Probably the most important decision we made with this unplanned kitchen renovation was whether or not to replace our granite countertops. I actually cried when I heard that the cabinets needed to be removed, because I believed that the countertops would need to be ripped out as well. I know it’s just a material item, but those countertops represented the work my husband and I did with our own hands to make our kitchen beautiful. They represented paychecks, hard work, and time. They represented the first big adult homeowning decisions we made.
We thought about the options and choices for weeks. I slept on the decision for many nights. I did research and found conflicting information. I did find a few blogs that said it could be done and our contractors told us they’ve done this many times. However, I found more websites that read it was impossible to keep your existing granite. On message boards, people wondered why would you even attempt that. Even our cabinet supplier had never heard of this technique.
So our immediate response was that with our luck, this will go bad and we’ll have the change the granite anyways. Might as well just save the headache and change everything now. With prefab, our budget-friendly option, there are limited color options. To update our kitchen, we wanted to go with the Shaker styler of cabinets and I found 2 color options I loved. I was leaning toward a gray-brown which looked super modern and sophisticated. Unfortunately, when I brought it home, it completely clashed with our existing granite. Saddened, I went back to the cabinet shop and found a medium espresso that matched perfectly.
Now we faced two options. Either hope the granite survived the renovation and choose the espresso cabinets or save the headache if the granite did crack, completely start from scratch, and install the grayish cabinets that I was more drawn to. What played the biggest factor in this decision was money. We still had not received final payout numbers from the insurance agency, a long drawn out saga where we went weeks being completely ignored by them (we’re now looking for a new customer service friendly company). So in preparation, I went around town and found coordinating granite for the gray cabinets and priced out every possible scenario. When visiting a slab yard, definitely bring any samples you can with you and talk to the employees there. They know the slabs like they’re their children and can quickly help you coordinate and narrow down your choices.
Our final decision just came down to the numbers and our vision for the future. We decided to go for keeping the original granite and by keeping the countertop, we were able to save the existing backsplash as well. We were reassured that if the granite did crack, our contractor would be on the hook for replacement. Finally, everything was in motion and it was time to begin construction.
Construction took almost 3 weeks and I will not bore you with highs and lows. I’ll just say to make sure the rest of your house is properly sealed off from the construction zone or else you’ll deal with mountains of dust. Another saga that I do not want to relive. As the cabinets were ripped out, stilts were placed underneath to hold up the countertops. It was a sight to be seen. Very scary that it might collapse, but we were constantly reassured that it would hold steady. As a precaution, we kept the children and animals out the kitchen as much as possible by installing a plastic wall with a zipper so my husband and I could access the kitchen.
There are prefab cabinets you can buy for this exact type of existing granite installation. They are built with adjustable legs and are lowered underneath the countertop, then raised up to the proper height, screwed into place and then a toe-kick is installed to hide the legs. Those cabinets only came in two colors – painted gray or white. We definitely wanted a wood look, so our contractor worked with us and modified the espresso cabinets I ordered to slide underneath the granite. They cut the bottoms of the cabinets just enough to slide underneath the countertop and then used shims to add the proper height. They finished by fastening the cabinets to the countertop and installing the toe-kicks to hide everything. The granite did not greatly crack as feared but did experience some minor stress fractures that were repaired by applying more sealant.
Overall, everything worked out and I absolutely love my new downstairs. Every day I admire my tile floor and I’m so happy with our choices. We even gave our appliances a little upgrade and said goodbye to the 20+-year-old microwave and installed a convection microwave that doubles as a second oven when needed.
We were able to make some functional design changes to the kitchen such as installing drawers for pots and pans and making use of the backside of our peninsula by installing an extra hidden cabinet.
I am absolutely in love with our floor. No more orange tile. We chose Frenchwood Larch wood plank tile from Floor and Decor. It is stunning and really updates the home. We kept the existing paint color, Pussywillow SW 7643 from Sherwin Williams, and did touchups as needed.
Home renovation is stressful and adding that this was sprung upon us one wintery Monday morning, my stress levels were through the rough for months. Doing this renovation greatly added to the value of our home and when all is said and done, I’m happy. They do say when you begin one project it snowballs into the next and next. Now we are working on retiling our fireplace to match the updated look of the downstairs, adding a new vanity to the downstairs powder room, and finishing the ongoing updating of our master bathroom. Someday we’ll be done right? But as they say, then it will be time to move.
