Carrara Marble Kitchen Island

I received this photo from Ann at Surface Products this morning along with a

little note letting me know the gorgeous slab of carrara marble I chose for my

kitchen island counter top project was on the move! Here, it's being hoisted

over to fabrication where it will be turned into my island counter top. The pieces

of blue tape have my name on them to indicate that area of the slab is mine...

All mine!

I've been a little busy this evening prepping my existing Corian kitchen island

counter top for delivery of my new carrara marble kitchen island counter top that

will soon cover it. You see, I am not having the Corian counter top removed from

my island so I want to ensure the new carrara top doesn't cause any damage. In

the event I decide to take the carrara with me if we move, or if I decide one day

to have a different island built for it. Or, say I lose my mind and decide creamy

white carrara really isn't for me. Yeah... Like that's ever going to happen!

I thought a lot about the best way to protect my Corian... First, I considered

having little rubber feet applied to the bottom of the marble with an epoxy

adhesive; but in the end, I wasn't sure the feet wouldn't just collapse under

the weight of the marble. Also, I don't want any visible separation between

the two tops... So I passed on feet. I also considered using the soft, no-slip

shelf liner I used to line my shelves and drawers but I worried the pattern

might imprint onto the Corian surface over time. Of course, one of the

many fantastic benefits of Corian is that it can be buffed out to look

like new. However, if I can avoid having to do that, I believe I should!

In the end, I chose to cover the Corian with this felt-backed vinyl I

found at Hancock fabrics. Priced just $6.99 a yard, I was able to cover

the entire island for less than the price of two rolls of shelf liner. The

felt backing protects my Corian beautifully and the vinyl top will grip

the carrara marble nicely. All in all, I think this is the perfect solution!

This time Wednesday evening there will be white carrara marble in my kitchen!

Speaking of white carrara marble... I get asked all the time how

close my Corian rain cloud comes to looking like carrara...

And the answer is... Judge for yourself!

After mentioning that this is the third time I've tweaked my kitchen to

update it and gain more work surface, I received quite a few e-mails asking

if I had any photos of the kitchen as we found it when we bought the house...

And, I do! I took this photo of the kitchen during our second visit to the house,

which was also the day we agreed to buy. That's my digital camera on the island,

along with a gift I brought for the owners of the house. Why I used my 35mm

to take photos of the house instead of my digital camera, I cannot tell you...

But what I can tell you is that right there is my current kitchen island in all its

former original glory. Another thing I can tell you is that seeing these photos again

still serves up an unhealthy dose of elevated blood pressure! Not only was the house

a disaster when we arrived following our 3,318 mile drive... The former owners went

completely out of their way to take advantage of the many kindnesses we showed

their family during the purchase and closing process. The ways we allowed them to

skate on misrepresentations they made cannot even be counted. But that's okay...

Because in the end, we chose this house only for the land it sits on. We knew not

too much inside the house would make the cut during our remodel anyway!

Besides, all we needed was what realtors refer to as the Good Bones in our new

home. Fortunately for us, good bones are impossible to sneak into a U-haul!

See you on Wednesday!