Dream Counter

The kitchen counter is finally done. And boy oh boy is it sharp! It was quite a process from beginning to end though. But it looks like a million bucks and didn't cost anything close.
First the guys had to build the counter. They got special (and expensive) plywood, and cut it to fit our layout. Then they screwed it to the cabinets. They reinforced the part of the bar that was going to overhang the back side (where the stools would go). The expensive plywood we bought gave us some trouble though. It turns out that it was warped and we didn't notice it until it was already screwed down! So dad had the idea to prop it up to bend it back before we laid the tiles. Luckily that worked. The next thing was choosing and ordering the Shluter to finish the edge of the counter. It was expensive stuff, but ABSOLUTELY necessary to get the look we were going for. In the past people would use granite on the top and then use a ceramic tile rounded bullnose edge for the sides, but that really changes the look of it. I wanted this to look as much like a slab counter as we could get it. We were able to get a schluter that allowed us to place cut pieces of granite on the edge as well, with a thin band of satin nickle metal at the edge. The guys had a time cutting it and getting all of the pieces to fit just right, but again, they came through expertly and it turned out beautiful! The final step was actually laying the counter. Per Dad's recommendation we bought several extra boxes of the granite tiles and then I went through each one and pulled out all the really weird ones that would not match the majority. Since it is natural stone sometimes there are unusual pockets of minerals, or strange bedding, or bands in the pattern that can look out of place and be distracting. Those ones we boxed back up and returned. I wouldn't have thought to do that when we bought it but I'm glad we did it.
After Dad and Eduardo laid out the tiles, making sure they looked good together, and then proceeded to tile the counter. And here it is! Our super gloriously beautiful kitchen counter! I can't wait until we tile the back splash then it will all be complete!