Said "Yes" to a Granite Slab

If you follow me on Instagram (@McSwann) you may have seen Saturday's exciting news that I finally said “Yes” to a Granite slab!

 

 

Brandon hit this situation dead-on…. picking out a slab of granite is like picking out a wedding gown. You’re stuck with the decision for life; it’s a non-returnable, customized, expensive investment and someday, someone else will look at pictures and judge your selection. No pressure.

 

So, after 4 weeks of looking at and “trying on” a dozen different slabs with our cabinet door, we made a choice. We ended up with Santa Cecilia Classic (you can see some of the other color options in my last post).

 

 

Knowing that B and I were going Granite "shopping" on Saturday, I called Thursday morning to check current stock of the different colors I liked at both Granite Suppliers (GS #1 & GS #2). GS #1 had Santa Cecilia Classic in stock but in order to guarantee that we could see it Saturday was to place it on hold. So, I did. On Saturday, we went to GS#2 first; walked around, saw a slab of Napoli that we liked but it was already spoken for… so we left empty handed. Then we made our way to GS #1 and I was nervous; nervous we wouldn’t find anything or I would hate the slabs that were on hold in my name.

 

Turned out, GS #1 had a few options I liked… but I liked the slabs with my name already on them best. It must have been meant to be. This particular cut of SCC had hints of brown in addition to black, which is what I wanted. Some SCC slabs had black only and seemed to look too green.

 

 

Because I’m not the best decision maker, I had to walk up and down and look at all the granite selections again. And came right back to the slab with my name. At that point, B took a step back from the slab, looked at me studying the slab and said…. Are you ready to say “Yes” to this slab? And I said, “Yes”.

 

From there, we knocked out the rest of the “to be picked out” list in about 15 minutes. I already knew what I wanted by this point. 

 

Edge cut for the granite? Straight. Done. 

 

 

Back-splash? Ivory, tumbled Travertine 3x6 subway tiles. Done.

 

Sink? 60/40 Granite Composite in Cafe Brown.  Done.

 

Then to Lowe’s to pick out a faucet....

 

 

 

Done.

 

Now we wait for the install …. which in just 10 days we will be saying goodbye to 1995 and hello to 2013. The updated kitchen we've wanted since 2009. EEK! (this also, makes me nervous. The indecisive me, sure hopes I’m good with those decisions. And hopes it all turns out well!)

Granite Problems

Who knew picking out slabs of Granite could be so hard?!

We're going on week 4 and still haven't claimed a slab. Yes, I'm indecisive, but picking granite is a BIG deal (espeically when you've waited for this for almost 4 years)!

The good news is, it's not completely my fault. So here's an update on where we are in the process....

Week #1 - Granite installer comes, brings some samples (2 pictured below, both variations of Santa Cecilia), measures and gives an estimate, tells us where to pick out slabs, sink and backsplash.

Keep in mind that we currently have white counter tops, white tile flooring and light woodwork in our kitchen (hello 1995!).

The to-be picked out list:

2 slabs of 3cm, Level 1 Granite

Granite Edge Selection

35 sqft Backsplash

1 Sink

1 Faucet

Inspiration Pictures:

 

Weekend #1 - "You can look, but none of these slabs will be yours"

Visit Granite Supplier #1, they're out of 3cm Santa Cecilia slabs, but was able to browse their 2cm selections.

  

Also found Santa Rita in 3cm but only had 1 slab available and wouldn't have anymore in stock for at least a month.

  

Week #2 - "Place it on hold and check to see if your installer can pull it off"

*Granite Supplier #1 (GS #1) is still out of 3cm Santa Cecilia and Santa Rita

Granite Supplier #2 (GS #2) has slabs in the colors I like in the thickness we want, but those particular cuts are U-G-L-Y. This slab of Santa Cecilia looks like a hairy man's back with some rust spots - no one wants to cook on that!

  

However, I did find another granite color I like, Napoli....

  

BUT there are two big, BIG blobs in the slab. The associate called them "blue accents that would give character", I called them "blobs that I don't want in my kitchen". The only way around the blobs is literally to hope the installer could cut around the blobs. So, I left with pictures to send our installer to see if he could pull it off.

  

Now that there is a 3rd color in the mix, I called GS #1 to see if they had any 3cm Napoli in stock, because if they do, maybe their slabs would be blob-less! As luck would have it, they did have Napoli in stock, but in a place where there isn't access to look during the weekends. I was told to "Try next week during the week".

  

*Granite installer says he "could probably cut around the blobs". No offense to the installer, but I'm not really comfortable with the word, "PROBABLY" when it comes to my forever granite decision.

Week #3 -  "Too muddy to look"

I called GS #1 to check the status of Santa Cecilia & Santa Rita slabs and to see if I could go out to look at their Napoli slabs. They're still out and it's too muddy to see Napoli..... Fail.

Week #4 - crossing our fingers that Saturday B and I can both go look at slabs. Thus far, I'm the only one who's been slab shopping.... can't wait for him to see how overwhelming it can be :).

Wish us luck on our continued Granite Slab Search this week; I will keep you posted on our progress!

Project List? Whoops!

I realized that all of the sudden I have acquired quite the project list. Whoops. 

Here's what I've got going....


Bargain Mirrors:
I went to Dallas for my dear friend's wedding a week ago and came home with two, huge mirrors. My Mom spotted the steal of a deal in the Saturday paper - Weir's Furniture was advertising $549 mirrors for just $29. Because my Mom knows my style, when she went for the one found another and got a second one.

I have a few ideas up my sleeve for these mirrors, but will take me some time to put them to use. At 54" each,  it takes the perfect place to fit one of these bad boys in our small home.

Kitchen Update:
We're also looking to upgrade our kitchen from Formica to Granite!! This is a long awaited project, but looks like we're actually going to make it happen in the near future. Here's a seek peak of what we're working with.

Once we have everything picked out and installed, I will do a big before and after reveal!

The impulse purchase:
I went to a garage sale late Friday and made an impulse purchase. I scored this chest of drawers with a little bit of character for just $25. I really just couldn't say no. B wasn't impressed with my purchase, but at $25 I didn't want to regret not buying it. 

Sorry I'm not sorry about the project list. Be sure to check back for updates on my progress!