The Exact Countertops We Used In The GBOGH House (and how much it cost us!)

I knew from day one exactly what countertops I wanted, what finish I wanted them to have, and what room was getting what. They were the ONLY thing in the house that I had absolutely no hesitation about.

I am ~picky~ about countertops. Sue me (not really lol), but I absolutely detest manmade countertops. I know people have their opinions on the care that is needed for natural stone versus lets say quartz, but I can almost guarantee that I will never put a manmade material into my projects. Unless in the future they get some impressive technology where you actually can't tell the difference. And for the people say that it looks the same, I just simply do not agree with you ;).

Picking out countertops was extra fun because Ben's dad actually owns a countertop company! We were able to go down to Chicago to pick our exact slabs and then Ben's dad and his team made all my dreams come into reality.

I know that I had absolutely no idea on the cost of countertops, and while I did get a little family discount, Ben's dad did give me insight on countertops like this would have cost me if I was a normal customer. I'm including that number at the end because I am nosey at how much other people spend and think it can be really helpful as a homeowner!

COUNTERTOP DETAILS:

Let's first start with the kitchen countertops...

For the perimeter cabinets, we went with a stunning honed soapstone countertop. If it was a dream world, I would have had the entire sink be soapstone but since we are dealing with a budget, I had him create this apron panel that comes in front of the sink to give the same look. It's one of my favorite details in the entire home! Ben's dad might have disowned me though after this one. Apparently, it was a pain in the butt! As they say, beauty is pain ;).

This soapstone was love at first sight haha not kidding! The second I laid my eyes on it I knew It was perfect. We also used this soapstone in the butlers pantry.

On the island, I went with a honed marble. The exact name and size was Bianco Venato 3 CM. I was really specific that I wanted it to be honed, not polished. I think theres a time and a place for polished marble but for this house I just loved the matte look and depth the honed finish gave it.

We rounded the front end of the island since it faces the front door. Makes it look a little bit more like furniture and not so "kitcheny".

We had them bring the backsplash up 18" and add a short ledge to the top of it. I didn't want the ledge to big at all, just a subtle design feature! This backsplash goes all around the perimeter cabinets and looks gooood.

I mean...🤤.

Originally, in the mudroom I wanted to use the black soapstone. I actually think I was open to using the soapstone or the marble in the mudroom. Both of these countertops (and all countertops really) come in slabs. We ran into the issue that adding the mudroom into the count for the soapstone or marble would have required another slab purchased. This would have skyrocketed our price and didn't really make sense.

I began changing gears and then saw a picture of dark stained walnut. It was perfection and I knew it would go great with the gray-brown we were painting the entire room and cabinets. I also didn't realize how expensive walnut is. hah! Can you notice that was a theme in this renovation?!

My ex-cabinet maker (that's a story for another day 😩 ) recommended doing ash instead of maple. It's way more cost effective and looks the same. Now that it is in, I am very glad we went this direction!

Pretty, right?! Adds to the moodiness of this room.

And lastly, the owners bathroom. I knew I wanted marble in this room and there was just enough to use from the kitchen slab. This marble was on the more affordable side of things as far as marble goes and I really do love it. We were looking at some slabs of marble that were our entire budget haha. I loved, loved, loved them but for the price, I am extremely happy with these pieces of marble!

Now let's get to the juicy stuff! I had an all in budget for countertops right around $10,000. Dean also gave me that family discount so I was able to stay in that range. However, if you didn't have this family connection it would have cost you around $13,500.

So, all in all, that included the kitchen, butler pantry, laundry room, and owners bathroom countertops. What do you think?! I honestly don't think thats too horrible...I also might just be numb to money at this point though. hah!