Merry Countermas to us!
They’re here. And they’re spectacular.
Just as a reminder, the cave room looked like this back when we moved in last December:
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:
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:
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.
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…
… 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).
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)…
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:
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).
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).
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.
Diana @ Boy + Girl says
The counters look amazing! I can’t wait to see what you do with the cabinets!
-Diana
Alice says
Your beautiful new counters look so nice and clean! What my mother would have given for a smooth seemless counter like that. Our home had a huge L-shaped peninsula (to fit 8 barstools for 6 kids plus parents) with a counter of square white tiles with grout that she was forever scrubbing with cleanser and a toothbrush.
Also, I’m thinking even though the corners of your peninsula counter are gently curved, once you have bar stools in place, you all will be less to bump a hip, tummy or head into them!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we think once we have stools there they’ll be nice and out of the way- like bumpers. Haha.
xo,
s
Ashley says
Love the new counters. They’re like butta’. I want to spread them all over some bread and eat ’em up. Nah, that’s not creepy at all.
Also, since I’ve only been reading since earlier this year and am bored at work I’m going through all your old projects. I love the calendars you guys have created(and sweetly shared). Not that you don’t have enough on your plates but are you guys planning to do that again this year? Please tell me yes, $herdog!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s definitely on our to-do list!
xo,
s
Dawn says
You can get an idea of how the cabinets will look from the pic of the one white cabinet. Nice! Could you recycle your now old living room rug to in front of the fireplace? Add a couple of floor pillows, a couple of glasses of wine (oops, hot chocolate) and it could be a cozy spot!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, sadly we think it’s too big (the one there now is a 4 x 6, so we think a 5 x 8 might cramp the doorways/future stools. We’ll have to see where we end up though!
xo,
s
LARY says
It looks great! It’s getting there! So excited to see the final pictures once the backsplash and all goes up! :) Yey! You guys rock!
Angela says
When does the new dishwasher go in? It looks so out of place now with all the pretty stainless. I can’t wait to see it all put together, everything is looking amazing so far!
Angela says
nevermind I read through some other comments and found my answer :)
YoungHouseLove says
So glad!
xo,
s
Laura C says
I love them and I love my 10 year old Corian counters. I have a color that is not solid and I think they are so durable and easy to keep clean. And they are “soft”. When you set an object on them, it doesn’t make a loud crack. That is an often-neglected aspect of them. Enjoy!
Noelle says
Lovely. My favorite part, hands-down, is the stainless sink up against the counters. Love it.
Shelley says
Ooooh this is getting exciting :)
Our Wired Lives says
love the hidden note! That’s so thoughtful. Love how it’s all coming together.
Isabel says
Gorgeous transformation, love how light and airy it already looks! The hardware on the cabinet cracks me up… They either look mesmerized by the new counters, or wild-eyes knowing their days are numbered.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- they’re skeeeered I think!
xo,
s
Lauren says
You may have answered this somewhere else and I missed it, but are you planning to take up the old floor (looks like vinyl in the photos?) before you put down the cork, or are you laying the cork over the old floor? We’re planning on putting engineered hardwoods in ours in the near-ish future, and weren’t sure what we should do. We’ve seen it done both ways.
We have heard that if you do the new floor over the old floor, you can’t put the new floor under the dishwasher because it won’t fit under the cabinets anymore–not sure if this is true.
Your kitchen looks so much bigger now that it’s been brightened with the grellow and white! Can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.
YoungHouseLove says
We found out that we have asbestos liner under the vinyl tile so we can’t rip it up and must float the cork over it. Thankfully it’s pretty thin so we won’t have a huge step up or anything (just a subtly sloped transition). As for the dishwasher, they have adjustable feet, so just measure the opening for it and the dishwasher and add in the depth of the floor (and any barrier or liner you’ll be using) and see if it’ll slide in! We did that with ours and it should fit just fine even if we go over the old floor. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Tasnneem says
How lovely!!! I actually thought it was a photoshopped picture at first showing what the counters WOULD look like once installed.
Leslie says
Congrats! You will LOVE this Corian counter…we got some of the very first sold back in 1975 & used it through 3 kids & 3 grandkids until 2 years ago when we finally replaced it with…Corian!! We had the white. It is great. Enjoy & may your family spend as much fun times around your counters as we did.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks so much Leslie! So great to hear!
xo,
s
Jenny Murphy says
wow–congrats! they look great.
Now, before you sand, prime and paint your cabinets, please let us know if you have heard of or used the “all in one” paint your cabinet kits I recently saw at my neighborhood Benjamin Moore paint store…they looked so very inticing! Any experience with them or have you ever even heard of them? The brand escapes me now but please do tell if you know anything about these!
YoungHouseLove says
Haven’t seen those yet, but I’m interested to check them out!
xo,
s
Kathy says
Ohhh! now I am truly getting excited about your kitchen!
Clarissa says
Since Countermas came early and you’re moving on to figuring out what color to paint cabinets, it made me curious about how you guys decide on what method to use when painting furniture/fixtures. Do you have a rule of thumb when to comes to painting furniture / fixtures (ex. tables and chairs get the Rustoleum can vs. all doors get the foam roller)? I’m trying to get myself motivated to paint my living room tables (coffee and end ones that have a narrow opening shelf) for a new year refresher and not sure how to go about it. Thanks in advance if you respond! I wish I was as connected as one of your reader redesign submitters who had a friend with a car spray painter to just get ‘er done.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, our rule is generally that small things that don’t get much wear when it comes to people touching them/sitting on them (like chair legs, ceramic animals, plant pots, metal lights, etc) get spray paint. But all real furniture like a wood pedestal table or desk or chair get primer + paint (we have a tutorial for painting furniture on our Projects page for ya). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Samantha says
Am I the only person who first noticed John in the first picture before the new countertops? haha It’s like Where’s Waldo.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- one other person noticed him too! I love when he’s hiding in the background.
xo,
s
Michele says
Love ’em! And I adore the living room changes. Especially since I am always finding/stepping on stray legos that have been ground into our shag rug! BTY, am I the only one that noticed the Seinfeld reference in the first sentence?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, a few other folks picked up on it too! Love it.
xo,
s
Michele says
@Jenny Murphy, I believe Centsational Girl has a review of those ” all in one kits” on her blog…
Georgia says
AWESOME!!! We had those counters in a rental house in Australia and they were BRILLIANT.
Mary says
It’s easy to get distracted by those gorgeous white counters… but did anybody else spot the action in the background of these shots? John makes a cameo appearance and what is that I see in the entry way?? Is that a the horse $herdog glammed up? Where did that long table come from? Did you already post this and I’m behind the times or is this breaking YHL news?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s just a pile of stuff that has yet to find a final spot. That table is actually the old desk that we had until we built the new one (we originally made it from a door in our first house). So it’s full o’ crap. Haha. Gotta clean this house up!
xo,
s
Gwenalyn says
Beautiful! I might have to look into that type of counter. Ours are creamy pink Formica. Not horrible, most people think it’s off white – but they’re pink. They’re cracking and stained so we need something new but less expensive than granite. Thanks for posting all those notes you took! That’s so helpful!
PS – I love the time capsule picture/note. It made me all teary thinking about a new young family down the road seeing that… then again I could be teary because I’m pregnant. Everything makes me cry these days! It’s still a very sweet idea. I might have to borrow it when we do our counters.
Stephanie N says
Are your cabinets going to be white as well? The counters look awesome! You seemed to have received great service from your installers! :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’re not sure if they’ll be pure white or some sort of light tone (like soft taupey-gray). Will keep you posted when we decide!
xo,
s
Sarah C says
Merry Countermas! The white looks amazing; I was doubtful when you first mentioned the idea but now I’m a believer (I tried to work a witty Santa reference in somehow to tie in countermas but I just couldn’t make it work :)
On another note this is the first post where I’ve noticed how high the eyeball pulls are on your pantry doors. Are there any plans to lower the handles to a more normal height when the eyeballs are replaced?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, those babies are moving to the bottom corner of those tall cabinets!
xo,
s
Amanda says
How exciting! I’ve been anxiously awaiting seeing your new countertops, and they didn’t disappoint! I can’t wait to see it all come together – it’s going to look fabulous!
And let me just add that I absolutely adore the note you left! We just bought our first home a few months ago and we’re only the second owners (it was built in 1986 – and the previous owners left us the original purchase receipt, with the options they chose and all that!) and I think it would be fabulous to find something like that here – they lived here for 25 years, hopefully they left something! :)
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove says
yay for counters and I love the picture and note idea! soooo fun! :)
Annie says
We have those exact countertops! I always wondered how there were no seams – mystery solved! I think you’ll love them!
Missy G. says
I haven’t read all 400+ comments, but I’m sure someone else already mentioned this. Do I spy a table/buffet in your entryway in the dining room? It’s peeking through in the second pic. :)
Btw, LOVE the white counters. Merry Countermas to you!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s our old desk (the one from our first house that we made with the bathroom linen closet door). No where to put it since making our new desk! So it’s full of junk. I gotta clean this house! Haha.
xo,
s
brady says
wondering why you didn’t tile before the countertops went in? are you worried at all that the tiling process would mess up the counters? i know you waited to paint so just curious about the tile…
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, it’s pretty standard to do backsplash after counters, just so the splash doesn’t get dinged or cracked or scraped while the heavy counters are set into place!
xo,
s
Pip says
Congratulations! What a great result – so rewarding after being sink-less and doing food prep on offcuts. I was so pleased to hear you didn’t try to carve a turkey in there during remodelling festivities. Phew!
Joy says
Totally excellent. Great install. Great prep work. Happy day.
-Joy
Jennifer says
I’m so weirdly excited to see your kitchen remodel. I think even more than mine that’s going on right now. What color did you decide on for the cabinets? I can’t remember if you mentioned it or if it’s a surprise. A pale gray would look awesome!
YoungHouseLove says
We’re still going back and forth! Will fill you in as soon as we (finally) make a decision!
xo,
s
Amy Lambert says
Oh man, you need to put up the tile next! I’m finally about to tile the back splash in my kitchen and want you guys to go first!! Congrats on the countertops. They look dreamy!
Lisha says
Congrats on the counter arrival and installation! How nice it is to finally have counters, huh? We used the cardboard boxes that our cabinets came in as countertops for the 6 weeks we had to wait for our counters to be molded, etc.
Those countertops look beautiful! Nice choice! And yes the cabinets look even worse now! lol! Can’t wait to see the finished project, but I’m definitely enjoying the process :)
We used formica countertops on our house and they have pretty much the same durability, etc. as corian.
How creative to put a time capsule for the next people who install new countertops! I have to remember that :)
~Lisha
Robin says
I looooove all your choices! It seems smart to get such a durable countertop, even though the brandname Corian might sound a little passe. You saw past that!!
Tirsa says
I love the idea of leaving a time capsule for the future. So sweet! (too late for me to copy your idea, though. Hmmmm…. maybe when we redo our master bath….
:)
Kateri says
Hi Guys! Love your blog and looooove how the kitchen is coming along. Well I was on Pinterest and saw a kitchen that immediately called your name. The cabinets are gorgeous.
http://greigedesign.blogspot.com/2011/04/should-i-do-grey-in-kitchen.html
It may be too dark but maybe as an accent color for the peninsula cabinets or something. Anywho, just thought i’d share. Happy Holidays!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh so pretty!
xo,
s
Leslie says
Awesome! They are even better than I imagined. I’m so happy for you and know that you are thrilled.
effika says
The Corian countertops in our bathrooms are over forty years old, and they still look great.
We’ll definitely be replacing our kitchen counter with Corian when the Formica gets too shabby!
May you enjoy your new counters for years to come!
YoungHouseLove says
Holy cow, over 40 years old?! Ah. Mazing.
xo,
s
Paula M. says
OK, that time capsule note is about the best idea and the most endearing thing I’ve seen online all day. Or maybe 2nd-most (verrrry neck and neck photo-finish, however), ranking right after a “memorial” cookbook I read about, compiled in honor of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg’s late husband (apparently, he was not only one of the sweetest, most doting spouses around, he was also a helluva cook).
So, that’s a weird segue, but hey, there’s an inadvertent connection between my 2 mentions, that being: Let’s hear it for sentiment and for sweet guys! :)
(oh, here’s more info on the cookbook, but I promise it’s not a spam promo, just a news item: http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/12/supreme-court-spouses-publish-cookbook-in-tribute-to-martin-ginsburg.html )
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so sweet! Thanks for sharing!
xo,
s
Allison B says
L.O.V.E the Corian – I mentioned when y’all chose them that my parents have had pure white ones in their kitchen and baths for over 30 years and they are still perfect! Love the time capsule idea too – so fun!!! When we renovated our 1940’s house (plaster walls torn down to the studs), we found a pile of old straight razors in the wall in the bathroom. There had been a slot/hole on the bottom shelf of our old “built in” medicine cabinet. One of the guys working on the house explained that the slot was the “disposal” for a man’s shaving razor once it became dull. Kinda weird to find 100+ straight razors in your wall, but also cool to discover some history there!
YoungHouseLove says
What a crazy thing to find! As for the 30 years thing about your parents’ white Corian – that’s amazing. So awesome to hear!
xo,
s
Trisha says
Love the counters! White is my favorite color for the kitchen, it makes everything I cook look better…so I tell myself.
Children’s tables…
I totally snatched a small, in size, but bar height table off craigslist. I sawed it and the stool down to kid height. My son loves it!
YoungHouseLove says
So smart! I love it!
xo,
s
Marla says
I know you’re still deciding on cabinet paint colors, but I’m casting my vote for something grayish. Counter tops are super pretty!!
Chris Wilson says
So excited at the progress…you must by DYING to paint! The note is such a fabulous idea…yeah YHL!
Sarah says
Sooooo…what colour will the cupboards be? I’d love to see grey…. but will wait and see. I have to say I’m not at all keen on the yellow-green (sorry). Each to their own – so have fingers crossed the cupboard colours will be good.
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure! Still going back and forth between a soft gray-white or a taupey-gray or something slightly tinted so it’s not stark white! Will fill you guys in as soon as we’re sure!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Hooray.
My new cupboards are Alpine Mist Laminex which is a soft grey with nearly mauve undertones (as it turned out).
LOVE LOVE LOVE Grey!
MichelleLG says
re: house time capsules, we (well, our electritian) recently found a bunch of old documents hidden in the hall vent that belonged to the previous owner (and builder) of our home. The house was built in 1938 and the docs include some US citizenship papers, old passport, and payment records documenting their loan for the land the house sits on. It was AMAZING discovering those! We felt like anthropologists going through everything! My plan is to make a photobook documenting the history of the house, including everything we know about its previous owners/builders and our lives and progress as we renovate. So exciting! If we ever sell I’d love to be able to pass on some record of the house’s history! :o)
Jen says
Oh YAY! Seriously, it doesn’t get more exciting than shiny new counters. I am happy dancing for you guys! It’s really coming together!
xoxo!
Jen
Nan says
They look fabulous! We are getting new counters next year and I have analyzed, re-analyzed and then re-anaylyzed my analysis and can’t decide what to get. We have white cabinets and chocolate brown walls and currently have white ceramic tile counters and backsplash and I love how clean it looks. I would love to put in calacatta marble, and we will likely do that for the backsplash, but it seems completely impractical for a counter.
I’ve been thinking for a while that white Corian reminds me of honed marble, but have been worried about its durability vs. quartz (which I had in my last house and loved). I have heard it can yellow over time and scratches. I’m going to be watching you guys intently to see how you like it over the next few months before we have to make our decision.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Nan,
Just check out some of the comments on this post! Folks with the Glacier White Corian (what we have) are dropping in to say it’s super durable and still looks great 10, 20, and even 30 (!!!!) years later! I don’t believe there’s any issue with yellowing with the Glacier White stuff (or scratching, or staining since it can be bleached/sanded). So the only difference from quartz would be using trivets (we did that in our first kitchen and never really minded at all) and the nice price difference (which we can’t complain about! haha). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
anne says
Amazing transformation! It looks great!