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October 11, 2008
I didn't like the others, they were all too flat...
We went down to Kent today to choose "our" granite.
The counters have been a bit of a conundrum since the beginning of the project.
We've looked at probably a hundred granite samples, and never really did find one that was both aesthetically exciting and fiscally reasonable. One outfit had their samples labeled with terms like "low-end", "mid-range," "high end," and "$!$!$!$". Of course all the really pretty and unique ones were in the high-to-obscene price range, and I'm more of a mid-grade kinda spender.
The end result is that the granite we landed on (sapphire blue) doesn't really excite either of us. I think it's pleasant, but Dawnise uses a more descriptive term - "boring."
This means that, to me, one hunk of the stuff looks mostly like another and as long as it doesn't have any obvious blemishes (gouges in the surface, etc.) I don't have a way to rank one slab as "better" than another.
To Dawnise, staring at great slabs of the stuff just reminds her how boring she thinks it is, and how much prettier some of the ones near it in the warehouse were.
At the end of the trip, after we agreed that there wasn't much difference to talk about, she asked how much more the one she'd been eyeing would be over our current spend.
"You'd have to get prices from the sales consultant you're dealing with" said the lady escorting us through the warehouse, "but it's probably double the cost of the sapphire blue."
Yowza.
Posted by dberger at October 11, 2008 4:05 PM
Comments
I saw a house flipping show once where the guy used granite "tiles" instead of slabs. It has the benefit of maintaining that pretty aesthetic, but is both less expensive, and also easier to replace should you inherit a knick or gouge. Might be worth looking into in order to get the better looking granite for a reasonable price.
Posted by: Mary at October 15, 2008 9:36 AM