Canton Cut Stone makes it right!

When our kitchen counters were installed last week, I was so pleased with the Hanstone Specchio White Quartz. It's even more beautiful in person, and definitely better than the little sample I've been carrying around for the last six months! 

However, my marble remnant, for which our baking center was resized to fit the exact dimensions of the slab, was cut wrong. There was a big notch out of one corner. I couldn't help but be disappointed. It was a splurge. Not essential, not even important in the grand scheme of life. But disappointing nonetheless. Since we bought a remnant, I wasn't sure what the options were. I certainly didn't plan to buy marble at full price. I left it to Todd, our GC.

I was elated a few days later to learn that Canton Cut Stone would be replacing my marble. Last night, when we dropped off a new light for Niels' office (his Dutch one only half works...sigh), we were pleasantly surprised to find this:

It's really beautiful!

It looks WONDERFUL! I am so happy that they made it right!

While they were here, they also brought the in-law vanity back. We had to go with an undermount sink after realizing that the vessel sink we bought was too high for ADA standards. We actually wanted an undermount all along, so we're very happy with how it turned out.

And at long last, our laminate counter has been installed in the laundry room! It makes us laugh that of the quartz, marble, granite and laminate counters, it was the laminate that took the longest to get installed.

The laminate is called Citadel Warp (5882) from Formica. It's a pretty gray with a line pattern.

 

The sink is also installed. We first saw this one at a kitichen design center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's the Corstone White Self-Rimming Acrylic Laundry Sink. We ended up buying it from Keim Lumber, but's also available at Lowes.

A big THANK YOU to Canton Cut Stone for making this family very happy!

***bonus fact***

I am writing this post using the newly installed internet at our new house while watching our carpet go in!

Quartz and Marble. Happy and Sad.

At last! Our quartz kitchen counters are in! I was very happy to see this truck in front of our house yesterday morning.

When we arrived around 10, the crew had already made good progress:

The half wall between the dining room and kitchen.

Close up to show the recycled glass and mirror in our countertop. As well as an X marking the spot!

Baking row. Lowered baking center to the left, and Kitchen Aid home on the right.

Outer island. That's drywall by the outlets. That part will have the glass backsplash tile.

Close up of the outer island.

First look at our new Blanco single bowl sink

The quartz along the back wall had been set as we were leaving, and they were getting ready to cut out the hole for the cooktop.

My headache was really giving me grief, which greatly bummed me out because I was pretty excited about this installation. But, after Niels came home we came back to see the finished job. 

It was almost jarring to see all the white after seeing the dark cabinets for the last month. Our fears that our kitchen would be dark were unfounded.

Outer island, complete with sink.

Outer island Blanco single bowl sink.

The grid will protect the bottom from scratches, and also make thawing things in the sink easier.

Reverse view of outer island.

Aerial-ish view of the kitchen.

Inner island with prep sink. I didn't want a big sink, just big enough for cleaning veggies and handling food scraps.

Both sinks will have Delta Touch 2.0 faucets. They turn on and off by touching the faucet. This will be so nice when my hands are full of bread dough!

View of the islands from the corner.

Cooktop area.

Close up of the corner.

The command center looks really big with the counter on it. Joe will be back on Tuesday to put the cabinets and shelves up.

I was very happy to see the counters and how well they turned out. We had white Corian counters in our old house. They were there when we bought it, and weren't crazy about them, but over the years, we grew to really love them. So much so that we knew early on that we wanted white counters in the new house. We chose the Hanstone Specchio White because it uses recycled glass and mirror, so it's green, and quartz is easy to maintain (no sealing!) and anti-microbial.  I love these counters!

The day wasn't all joy, however. You may remember that we found a marble remnant for my baking center. Originally, we were going to do all quartz, and I was eyeing a marble slab from Williams-Sonoma for baking. The lowered baking center was orginally 32"x25" to accommodate a wheelchair. When we saw the 29"x25" remnant, I made the decision to make the baking center smaller, thinking that a guest using a chair could easily use the command center area.

Looks great from here.

This is what my baking center was supposed to look like.

Joe Yoder custom made the support to accommodate the size of the remnant.

Not big enough for a wheelchair, but it will fit a dining chair with toddler sous chef standing on it.

Unfortunately, this is what I got. 

The slab was cut wrong.

So, that was the downer of the day. I'm not sure how it happened. I remember talking to the fabricator and saying that the support was being made to the largest dimensions of the slab. It's such a beautiful piece of marble. Sigh... I know it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of important things in the world, but it's disappointing. 

I'm not sure yet what we're going to do. We used a remnant, because we sure wouldn't splurge on a slab. Stay tuned...

***update***
I am very happy to report that Canton Cut Stone is cutting us a new marble slab. I am very grateful.

Here come the counter tops.

I was happy to see the counter installers in the house today. The two guys on the crew are from Serbia, so we had a nice chat about being bi-national in Ohio. I was a little disappointed that my quartz kitchen countertops and in-law bath have to wait until Monday, but since we want to make sure the correct holes get drilled to match the correct fixtures, I've made my peace with the delay.

On the happy news, the counters in D's bathroom, our bathroom and powder room are in! As a review, we choose eased edge profile, 1/8" radius corners, and negative reveals on the undermount sinks. If these terms are foreign to you--and they sure were to us before this process!--click here for pictures and an explanation. We also chose polished finish, which may have been a mistake because it is shiny instead of matte, but it's also easier to maintain and much more common, so we'll see how it goes.

D's Bathroom:

Here's the Venetian Gold granite remnant in D's bathroom. It's a little busy for me, but great for his bathroom. 

Here's a close up of the sink. Ignore the camera shadow to the left, it's not dark like that in real life. (This is the negative reveal, meaning you can't see the top of the sink. We like it because gunk can't collect there).

This is a photo of the remnant on the day we selected it.

Master Bedroom:
Here is the Kashmir White in our bathroom. This is the only granite for which that we couldn't use a remnant.

Love the way it looks!

Looks great with the gray wall.

Edge profile.

1/8" radius corner.

Picture with our slab on selection day.

Powder Room: 

The White Diamond remnant was a bit of surprise. This is the remnant we saw:

And here it is installed. 

 

Granted, we didn't look at it very long. We saw that it was a whitish remnant in the size we needed. Both the designer and saleswoman told us that this is a higher grade granite, so we picked it.

When we got the granite names a few days later, I saw this White Diamond kitchen and saw how busy it could be:

So I shouldn't be too surprised to see this.

I'm still not sure how this is the same remnant, but it is pretty and looks nice in the powder room. Of course, we love the remnant price. I'm a little concerned that it's too busy for me with my vertigo issues, so I'll double check with Canton Cut Stone. Worse case scenario, on my bad days, if it bothers me, I can use the in-law bathroom downstairs.

Still to come:

River White in the in-law suite. I LOVE this granite. If the remnant would have been bigger, I would have put it in our bathroom.

Citadel Warp (5882) Formica laminate in the laundry room. I really look forward to seeing how this all looks together.

  Hanstone Specchio White quartz in the kitchen and command center. I cannot wait to see this in my kitchen!!!


Carrara Marble remnant for my baking center. Oh the wonderful things I will make here!

I was at the house until about noon, so I'm not sure if the laundry room was going to be done today or tomorrow, or when our bathroom and the powder room bath have sinks yet. Stay tuned!