michele kitchen

The original kitchen with a view of the dining room above the peninsula bar top Phase 5: June 2018 Cut down high bar top between dining room and kitchen.Replaced existing countertops with quartziteInstalled new backsplash Replaced sink and faucetThis phase was completed by a pro and took three days. This was the only time during the process that Michele and Ryan paid for labor rather than doing the job themselves.By the following spring, the couple knew they had to replace their countertops. “I didn’t love our countertops, but everyone who came over always admired them so I’d talked myself into living with them,” Michele says. They were originally laminate, but the previous homeowners had covered them in something that looked like concrete. They were more brown than the couple liked. However, right around the time they had decided to live with them, the counters started to fall apart, with large chunks chipping off the edges.The couple also had wanted to get rid of the high bar on the peninsula and add a new backsplash, so the crumbling countertops gave them the green light to begin this next step in the cosmetic renovation. “The kids were always climbing up on the bar stools and standing on them just to see over that bar, and we wanted to open things up between the dining room and the kitchen,” Michele says. They wound up learning about three countertop choices while interviewing contractors and sourcing materials. 1. Concrete. The couple initially looked into concrete in grayer tones than their existing countertops because they liked the look and idea of it. But the contractors they interviewed didn’t seem up to the job, didn’t show up on time or didn’t call back after giving an estimate, or all of the above. So they started looking into other materials that a wider range of contractors could handle. 2. Quartz. With concrete scratched off the list, Michele and Ryan knew they liked the look of marble, but they wanted something that was more resistant to scratches, chips and stains. So Michele did her research and they turned to quartz, an engineered product that can look like natural stone, because they liked its look and durability. However, once they got to the stone yard to check out slabs, they learned that the quartz they liked came in smaller slabs than natural stone and they would need to buy a second slab to cover their countertops. This was a potential budget buster. 3. Quartzite. While at the stone yard receiving this news about quartz, they saw slabs of quartzite, a natural stone that is harder than marble. They found out that one slab would take care of the whole kitchen, and ding-ding-ding, they had a winner. “Although quartzite is more expensive than quartz, we didn’t have to buy a second slab so we saved money overall,” Michele says.And once they’d given up on concrete, they interviewed other contractors, asking each of them if they had completed a bar removal like this before. One of them whipped out his phone and showed them a slew of before-and-after photos of similar jobs he’d completed. That’s when they knew they had their contractor, even though his estimate was not the lowest quote. Tip: Often the lowest estimate is not the best value. You get what you pay for, so conduct thorough interviews and check out references and reviews when choosing a home improvement pro.What’s the Difference Between Quartz and Quartzite?

6. From Boring to Black and White in DallasSize: About 144 square feet (13 square meters)Before. The owners of this house disliked the tile floor of their kitchen — so much so that they jackhammered it up before they moved in. They installed hardwood flooring, painted the walls and ceiling and still had big plans to further improve the space.