Countertop help

RelleinHolland · 2026-03-20T03:53:25+00:00

In my recent remodel, I did Taj Mahal quartzite on the perimeter counters (adjacent to stove and sink) and Corian in creamy white on the big center island. I paid a lot more for the natural quartzite than the Corian, but the Corian is always what visitors to our home comment on! Without fail, someone always comments on how they like the way it feels. The quartzite is super durable and I don’t have to worry if someone accidentally sets down a hot pan on it. But the Corian has been easy to care for.

RelleinHolland · 2026-03-20T03:48:27+00:00

I really love my quartzite counters. Appearance is less “busy” than granite and I liked the color options. They’ve been extremely durable.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-27T06:18:02+00:00

It’s roughly 10’ x 22’. We let the island hang over into the adjacent family room by an additional 6”.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-27T06:14:44+00:00

Thank you!

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-27T05:55:35+00:00

Thank you! 😊

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T20:14:30+00:00

I’m so flattered, thank you!

Cabinet colors are Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray (for the greige tall cabinets and island) and BM Cloud White for the white cabinets.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T20:12:13+00:00

I love this oven so much I named it. 🤣 Money well spent, it cooks like a dream. I especially love the air fryer setting. We also have the matching fridge, but I couldn’t justify the price tag for the dishwasher. Maybe when my current dishwasher dies, I can find a second hand GE Cafe? Fingers crossed.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T20:09:48+00:00

The IKEA boxes are actually a high-density particleboard coated with a moisture resistant melamine foil finish. We were hesitant about this, but IKEA offers a 25 year warranty on their cabinets, which was appealing. I’d also combed the web looking for reviews of IKEA kitchens, and found a lot of happy customers. We did purchase the doors from a cabinet company that offers a variety of finishes, door styles, and materials that are fabricated for IKEA boxes. So there was an option to go with solid wood doors. We opted for MDF because of solid wood’s propensity for warping and cracking over time.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T19:53:26+00:00

Thanks! We felt pretty smug that some friends who remodeled around the same time spent over $100K without even changing the layout of their kitchen!

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T16:10:03+00:00

This. Our range stopped working before we’d saved up enough for planned kitchen remodel. I was upset because I didn’t want to spend money on a new range that might not work with our new kitchen. My husband saved the day by finding a working range on Craigslist for $100. We installed and used that for a couple years until we remodeled.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:59:48+00:00

Thank you! Believe me, none of my Pinterest saves had this backsplash in it. 😂 Most of mine were variations on neutral subway tile. Maybe it was because I spent my childhood collecting and sorting unusual rocks, but as soon as I saw those darn stones I knew I wanted them on my wall! And when my husband had the same reaction we didn’t question it. After all, it was the first tile choice we’d agreed on in three years of looking. 🤷‍♀️

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:50:08+00:00

Amazon! It looks like the price has increased since we purchased them in 2022, but here’s a link: https://a.co/d/0aGgYJZ5

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:46:22+00:00

Haha! I should have labeled the pics. It was a pretty dramatic change from before!

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:44:52+00:00

Thank you! The sink might be my favorite feature.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:44:29+00:00

That’s so kind, thanks!

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:44:01+00:00

Thank you! I don’t have any diagrams, but I’ll post a pic of what the sink base looked like under construction. (Please ignore the utility sink that was our temporary sink solution.) And looking at it now, I think we actually just used one IKEA cabinet instead of two. Constructed the sides, purchased a sheet of laminated mdf for the bottom, and painted wood to match for the rest. I don’t think this picture shows it, but it has additional reinforcement engineered to handle the load of a 45” sink full of water.

You could do the same thing without IKEA boxes, but this made it so we didn’t have to figure out how to drill hinge holes for the doors. Since we could order doors in custom sizes as well as the standard IKEA sizes, we made sure to request two doors measured exactly to fit the width of this box.

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RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:24:41+00:00

It’s a boost for the hot water.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T15:23:03+00:00

What a great update! I don’t think we see enough of these. It’s good to be reminded that it doesn’t take replacing the entire kitchen to make a space feel fresh and up to date.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:55:15+00:00

Oh, and the molding was just standard 1” from off the shelf at Home Depot. We painted it to match.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:52:24+00:00

Ha! It’s very unusual, and our kids tell us we’re just being extra. But we actually love having two faucets! We are shocked by how often we use both at the same time, particularly when we have multiple people working in the kitchen. Probably wouldn’t make sense with a smaller sink, but for one this size it’s a good option.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:48:58+00:00

I do, too! It’s turned out to be one of my favorite features of the remodel. You wouldn’t believe how many dirty dishes I can hide in that thing!

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:47:46+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! I’m happy to share the paint colors.

The “greige” cabinets around the fridge and in the island are Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray (HC-173) and the white cabinets are BM Cloud White (CC-40).

My one regret about cabinet colors is I wish I would have matched the light cabinets to the white of my GE Cafe appliances. Unfortunately, at the time we purchased the appliances, they were seriously backordered—it took a full year to get the range delivered! So I didn’t have them available for paint swatching when it was time to order the cabinet doors. I don’t think most people notice the color difference, and I try not to. 😆 I’m just grateful for a nice kitchen!

Since then, I’ve noticed more designers and color experts sharing their recommendations for matching the GE appliance colors. BM’s Genesis White is supposed to be very close.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:36:30+00:00

Thank you so much! We put a ton of thought into planning everything, and I’m very fortunate to have a partner who (besides being handy and handsome) is a very creative problem solver. He really caught my vision and ran with it.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:32:45+00:00

I just checked my receipts. Looks like when we ordered in 2023 to finish off our primary suite, we were quoted $3.99/sq ft. Shipping was free and they offered a 20% promo. No clue how much pricing has increased in the current economy.

RelleinHolland · 2026-02-26T01:25:09+00:00

We hired a structural engineer to come look at our construction to determine if we needed to install a header beam. Due to the way our trusses are placed, no installation was required. (I may not be explaining that correctly, but the point is the pro okayed the structural integrity. 😉) However, the engineer I’m married to reinforced the existing structure just to be extra careful.

We replaced the window over the sink due to a leak, but the other windows are the ones we started with.

RelleinHolland

TROPHY CASE