Young House Love

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Our White Corian Counter Review

Merry Countermas to us!

They’re here. And they’re spectacular.

Counters View To Stove

Counters View To Hall

Just as a reminder, the cave room looked like this back when we moved in last December:

NewEmpty Kitchen

NewEmpty Kitchen Eat In

But back to our brand-spanking-new Corian counters. I didn’t expect them to feel as chunky, heavy, and stone-like as they do. They’re like marble without the veins. Seriously. Nothing plastic-y about them. And they’re sleek but sort of matte too if that makes sense, which looks/feels really chic and sort of honed-marble-ish (according to our installer the white matte ones are the only ones that don’t show scratches, which will definitely come in handy). So yeah, it’s safe to say that we’re completely smitten.

Of course things were looking a bit rough when they went in, but we’re used to the room looking like crazytown by now:

Counters In Pieces

One of the coolest things to watch was how they made them completely seamless by filling the cracks where the slabs met with some sort of glue-caulk and getting it suuuuuper hot with these defibrillator-looking pieces:

Counters Defibs Far

Counters Defibs Close Up

Then they were flash cooled and the installer polished them until the seams were completely gone. Seriously, I’ll give anyone who can tell where they were a hundred bucks because it’s impossible. Oh but for this step of the project Burger, Clara, and I went for a nice long walk and John shut himself up in our bedroom because it was a little fumey while the glue-caulk was heated up and cooled and smoothed down (but it thankfully wasn’t a dusty or messy process, which was nice). So I didn’t come back to chaos, just beautiful white amazingness with the fan going and the windows open.

Here’s where one of the seams ran (right up this corner) before he worked his installer magic. No evidence of it at all, right? Three cheers for shape-shifting counters. And yes, that is a baguette. We’re fancy like that.

Counters Corner With Stuff

The guy was awesome about talking us through maintenance stuff. Here are a few of the fun things that I stood there and actually took notes about because I’m ridiculous (in my defense, the guy seemed to be entertained by my furious scribbling):

  • Corian is nonporous, which means stains can’t penetrate it (and most of them can simply be scrubbed off, even if you don’t catch them right away)
  • If stubborn stains (like red wine that somehow sits for a few days) do discolor the top layer of the Corian, a spray bottle full of 10 ounces of water and 1 ounce of bleach should strip the stain right out.
  • The white color runs all the way through the counter, so if some insane spot refuses to come out, it can be lightly sanded in a circular motion with extremely high grit sandpaper (400 grit) and then followed with a very fine buffing pad (which was provided to us by the installer along with the sandpaper). It’s like they knew we were DIYers. So we don’t have to call anyone in to “resurface” things in a decade or two if we feel like polishing them up because they essentially taught us how to do it ourselves.
  • Our counters are warranteed for 10 years, so if anything ever cracks or otherwise has issues they can come fix it for free (holla!) using the same method they used to fill the seams, which makes any prior damage completely undetectable.

So that combined with the fact that John’s sister has had the same exact counters for five years with three kids and a big dog (and zero repairs/stains) makes us deliriously excited. And I’m happy to report that we’re not being nearly as anal as we were with our first kitchen’s granite counters (the light color of them really freaked us out in the beginning). We’ve jumped right into using our kitchen even more – so things like spaghetti sauce have already made an appearance without any disastrous results.

Oh but there is one problem. Our sleek new counters make our old cabinets look like crapola by comparison…

Counters Close Up

… but once we sand, prime, and paint them (along with fiiiinally replacing the eyeball hardware) they should be worthy of such pretty countertop company. Can’t wait to rebuild/cut down some matching doors and get to the whole priming & painting step.

You can read all about why we chose white Corian and how much it costs here, and how the templating process went here. This post is just really about photos. Glorious, glorious photos of the counter that we waited 20 sinkless days for (read more about removing the old counters and sink here).

Counters View From Office

Counters Peninsula Alt

See that hulking 3 foot by 5 foot peninsula? Pictures don’t capture how big it really is (it’s larger than the wood dining table that we used to have in here). That baby is pure joy. So much space to spread out and bake/craft/eat/serve up appetizers, etc. The kitchen is pretty much 100% more functional and there aren’t even stools there yet (or any wood trim pieces on the back and side of the peninsula to hide those ugly brackets)…

Counters Peninsula

Oh yeah and see those counter edges on the peninsula above? They’re gently curved, so there’s no pokey part to stab Clara in the eye or John in the hip or me in the belly (yes, we’re all dramatically different heights around here).

And for those wondering how we’ve been dealing with an in-progress kitchen and asking if we’ve been eating out every night, we’ve actually been really lucky to have a fully functional fridge, stove, and dishwasher this time around (which was not the case during our first kitchen gut job). So we’ve still been eating/cooking at home without counters and a sink (we just used a piece of plywood leaned on top of the cabinets as prep space with a cutting board and other platters and plates to keep us from actually prepping food on the plywood). But the whole washing-pots-and-pans-in-the-tub thing was getting old. So happy to have this guy back in action:

Counters Sink Cutting Board

Our counter fabricators even left us a handy little cutting board that they made out of the sink hole for us, which can also be used as a trivet (super hot things shouldn’t be placed directly on Corian counters, but we never put hot stuff on our old granite counters without a cutting board or trivet, so we should be cool). Oh and for anyone local wondering who we used for installation, we were beyond thrilled with Five Star (our installers) who were hired through Home Depot (where we ordered our Corian). More on that here.

Oh but wait, before the counters went in we hid a little time capsule behind one of the cabinets (which will only be found when our counters are someday removed).

Counters Time Capsule Note

John sweetly wrote it. It reads:

Today our new countertops are being installed. We are a family of three (well, four if you count our chihuahua Hamburger). I’m John Petersik (age 30), my wife Sherry (age 29) and I moved here 11 months ago in December of 2010 with our daughter Clara (age 1.5). We write a blog about our home improvement adventures called Young House Love (www.younghouselove.com). If you’re reading this it means you’re probably getting new counters too. Hope you enjoy them!

Here’s how we hid it behind the corner cabinet by the window (stapled to the back of the cabinet in a ziplock bag).

Counters Time Capsula Taped

Ah memories. We can hardly picture the top of the cabinets anymore. Isn’t it weird how your eyes adjust so fast? So next up we have to cut down and hang a cabinet for the built-in microwave next to the pantry, start trying to retrofit/build matching doors for the secondhand cabinets that we added to the room, prime and paint the cabinets, tackle the backsplash, hang our built-in range hood and floating shelves, redo all the lighting, lay the cork floors, install our new stainless dishwasher, add crown molding, etc. Whew. Might not be done until late January (we originally were aiming for early Jan) but we’re inching slowly towards the finish line. Just taking things one day at a time seems to be the secret to sanity. That and washing things in the sink again. Oh man, it’s good to have that guy back.

UPDATE: We’re officially in love with our new counters. Check out the update post about them here.

Comments

  1. Amy L. says

    Kids are funny in that sometimes they don’t realize they are growing and start bumping into new things. For 3 years our son Owen didn’t bump his head on the counters, but then one day I guess he woke up just a bit taller and hit every corner. It was a tough day for poor Owen, but it didn’t take him long to adjust. Counters look great!

    Reply

  2. Ann L says

    BEAUTIFUL! I can’t get over how great it looks. So much lighter, more polished (even though it’s half-demo’d) and just all around wonderful. Oh, and you guys were SO RIGHT about the peninsula. I’d kill to have that kind of counter space this time of year when mine are overflowing with cookies. Love love love and can’t wait to see how everything else develops in there.

    Reply

  4. Victoria C says

    They are goooorggeeeooouuusss! Gotta love Corian. Enjoy them guys and cannot wait to see what happens next to the kitchen.

    Reply

  5. Ellen says

    I love the note! When we demo-ed the kitchen in our previous house I kept looking for treasures (we found a few odd things) and left some things in the wall under the attic stairs. So fun!

    Reply

  6. Karen F says

    looks awesome!
    I have to admit (maybe I was reading too fast) but I thought John’s note said that Clara was 15 years old, and I was like “oh crap, the note’s behind the counter now and they can’t fix it!” LOL

    Reply

  7. KellyA says

    I so read that note as Clara (age 15 years) and thought WOW, she has really found the fountain of youth, lol.

    Congrats on the amazing makeover, glad that you love the counters and it’s on to the next project, right? Always in home ownership, always!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, they were awesome! Even the guy who came out to template was the one to suggest that we DIY our own brackets to save $300. Such a stand-up company to give people so much info and DIY encouragement!

      xo,
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually did! Check out the post for that info (they’re gently curved, so it’s not super obvious from afar, but there aren’t any pointy corners to bump into).

      xo,
      s

  11. DONNA says

    I AM SPEECHLESS! You have surely achieved maximum potential of your kitchen with this amazing space! For sure…your 3×5 peninsula will become the HEART OF YOUR HOME!…and I see many, many happy years of activity unfolding there! Space planning is most definitely an art and you two…have got it going on!!!
    ENJOY!

    Reply

  15. Darcy says

    Merry Countermas!! They look sooo awesome! But, yes, the cabinets do look very sad next to them! hehe!

    Your installers sound like they were really great — you gotta love it when they give you all kinds of info on care and maintenance! And that is so interesting how they get it seamless! Who knew?!?! LOL!

    As excited as I am to see you paint those cabinets, I really, really can’t wait to see that penny tile up on that focal wall with open shelves! I’m sure my excitement, can’t compare to yours—I guess that’s fair — it is your house!! LOL!
    BTW — any decisions made on if you are sticking with white cabinets, or are you still mulling over colors?

    Reply

    • T.D. says

      I was wondering the same thing about what color the cabinets will be. My thoughts- white counters, white cabinets, light tile- could be nice but maybe a bit tooo much white. The floors are dark though. Maybe one of the Sue Napkin Colors?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, the floors will be dark and we have grellow walls (with art, and colorful accessories on the floating shelves). So we’re not going to go bright with the cabinets, but maybe a slight tone so it’s not too stark!

      xo,
      s

  20. Mari says

    Can you please add a picture to this post that holds up the penny tile next to the counters and to your green painted walls so we can get a sense of the color? And which way are you leaning on color for the cabinets?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’ll try to snap a photo or two like that for a future post (in the meantime this post has all the colors together for ya towards the end)! As for cabinet color, we’re so not sure- wanted to wait for the counters to go in before bringing home swatches and making any decision!

      xo,
      s

  21. Heather says

    Ummm it’s gorgeous! So happy for you guys and just in time for Christmas!! :) BTW- I totally thought John wrote Clara is 15 years instead of months…whew she’s only “1.5 years” and I didn’t miss the last 13.5 years of her life- haha

    Reply

  22. Lauren says

    The kitchen looks fabulous (really, really–can’t wait to see the white on white!), but I’m distracted by that even more amazing fruit bowl! Where did that come from? I must have one!

    Reply

  23. Wom-mom Ethne says

    We love our Corian, also white. Thanks for putting the care instructions on here – I forgot the grit to use and the mix for cleaning off the tough stains which in our case are markers and pens from the kiddos.

    Reply

  25. mribaro says

    Your counters are sooo beautiful! Wow. My only wish is that those two corners that stick out of the peninsula are much more rounded (like that corner where the baguette is, or like sink corners). Still, they might not be so dangerous looking when the chairs take their respected places around the peninsula.

    Reply

  27. Jen says

    The countertops look amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Corian before…. Everyone I know has granite or is planning to upgrade their formica to granite. I like something different! We have a local guy that makes countertops from local recycled glass, which is the direction we thought we’d go, I might give Corian a look before I bust out the checkbook :)

    Reply

  29. Julie says

    Ahhhh – they look amazing! I can’t believe what a huge difference you’ve made in that room already. You guys are so inspiring!

    In other news, one of the five largest Ikeas in North America just opened today in my city (Ottawa, Canada)! Trying to put off going until the crowds subside…

    Reply

  31. OMG Ponies! says

    Congrats on the counter-tops turning out so well. I don’t envy you the cabinet prep phase, but I am so glad you’re doing it so I can learn from your experience.

    Reply

  33. heather says

    I may have to put corian on our list of possibilities for counter tops now that I see them in, and they definitely don’t look like plastic. I couldn’t (I think) do the 12″ overhang. I would slam into that thing way too much haha. At least it doesn’t have sharp corners – plus!

    Reply

  35. AmyW03 says

    I bet you are just itching to get those cabinets painted. I am dying to see pictures of you doing so!!! Everything looks great!

    Reply

  37. Kelly says

    They look amazing! Following all your progress since the kitchen is on my list . Though sadly ours will be a full gut job. Any tips on surviving that from your last experience?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man, that was rough. 113 days without a kitchen = harddddd! But we lived to tell the tale. And we tried to eat food like pop tarts to sustain ourselves from having to eat out every single meal. Oh and a hotpot helps, like college. We also tried to save coupons for restaurants since that much dining out can really add up!

      xo,
      s

    • Sarah says

      I would suggest making several big batches of some good “go-to” meals and vacuum seal them into meal sized portions and freeze…then you just have to microwave and eat. This obviously works best if you have a chest freezer, but I it could definitely save you tons over the course of your reno.

  38. Brie says

    They Look AMAZING! My husband and I are looking to put in Corian counter tops in our new kitchen along with a wooden island. Would you mind me asking… what was the total cost after installation etc with your new counter tops? (love to see the cost different via different regions)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Installation was free! So they really were $38 a square foot! No hidden or added charges other than I think $150 for making a sink hole for a stainless sink since they did that instead of making a Corian sink (we heard those were hard to maintain so we opted to reuse the sink we already had and loved). It was also $70 (total) for the two peninsula overhangs (since they had to reinforce that with wood underneath for the brackets to drill into). We priced them out at Lowe’s and Home Depot and Lowe’s had about $250-ish more fees than HD, so we went with Depot (they also honored a Lowe’s coupon we had and gave us 5% off for using our HD credit card).

      xo,
      s

  40. brett says

    They look amazing. We went with white marble for ours and as you well know we can’t do any of the fabulous things you can do with yours – no sanding or bleach but we can pretend we’re in a Parisian bistro and even roll out dough to make our own baguettes on them ;) Seriously we were totally torn between the maintenance issues and the look/feel and went for the latter, so let’s compare notes in a year and see where we all are!

    Reply

  41. erin says

    What a difference those counters make! My parents had white Corian counters that look identical to yours installed in their kitchen in 1988 (23 years ago). They cook in there every day and the kitchen is the main hang-out spot in the house, and even with 23 years of heavy use the Corian counters still look new.

    Reply

  42. Cynthia says

    Oh my goodness. Oh Your Kitchen Goodness. It looks REALLY fantastic! I am actually Excited about how fabulous this is going to be–both aesthetically and functionally. If you were my brother/sister or whatever, I would so be like, “Do you need any help sanding those cabinets?” “Do you want me to take care of Clara so you can spend more time on the kitchen?” “Which ceramic animals are going to find there home in here, do you think? Let’s try them out together!” Well, I live in Massachusetts, and I’m not a sibling. But I can’t wait to see it done. Happy Holidays, Guys!

    Reply

  43. katie frokedal says

    Those countertops look AWESOME. I can’t wait to see your kitchen finished… You have done some awesome things to it so far. And I’m sure you can’t wait to have it finished :)

    Reply

  44. Kelly says

    Your countertops are beautiful. So white and clean… they just seem to sparkle. I can’t wait to see the rest of the kitchen updated. Will the cement boards you placed on the wall to hang the tile… help with the hanging of the shelves as well? I always wondered about weight with open shelving and would love to know how to do it. It’s on my project list. (:

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Since we know where the studs are from hanging the cement board we’ll hopefully just go right into those for maximum strength (and might add some simple decorative brackets under them as well). We’ll definitely keep ya posted!

      xo,
      s

  45. Courtney says

    That peninsula is a thing of beauty!

    We have a flush peninsula in our kitchen as well and it is seriously my favourite thing! We were so excited when we found out from our builder we could do that at no extra charge. Totally opens up sight-lines and is super functional. I will NEVER have a breakfast bar in any kitchen again!

    Glad you are so in love with your new counters! Things are really starting to come together.

    Reply

  49. Lani @ Diapers and Divas says

    Ok…so I was a kitchen and bath designer for 7 years before having babies and I always hated Corian. I knew all the functional benefits…but just didn’t dig the look. BUT…and it’s a BIG one…THIS LOOKS AMAZING. Seriously. I love that you didn’t do an upgraded edge and you kept everything really sweet and simple. It’s changed my view! I know you guys are going for white cabinets too which will look great. I just hope the counters don’t “get lost” with them. Have you ever thought about maybe doing a gray to the cabinets? Could tie your dining room in nicely too. Just thoughts! It looks great guys!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have actually debated soft tones for the cabinets so we’re not set on white! Now that the counters are in we can’t wait to hold up lots of swatches and see what we think!

      xo,
      s

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