We’re inching right along in the kitchen (wish we could share kitchen updates every day but we’re doing this thing real-time). Which brings us to our latest decision: the new counters that we’ll be going with.
We’ve been debating possibilities for weeks (there are a junkload of options out there with pros and cons to each one). And ten people would probably make ten different decisions, so it can feel especially hard to hone in on the “right” thing since there are so many variables. So here’s how we landed on the choice that we like best for our kitchen/family/life. But first the thing we’re sad about: although we had high hopes of DIYing concrete counters (I pinned about a million tutorials) they’re not a good choice for our kitchen. After talking to a few concrete experts (who actually make ’em for a living) we learned that in order to accommodate the double 12″ overhang (on two of the four sides of the giant 3 x 5′ peninsula that we’ll be adding) we would need to pour the slab extra thick, which is an issue because:
- our cabinets can’t support that amount of weight (they’d need to be reinforced = $$$)
- our floors aren’t built to support that load anyway (more on that here)
Cue the sad trombone sound effect. We debated doing some sort of concrete “slipcover” (for lack of a better word- some folks just coat another countertop material with a thin layer of concrete) but it ended up having more cons than solid concrete, so we decided to explore a few other options in hopes of finding The One. But we’re diabolically determined (picture me stroking my chin like an evil genius) to mess around with concrete one way or another. Maybe we’ll make a long concrete dining table for an outdoor deck area that we have yet to tell you about/build (it’s on the to-do list, so we’ll hopefully get there eventually). But back to the kitchen…
Once concrete was off the table (or the counters, har-har) we decided that hitting up a bunch of local kitchen shops as well as the usual home improvement guys (like Lowe’s and Home Depot) would be a good way to see what other counter materials were out there… and what they were going to do to our budget. Back when we did our first home’s kitchen we really splurged when it came to the counters (to the tune of $3,700 after a $300-off promotion), but they kind of made our kitchen and we had saved up the money to pay them off right away, so we didn’t regret that choice.
But we definitely went into this kitchen makeover vowing to come in substantially under that number. Which is funny given that we have about twice as much square footage (since we’re adding a big peninsula and this kitchen is a lot larger than our last one). For example, to use the same “pashmina” granite from Home Depot that we used for our last kitchen would cost us over $7,000! Which is just not in the budget. At all.
At first we thought about butcher block (Ikea sells it so affordably and it can be stained to get a richer chocolate look). But with the dark wood counters in the adjoined office (just five steps from the stove and three from the fridge) we decided that would be too much wood. Plus we loved the slick and easy-to-wipe-down surface that granite offered us in our first kitchen. Call us spoiled. But this time we wanted to go with something different (and had heard good things about quartz, solid surface options like Corian, and even cool eco options like recycled glass). So after hitting up a bunch of places, here are all of the samples that we brought home to mull over:
- Top left: LG Viatera quartz in “Geneva” found at Lowe’s (note: any of these options are probably available at a number of places)
- Bottom left: Caesarstone quartz in “Pebble” found at a local spot called Kitchen & Bath Solutions
- Right: Silestone quartz in “River Blanco” found at Kitchen & Bath Solutions
- Top left: Cambria quartz in “Torquay” found at Kitchen & Bath Solutions
- Bottom left: Cambria quartz in “Sussex” found at Kitchen & Bath Solutions
- Top right: Allen & Roth quartz in “Alloy” found at Lowe’s
- Bottom right: Cambria quartz in “New Quay” found at Kitchen & Bath Solutions
Oh and here’s a pile of white solid surface options from Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Kitchen & Bath Solutions (the one on top is Glacier White by Corian, and there are other options by LG Hi-Macs and Allen & Roth under it).
We also admired a few awesome eco options like recycled glass but they sadly weren’t in the budget (at least we got cork floors and can reuse almost all of our cabinetry to keep things green).
The one we loved most? This Silestone guy (River Blanco):
But after we learned that it would be over 5K for those counters alone (!!!), we knew it wasn’t meant to be. But don’t cry for me Argentina. It all worked out in the end and we found something that’ll be a great choice for our kitchen/family. The winner? Glacier White Corian:
We’re in love and have all but forgotten the 5K option that we once called a favorite. That’s actually not a white Corian square pictured above, but that bigger white tile was the same color so it represents the new counter better than a tiny Chicklet-sized square sample. Oh and the stainless steel bottle represents our new stainless appliances and the paint swatch is the current wall color so you can see how those things layer in with other things like our backsplash tile and the mocha cork.
Why did it win? So many reasons:
- It’s thousands cheaper than most other options we priced out ($38 a square foot at Lowe’s – compared to many other options shown above that were in the $80-100 per square foot range). We also have a 10% off “project coupon” that arrived in the mail from Lowe’s and will get 5% off on top of that when we use our Lowe’s credit card (you know we love a deal)
- John’s sister has lived with Glacier White Corian in her kitchen for the past 5+ years and loves it and has had zero issues (seriously, she wants to marry it)
- We are keeping our existing deep stainless sink and are not going with an integrated Corian sink (we have heard they can be harder to care for, and John’s sister has a stainless sink with the Corian tops and has loved that combo).
- It’s easy care (Corian is nonporous, which means stains do not penetrate the surface). According to the company, it also resists the growth of mold, mildew, and bacteria (John’s sister has a teen, a tween, a toddler, and a big dog – and she has no scratches or stains to date)
- We already use trivets and wood cutting boards to set down hot things (we’re paranoid) so following those steps with Corian should be no sweat (John’s sister hasn’t had any issues with that in five years of use either)
- It’s lighter than granite, quartz, concrete, etc (so our cabinets and floor joists can handle it, no problem)
- When installed, there are no seams, if done correctly (which is definitely appealing since the seams in our current granite tops drive us bonkers)
- It reflects lots of light, so it’s great for dark windowless rooms (like our kitchen!)
I know it might sound really bland to do white cabinets with white counters, but many of the rooms that we love in our inspiration files have the white on white look. And given our recent backsplash choice it’ll all hopefully make sense (the gray-green penny tiles will stand out along with colorful items on our open shelves while the counters and cabinets are classic & clean).
We’re also toying with the idea of some sort of subtle color on the cabinets (maybe a soft taupe-gray like this kitchen that we crashed a while back). Not sure where we’ll end up, but we’ll definitely keep ya posted! What about you guys? Has anyone else decided to go with Corian? Or concrete? Or quartz? Or granite? Or butcher block? We’d love to hear which counter you picked for your kitchen! There are so many delicious options out there…
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.
Carmel @ our fifth house says
I love the white on white look! It’s going to look amazing with your backsplash! It’s so much fun watching it all come together step by step. I love seeing the process. Oh and you and KB are HILARIOUS! Seriously, your sides must hurt from all the laughing you girls did!
Anna says
We have a large kitchen similar to your square footage, and used a contractor who takes payment “under the table”….he gets a builders discount from wholesale warehouses. We got slab granite, that he purchased and cut for $1,100.00….I’m so surprised you guys haven’t tried this route. I know you like to DIY it, but don’t you ever look into paying for labor? Labor included, our entire project was under $2,000.00 for SLAB granite! I am so surprised when I hear people paying outlandish prices like up wards of five grand….but also am surprised that you pay Lowes and Ikea prices which (even with discount) are SOOOOOO inflated.
YoungHouseLove says
Of course! We purchased granite in the first house and had it installed, so we’re definitely not afraid of pros and labor (and will use pros to cut and install our Corian). We just didn’t want to go with granite this time since we’d love to do something different! But there are certainly great granite discounts to be found!
xo,
s
Raanan G says
HI! 8 years ago, we built a custom prarie-style home in the mountains of Colorado. 3 children, animals, dirt and rocks run in and out of the house every 38 seconds it seems! My biggest splurge was the deep green corian countertop..ka-bam!!! The upgrade paid for itself 10-fold with beauty, durability and the look of a gourmet kitchen. I used the kitchen sink cut-out as a cutting board. Brilliant! I use it for everything and no scratches on the countertop.
Good luck!
Mike Grant says
Great choices all around. The colors and finishes are timeless and classic. They will look great for years and you will have no problem changing things out when your design style changes. Can’t wait to see the finished kitchen. Love your site.
Allison B says
AHHH! This post had me cheering out loud…sitting here with my laptop on a Saturday night…cant you just tell I have an thrilling life!? ;)
1) Smart move on the Corian! My parents have had white Corian in their home (kitchen w/stainless sink and bathrooms with integrated sinks) for 32 years, and it truly is incredble! It still looks brand new! And we’ve never used trivets (not saying you shouldnt but…) – we’ve always put hot pots right on it and NOTHING has ever happened. The only thing my parents have done maintainence-wise was update the edge a few years ago from one that gathered a bit of grime to a beveled edge – which just meant a Corian “guy” came and “shaved” it down in just a couple of hours. As for scratches, we;ve never been careful and I can only remember a few cratches (which can easily be buffed out by a Corian “expert”) and they are barely noticeable them on the pure white. I’m amazed that you got them cheaper than granite – when I checked them out a few year ago for our own kitchen, they were SO pricey!
2) YES YES YES on the subtle color for the kitchen cabs!!! My hubs vetoed bright white cabs so we ended up choosing SW 6169 Sedate Grey – I absolutely LOVE them…and we get so many compliments. I’m sure you’ll have to see what works with your wall color, but I HIGHLY recommend the subtle color – it makes the kitchen so much more comforting/relaxing!!!
3) We have leathered/textured absolute black granite countertops along the walls and a lyptus wood/butcher block (but not the kind you can actually cut on!) countertop on our island. The wood is beautiful and really warms up the room but is a lot more “delicate” than the granite.
I wish I had a good photo to link to so you could see how it all works together but our island is always a mess! If I get it cleaned up soon, I’ll post a photo on your FB wall. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Sweet! Would love to see those pics. And so happy to hear that Corian has stood the test of time for your parents. 32 years is amazing!
xo,
s
Elise says
Hey Sherry,
Just wanted to give you another not as well known option for eco-friendly countertops that have extreme durability. I know you are “married” to the Corian, which is great, but in future projects, it could be something that may interest you. It’s called Paperstone. There is stuff online about it of course, it is made of pressed paper, which is why it is so “green”. HTH in the future!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes we checked some of that out and it was amazing (and amazingly hard- even though the name makes it sound really delicate) but unfortunately it didn’t fit into the budget. But it was really cool stuff!
xo,
s
jessika says
we put in the exact same counter tops and i love them. i think more people should have glossy white counter tops, so I have to say…great choice. i feel 10x cooler now.
Julia G says
Greetings from your neighbors up north in the DC area. We currently have white corian countertops and we LOVE them! So easy to clean and you don’t have to clean up spills right away like you do with granite or butcher block. Great choice! I can’t wait to see how the rest of the kitchen turns out.
I swear we are always somehow on the same wavelength! A few weeks ago my husband installed new (white) appliances in our kitchen. And this weekend we’ve been painting the walls… and starting to install glass mosaic backsplash in blue/gray tones. Have you heard of the Rustoleom Kitchen Transformation Kits? http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/ We are trying to decide what color to refinish our nice oak cabinets. I was thinking the chocolate (dark brown) since we have white countertops and white appliances…and the chocolate goes well with the backsplash we picked out (http://pinterest.com/pin/305996833/), but the idea of white cabinets sounds really nice too. I just don’t know if white cabinets would work with a white countertop and white appliances? Too much white? Thoughts?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh I think chocolate sounds gorgeous! And we have heard great things about the Rustoleum Transformations kits! Good luck with everything!
xo,
s
Heather says
I would be concerned about using an absolutely white countertop that would show every minute amount of dirt. I have all different kinds of granite & quartz countertops in my home that I adore, but my black counter (that has at least some black color variation) drives me nutso with the cleaning.
YoungHouseLove says
We asked Emily (J’s sister) about that and she said since it has the bright white look all the time- it looks clean and creates the appearance of a sparkly kitchen even when it’s not perfectly clean up close. So we love that it actually “cheats” the room into looking cleaner!
xo,
s
Wendy JCH says
Your kitchen is going to look awesome! We were torn between that exact Silestone colour and Glacier White Corian… we picked the Corian in the end and it looks fab – the rest of the kitchen has matt white handleless cupboards, pale blue-grey glass splashbacks & a concrete floor (do love a bit of concrete!). You do have to be a little careful with stains, just be mindful of what you leave on there, but it soon becomes second nature and it is so worth it. Didn’t go for a integrated sink, just a stainless one from Blanco but we love it.
Anyway, enjoy reading your blog so much here in the UK – please keep up the great work! xx
YoungHouseLove says
Your kitchen sounds gorgeous! So glad you’re loving the Glacier White Corian!
xo,
s
kara schmidt says
We redid our kitchen a year ago and put in river blanco. We got it at Home Depot at one of their 20% off sales…..Maybe check that out? Anyways we love it but the dark gray spots are a lot darker and more of them in real life.
Erin says
We have Corian counters in our house and love them! They’re really great and clean up perfectly! You will like them – perfect with kids!
CJ says
Oh, I know you’re sold, but you couldn’t pay me or put Corian in my house for free. Had it in our last house for 8 years and should have bought stock in soft scrub. Doesn’t matter how careful you are, it WILL scratch and that put my OCD in overdrive. We’ve had granite now for 5 years (Santa Cecilia Gold) and I LOVE it. I only wipe them down when I have time b/c nothing shows on them. With 3 kids, white corian would be my LAST choice. Love you, but I PROMISE you’ll regret this one. There are SO SO many countertop options out there!! What about Vetrazzo?
YoungHouseLove says
You’re right CJ, we’re sold! It’s just that John’s sister and many other commenters haven’t had that experience (especially with the Glacier White- perhaps you had a darker color that showed scratches more?). Since Emily (J’s sis) has the exact type that we want in the same color and has loved it for the past five years (we checked it over for stains and scratches and they just aren’t there – even with a teen, a tween, and a toddler along with a big dog), we’re definitely confident that it’s the right choice for our fam!
xo,
s
Debbie says
we’ve went w/ granite in all of our houses. it is so plentiful in our neck of the woods. all grade A or better. so is slate & travertine. we can pull dinner plate sized pieces of slate from our lake bed. such rich colors. but when we went to pick out granite for our home in AZ, we found that what they call granite is kind of a joke. its 1/4 thick granite glued onto layers of plywood. i startered referring to it as “granite veneer”. it was awful & it was sad that’s what people pay the big bucks for down there. even our realtor had no idea there were better options out there. we ended up having our granite trucked in from MN & cut on site. we even had enough left over to mix w/ the flagstone in our outdoor kitchen. the nice thing about having a life where money is no object is that you have so many options. the bad thing about having a life where money is no object is that you have too many options.
Danae says
We have Corian in our new kitchen. It’s just a beautiful material. Well chosen!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad to hear it!
xo
s
Wom-mom Ethne says
We have Corian in a white/ivory with teensy flecks. LOVE IT. Of course, I could’ve put mud on my island and I’d’ve loved it since I love my island so much. PS – Pinterest challenge is coming along. My bff and I are both doing projects!
Joel says
Love the blog! One option you might consider for a concrete project would be hypertufa (yeah, I didn’t think that was a real word, either). It works particularly well outside and is a equal mix of cement, peat moss, and perlite, along with an acrylic fortifier if it’s going to be outside year-round. We’ve been considering making a patio table with a hypertufa top and cedar frame.
Anna says
Is corian the same as like a formica countertop? We recently toured a house that said it had Corian counters, and that is what they looked and felt like, but I wasn’t sure?
YoungHouseLove says
Formica is a bit more like laminate (which is a less expensive/solid option). Corian feels more like stone and is heavier (when you knock on it, it has a deep sound like knocking on marble or granite, whereas formica and laminate seem to have a more hollow/light sound). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Kira @ hernewleaf says
We redid our kitchen about a year ago and we used butcher block from Ikea! It was the cheapest option and we love the look. We decided to seal it rather than leave the raw, unfinished wood that butcher block is traditionally installed as (we weren’t sure we could keep up with the maintenance, and our house is a rental so future tenants would have to keep it up as well). Bottom line, it was cheap, we love the look, we cut and installed it ourselves – it was a great choice for us overall!
Amanda Fordham says
Hi there :) Beautiful choice!! I know you guys are super busy but just wondering if you could lend me some friendly advice; my husband and I are starting our kitchen “upgrade” if you will and are looking to replace the countertops but we cannot decide what colors to go with; our cabints are all very straight-lined, modern looking but they are a natural oak finish and he won’t let me paint them :) He’s meeting me in the middle and we are painting all the trim white, yay!! We have stainless steel appliances and plan to paint the walls a very light color…maybe a light gray is what I was thinking but again, I’m open for suggestions! I like the idea of doing just plain white, like you guys are doing but I’m not sure if that will look good with the oak cabinets…HELP!! Thanks in advance :)
Adorable Halloween costumes btw!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, what about a soft gray color (sort of like concrete)? That would tie into the light gray walls (which hopefully would be a shade lighter or darker than the cabinets, just for a little subtle contrast) and still look great with clean-lined wood cabinets!
xo,
s
Charisma says
We have a Corian type surface that my husband ordered from the Home Depot and we love it! No stains, except for the sink which was also the Corian type (which is white and got stained last month by blackberries). I’m not sure what brand it is but the Mr. ordered it before we met and said it was the less expensive alternative but still the same thing.
birdie blue says
we put corian counters in about ten years ago (seagrass counters, white corian sink) and have had absolutely no problems. we also have white corian sinks and counters in the baths and have never had any kind of staining problems whatsoever. everything really looks brand new.
the thing i found appealing about corian at the time, is you can clean it to the point of sterile-ness (that’s why hospitals use it in operating rooms). i primarily use mrs. meyer’s products, and haven’t ever had any marks or stains. that being said, i’m not one to leave dirty dishes in the sink. i clean up all day as i go along.
i don’t think you’ll have any regrets (at least not in regards to this).
xo
molly
YoungHouseLove says
So glad to hear that!
xo
s
jja says
My voice for corian since it is amazingly great lookg, durable and give this nice sleek look.
bex says
I know this comment is late, but I have to say – I’m SO excited to see what that countertop looks like in your space. It made our short list for new countertops for our kitchen. Our reno is a few months out still, so it’s going to be great for us to see what it looks like at your place! It’s SO hard to tell if you’ll love something from a tiny square of it (much like your granite experience from the last house!), so I’m doing some jazz hands with glee that you’re going first. :)
Sarah P. says
Thank you for the detailed post about the countertops. I’m thinking of purchasing the same white Corian to go with our lower brown and upper white painted cabinets. I love reading all of your research…it makes home improvement projects sooo much easier knowing you two did so much homework! :)
On a side note, I can’t believe how often you respond to comments! I’ve been reading your blog for about 3 years now and never looked at the comments until today. Holy cow, that’s a lot of work! I think you should both take a vacation from responding for a week! Your readers will surely understand.
Keep up the wonderful blog.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Sarah! We love to chat. Haha.
xo,
s
Alissa says
I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago…Sorry!
Our friend created a concrete counter, and wrote up the steps they took along with lessons learned. Here’s the link in case it’s helpful when you’re ready to create your outdoor masterpiece :)
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/02/pour-your-own-concrete-tabletops.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much!!
xo,
s
Erin says
Corian is a great choice! We have Lg Hi-Macs solid surface, in black granite, and unfortunately light scratches do show on the black, but they shouldn’t on the white. Otherwise, that has been our only issue, I wish we went with a lighter color but I really liked the black with our white cabinets, and at least the scratches can be sanded out! Corian is way more affordable than stone,and I love the look- plus I grew up with laminate, so I’m not used to putting hot-pots on the countertops.
Glenn says
I’m having so much fun following your project because we are about to start an almost identical redo in our kitchen. I found your site as I was looking for ideas but had no idea how similar the projects are turning out to be! You guys are ahead of us so I feel as though I’m getting to see how mine will look. Very helpful.
I have fallen in love with Soapstone for countertops. I love the feel and ease of care plus it doesn’t stain and since they make fireplaces out of it you can set hot stuff right on it. Also frozen items thaw on it. Plus its one of the only real stone products that DIYers can cut themselves. Just need diamond blades on reg power tools.
However, our kitchen redo is on a VERY small budget and the prices for slabs were running $49 up to $79 per sq ft. I did run across a DIY option of using remnant pieces and even found a supplier with 5-6 matching remnants that were going to be around $25/sq ft (with us doing the labor). However, we too are adding a counter with bar and the company didn’t have other remnants big enough for that section. But alas, as we took a day to work out getting it without adding the huge shipping charge (our SIL has big truck/ trailer) and also possibly stepping up the budget to swing for paying full price for just that section and using the rest out of remnants, some of the remnants sold. I’m thinking I’ll be back to using laminate but still saying a prayer that more remnants will become available before the other is ordered.
Rhiannon Nicole says
Ahhhh!!! Yes I see I see :) You are the best. Hugs!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! Glad you found that link!
xo,
s
Megan says
We bought a house with granite. My mom has Corian. I prefer the corian!
April says
We have Corian countertops in our kitchen. We were using our electric frying pan that has 2″ legs to bring it off the countertop which we had always used on our old formica without a trivet with no problem. The heat actually popped the seam open about a foot. Luckily they were only a few weeks old and the company that did it came out and repaired it for free. The guy told us then that it probably would not have happened anywhere else on the countertop. The seams are more sensitive to heat. You can’t even tell it was repaired!! Amazing. Since then I make sure to put anything that might be hot on a trivet.
I do love my countertop (ours is a silver gray color with small flecks of black and white) and am very glad we got it! Oh, and we have a stainless undermount sink which is wonderful for clean-up.
Enjoy your kitchen!
Erica says
What finish is it? (How glossy?) Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s called their matte finish (the white matte finish apparently shows the last amount of scratches/wear), but it’s still sort of slick and smooth. Like honed marble. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
alisha p says
hey not sure if you will see this comment or not, but did lowes allow you to apply the 10% coupon? I have been told that it cannot be used on counters?
YoungHouseLove says
We actually ended up going through Home Depot because they would match the Lowe’s price an honor that coupon along with giving us an additional 5% for using our card. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Cathy says
Do you have any posts or info about not having an integrated counter backsplash? I just noticed that you don’t have one. Do you ever spill anything and have it leak off the top of the counter, behind it? And do you think you can only do that if you install a separate backsplash (like the penny tile)? Sorry, random questions :)
YoungHouseLove says
As long as you caulk a nice thin line between your counter and the wall (which any installer should do when they come) nothing should sneak back there! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rachel Hires says
Sherry- We are debating going with Corian and can’t find an edge we like but I love yours. Which one did you go with?
YoungHouseLove says
We went with the basic stock one (it’s clean and simple, and we love that we didn’t have to pay extra to upgrade!).
xo,
s
Alexis says
We’d really love to DIY our our concrete counters, but this post made us question whether the weight might be too much for our kitchen as well. Our house was built in 1950 and has a pretty rock solid construction (aka the tiles in our kitchen and bathroom were adhered with concrete and there are wood sub floors underneath our kitchen floor tiles), so we are feeling optimistic, but still want to be sure before diving in. Who did you speak with that gave you that info about your space? Do you know of any ways we could answer that on our own? Thanks so much!!!
YoungHouseLove says
The previous owners of our house offered up info about the floors in the kitchen being too weak to even support tile flooring, so we realized the added weight of concrete would be an issue.
xo,
s
Jana says
We are considering corian……are there finish options? Shiny, matte? What did you choose? Thank you!!
YoungHouseLove says
We just went with the basic one (I think it’s matte) to save money and because we heard it was easy to care for (I think they said shiny showed scratches more?).
xo,
s
Jennifer says
Hello. My daughter told me about your blog. We are wanting to update our kitchen and for YEARS I have wanted Corian. I went to a countertop showroom and they Boo hooed it. Saying it stains and scratches, which I countered with, yes but you can buff them out, and they said then it’ll leave an indent. I am excited to learn that you went with it after so much research. Can you tell me how it has done? Also, I have a stainless sink which I really like, but would like the seamless built in. Any thoughts? Quality and ease of care triumphs anything else.
Thank you,
YoungHouseLove says
Love it so much! No regrets at all! And if you have things buffed out it doesn’t leave an indent, so I’m not sure what they meant by that (we have heard from tons of folks who have have corian for decades and get it buffed every ten years or so and said it looks like new). We did hear that the seameless built in corian sink can stain and scratch more since things pile up in there (wine, berries, etc), so that’s why we opted to keep our stainless sink and just get it undermount installed (that was very low maintenance to begin with and we love using what we had). Very happy with it though! Hope it helps, and good luck with everything.
xo,
s
Erica says
Hi,
I am considering glacier white Corian counters atop Ikea cabinets, and am so afraid that the Corian is going to end up looking cheap and flimsy, which is how it comes across to me in the samples. I love the idea of Corian (huge expanse of solid white surface, minimal upkeep) but just am not sold. Thoughts?? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We love ours – they sort of feel like honed white marble to us. And we haven’t had any issues with stains or scratches. You can see it all finished and installed with the rest of the kitchen done here: https://www.younghouselove.com/2013/03/kitchie-kitchie-ya-ya-da-da/
xo
s
Erica says
Oh, I think they look great in your kitchen, I apologize if I implied otherwise. But in your case, they are atop solid wood cabinets, I think. I think the trick to successful DIY is mixing high and low, and I am worried that mixing two materials on the lower end of the spectrum (Corian and Ikea cabinets) would not be as successful a design as Corian and solid sturdy wood cabs or Ikea cabinets and marble. Can Corian carry the Ikea cabinets, do you think (which I love and am sold on, for the record!)?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes! I think Ikea cabinets are nicer than ours! Haha! Ours are just old 80s cabinets that we painted, so they’re not new or anything :)
xo
s
Payton says
I have a question for you guys! What did you do with your original granite counter tops? Were you able to sell them, since they were already precut to the kitchen?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we craigslisted them! I think we got around $300!
xo
s
Scott says
Did you go with the standard matte finish or upgrade to a gloss finish?
YoungHouseLove says
Standard! We loved it.
xo
s
Heather Sengelmann says
Hi guys,
I’ve been reading your blog for a long while now and while I don’t own a home yet (23, renter) I am helping my parents pick out new countertops for their home. They’ve lived there for 16 years and have had the same white tile counters with awful white grout that is so hard to keep clean. And GET THIS… there were also random red, blue, yellow, or green tiles thrown into the mix with the white tiles, just to spice it up a bit I guess. It’s seriously so weird. I’ve been telling my mom for a while now that kindergarten called and they want their countertops back. Anyways, I read your reader redesign from Karin Newstrom and her cabinets remind me of my parents (a light wood color that we love) and I thought maybe we would look into Corian. So I guess the whole point of this is would you, after 2 years (and even though you don’t live there anymore), still have picked white corian and would you recommend it to me?
Maybe once we get all this done we can send over some pictures so you can check out the crazy counters…
YoungHouseLove says
YES! I would totally pick corian again! We really liked it. From what we hear, the white kind we got is the easiest to care for (and shows the least scratches) so a darker color might be higher maintenance, but white corian couldn’t have been easier. It was awesome reading all the comments from folks who had it forever and said it was so easy to care for! We do hear that integrated corian sinks can be hit or miss (some people love them and others think they’re hard to clean) but for just the counters (we had an undermount stainless steel sink) they seem universally loved in the white color by most people who have owned them.
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Erin says
Thank you SO SO SO much for writing this post. We just ordered our solid surface counters from HD this past weekend, and it’s so nice to know the process before going through it. I wrote about our crazy process about picking our counters and gave you guys a little shoutout. :)
http://www.magentaandlime.net/2014/01/picking-out-our-countertops.html
Hope you’re enjoying the snow!
Best wishes from Colorado,
Erin
Kelsy says
Am considerig putting the white corian in my kitchen. Wondering how yours are looking after a couple years of use. Any stains, scratches?? other issues??
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
They looked great until we sold the place! Really easy to maintain, and we had no stains or scratches.
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Vanessa says
I got linked here when googling LG Hi Macs… though I read your blog… daily… I thought I better add a comment since you have 666 right now and that seems a bit ominous…
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! Thanks Vanessa!
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