The search

For several months, we have been looking at materials...cabinets, tile, granite...you name it.  We thought we'd have Sile-stone counter-tops and picked out a color we were very happy with.  We finally realized the cost was much more than Granite which is what we had wanted previously.  So the Granite search began.  We found a color (and price) at Home Depot which we were happy with.  Ventures to other stores only confused us more.  Trying to pick out granite from a small sample is extremely difficult. We were finally directed to the Granite Warehouses in Little Rock to actually look at the slabs of Granite.  We visited Pacific Shores, Triton, and Bedford multiple times.  By the way, Pacific Shores has wonderful lighting in their warehouse.  We picked out several that we liked (lighter colors were what we wanted) and then it was a matter of deciding.  Eventually, I finally made a commitment and chose Bianco Romano



 

For me to make this commitment was HUGE!  I hate spending money and this expenditure was the indication that I really am ready to do this thing.  So, we have these slabs on hold and are continuing on.

The next step is to choose a fabricator for the granite.  We really didn't realize this was a 2 step process.  You can't get a price on the granite slab, the price comes from the fabricator.  The fabricator buys the slabs then they do the cut-outs for the sink, stove, etc, and put the edges on.  This is the big price variance.  Since we had the slabs chosen, we priced the fabrication at several different shops and found a tremendous price difference.  They charge by the sq ft but also by the cut-outs (sink, stove).  It also is very helpful if the fabricator you are trying to get a price from actually returns your call.  We got prices ranging from $40 to $70 per sq ft.

We chose A-1 Granite Man in Maumelle to do the fabrication.  Then, we see an ad in the paper that they are having a birthday party and giving away multiple prizes, the Grand Price being 2 slabs of granite, fabricated and installed.  You have to be present to win so on Friday, I spend 2 hours hanging around the place waiting for the drawing.  At least they served lunch.  We didn't win so I guess we'll pay for it::)

What I failed to mention was choosing the cabinets.  We spend many hours at Lowe's and Home Depot and finally ended up at Kitchen & Bath Ideas.  They all carry Kraft maid cabinets which we had decided to go with.  We decided to let them do a complete detailed design which laid out the cabinets and gave us a good idea of what the finished product will look like.  Of course, Lowe's and Home Depot's design are free but not really helpful with the actual layout, only with the cabinets that you need.  We decided to pay for a 'real' design with Kitchen & Bath Ideas.  They will deduct the cost of the design from the cabinets when we order from them.  Much to our surprise, they offer a better price than the 'big box' stores and also more personal service.  We also became very educated on how the cabinet costs escalate based on door style and design.  That explains the difference in our naive 2002 design and our more informed 2011 design.

So now we have our cabinets selected, our granite and fabricator chosen, and a detailed design. The biggest question of the moment is paint color.  We are having trouble with that because we don't have a granite sample.  So we're working on that.  We've decided the floor and back splash will be last after we get cabinets and granite installed.  The fun continues.