After years of use, our kitchen was starting to show some serious wear and tear. The cabinets were starting to sag a bit, the tile floor was hopelessly battered and stained, and the wallpaper looked faded and old. The counter top, however, was the worst part of it. It had been a cheap synthetic countertop to begin with, and had not even looked that good when it was brand new! Now that it was old, it was in terrible shape. Because of the material it was made of, countertop resurfacing was not an option. My wife and I sighed, dug deep in our pockets, and began to look at the counter tops available.
We were surprised at the number of counter top materials that are on the market nowadays. When we first moved into our home, the selection was much more limited. There certainly were no soapstone counter tops available back in those days. Nowadays, you can have your kitchen counter made out of almost any material that you can imagine. You can get granite, various types of wood, metal, quartz, and a huge number of different synthetic materials. Basically, if you have the money, there is someone in the business who will build you what you want.
Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of money, and so we wanted to go with one of the more conventional options. At first, we thought about getting counter top tiles. We figured that that would be the cheapest way to do it, and cheap was good. Nonetheless, both of us were sick of tile. Most of the rooms in the house were tiled, and we had vowed to do away with it, one room at a time. We looked at a number of different options before we finally settled on a granite top counter.
When most folks think of granite, they do not picture something smooth and shiny, but that is just how our granite counter top looks. It is really well made – substantial, solid, and durable – and attractive as well. Although it will eventually get a few scratches and dings, it will last a lot longer than a ceramic counter top. We have no idea if and when we will redo our house again, so we decided to get some stuff that will last. The granite is so shiny and sleek that I doubt I will get sick of it soon.