining room side, and the trim above the cabinets.