Visit a stone yard instead of big box. I googled it and there a couple in the City, Brooklyn and it looks like one in Queens. They might be able to help you with a smaller counter. I bet they do small kitchens all the time.

Go to a stone yard! And, I don’t know why Lowe’s or any of the big box stores are telling you the job is too small. We had Home Depot install granite counters for our laundry room, and I can assure you our counters are less than your kitchen. Just a small folding area, really.

Anyway, go to a stone yard, you’ll like what you see there more than the big box stores, anyway. There have to be some in Queens, Jersey burbs, or out on Long Island.

Call fabricators to see if they carry remnants. If they do you can go check them out and if you find something they will take care of your needs. You have the perfect size for a remnant where a stone yard based on my experience you would have to purchase a whole slab which you would pay for the whole thing not just what you need and you'd still end up going to a fabricator to take care of the rest of the process.

Thank you all! I'll definitely look for fabricators and stone yards. I think I might have just been googling the wrong terms, so this is super helpful!

Been to IKEA, Lowes, Home Depot, and have been told my one counter doesn't meet the mininum square footage for them to come out and do the counter.

I had no idea that was an issue!

I plan to eventually knock down the wall and expand the kitchen and will re-do all the tile/backsplash, get bigger appliances, and maybe add an island or bar when I do (won't be for about another year or two), but for now I just need it to be in decent enough shape for me to live with/look at.

If you're going to re-do the whole thing in a year or two, I wouldn't spend a single penny on the countertop now. It's not financially wise, and it's not kind to the Earth to plan to throw a cabinet top into the dump after such a short use.

I have seen spray cans of "fake granite" paint for cabinet tops. I suspect they don't have a long-long lifespan, but I bet they'd last a year or two. This might cost $20-25, which is a much more reasonable spend for a stop-gap measure.

Your inspiration picture is adorable.

Visit a stone yard instead of big box.

When you're ready to "do it right", yes, do this.

If they, too, demand a minimum square footage, maybe a neighbor is looking to do a kitchen too? They might be willing to come out for two small jobs?

Call fabricators to see if they carry remnants.

Yes, if anyone can use remnants, it's you. And you'll save money on the slab itself.

I somehow missed that you might be redoing everything in a year or two. If that’s the case, just save your money. Live with it in it’s current state and do the full re-do when you’re ready. Why spend twice?

I'm all for roughing things out for a few years, but the condition of the appliances and sink/counter are definitely not something i feel comfortable living with. Tried to clean it thinking i could make it work while i fix the place up slowly, but everything is full of 17 years of cat hair, dust, dirt, rust, and who knows what other gunk. The pictures make ot look decent, but looking closely, its ... ewww. No. Lol!

I dont need anythig fancy, and i get not wanting to create more trash, but the appliances have already been ordered, and unfortunately, the new slightly bigger stove wont work with that counter. The base is about 4 inches smaller than the countertop, so i thought i could easily switch it to make the new stove fit. Will check out the remnant places this week. Wish me luck!

Ask the fabricator if they will take the existing countertop out as often that has to be done by a separate contractor. Just mentioning it in case you need to have that done, too. The other thing is since you have a laminate counter, your cabinets may not be strong enough to handle the weight of anything else. Another discussion to have with the fabricator.

Here's an update for anyone who may be interested. Cleaned and painted the upper cabinets, and replaced the appliances and the base cabinets (they were moldy and falling apart). The only problem I'm having is finding doors for the base cabinets that match the uppers, so for the time being I just added a "skirt" using two cheap curtain panels. Looks a bit busy and the fabric isn't very flowy, but wanted to keep the cost down and make sure the fabric would hold up to any water/spills/stains, etc. Maybe i just need to trim down the fabric a bit. Either way, will have to do until I can get around to a proper gut reno.

It looks very nice, Jackie.

Your kitchen rework is pretty, fresh, and sleek. Nice job.

Very nicely done! I bet it’s more fun to cook in!