New Cabinets

When our kitchen redo was finally moving towards the finish line, I had some major decisions left to be made.  Because the renovation involved the majority of the entire house, I was kind of decision-ed out!  Look, research, contemplate, shop, repeat!

Kitchen Cabinets Almost Ready For Countertops

We had originally wanted wood on the large island counter top, but were not completely sure. We wanted to wait and see how the kitchen was coming along with the antique heart pine floors…we didn’t want to have too much wood.  Back in the beginning of our thought process, we wanted concrete on the surround counters.  During our house hunting days we viewed a house that had them and my husband and I both loved the look and texture of them.  But…..if you’ve read about our kitchen renovation you’ll see that we pretty much had our fill of concrete by then!   All along we had said that we didn’t want granite.  It’s beautiful and all, but it just didn’t seem to fit our style house.  But once we began shopping around, we saw leathered absolute black granite and knew it would give us the look and texture we wanted.  But, because I tend to overthink things, I was not completely convinced.  After doing some research I found quite a few negative opinions on the subject.  Some people (kitchen professionals included) warned of the hazards of the leathered absolute black granite.  They went on to say that the leathered is much more porous than the polished and it just wasn’t wise to use it in a kitchen.  It showed fingerprints and spots from everything and we would constantly be wiping down the countertops.  Our countertop man (who also is a friend of ours) didn’t come right out and say it, but I think he was a little hesitant to recommend it as well.  He knew it’s what we wanted and he didn’t want to be the one to spoil it for me.  It definitely is not the go- to granite that builders use, so I’m betting he didn’t have much experience with it.  But I had to make a decision and after looking, researching and looking some more, nothing else really floated my boat.  So…….I took a chance on the leathered absolute black granite!

Leathered Absolute Black Granite Installed

Now, upon completion of the countertop installation, which keep in mind by now my stress level had reached  monumental proportions, I came pretty darn close to having an all out, full on meltdown!  There were splotches everywhere!  That I could NOT wipe off with any soap, detergent, specialized granite cleaner, NOTHING!  I was sure I had made a colossal mistake!  I called our (friend) countertop man. (Not wanting to ruin a friendship over this.) who just so happens to be the most laid back person in the entire universe, so of course he was not on the same level of distraught as I was.  He promised to come out first chance he got to take a look.

Absolute Black Leathered Granite Kitchen Countertops

OK.  So I am happy to report that it was just silicone from the installation process.  He used a little acetone on it and voila it was perfect!  it’s been in place now for one year exactly and I could not be more pleased!    We have had no issues whatsoever.  Tell me what you think.  Has there been a material or feature that you really wanted to use, but were a little hesitant  because it was less commonly used or not the most practical?  If you need a little more coaxing, be sure to read about our decision to use wood as our island top, which has a sink!  Oh my!

Leathered Absolute Black Granite Countertops