Thursday, July 21, 2011

Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays #5 - Soapstone Counters

How quickly a month flies by!  It's time for my monthly Before Blogging party where you can link up anything at all from before blogging whether it's something you did, made, bought, found, traveled to or whatever.  I can't wait to see what you all bring to the party.



Sugar and Spice in the land of Balls and Sticks Before Blogging Throwback Thursdays



3 years ago, we ripped out our kitchen down to the studs and replaced everything.  This could be a before and after kitchen post, but it's not.  I'm just talking counters today, specifically soapstone counters.  I've dreamed about soapstone counters since my very first apartment when I was 18.  This was long before they became so popular with the movie Something's Gotta Give.  When we started kitchen planning, I knew that's what I wanted, but the cost of stone fabrication was way out of our budget.  Lucky for us, we're fearless DIYers, and all it took was some basic woodworking tools, and the stone which we purchased from M. Texeira in NJ.

Here's where we started.  2" thick laminate that was coming loose, stained, and burned in spots.

Soapstone comes in many varieties that have varying colors and hardness.  It took me a while to pick my stone.  When I finally picked in mid-November, they shipped out our slabs, and we were hit with a nasty snow storm which made it impossible for the delivery truck to get up our hill.  We rescheduled delivery then were hit with another 2 feet of snow.  When the slabs were finally delivered to our driveway, it was nearing Christmas.  So I let them sit in the driveway until after the holidays.  Those slabs were ice cold & heavy and we needed several beefy friends(and a half a dozen ribeyes, and a case of beer) to help with moving them.

The penninsula piece was cut with straight lines before moving into place.  The curves were made using a belt sander afterwards.
soapstone diy

For those of you who know DIY, stone dust is about 10 times worse than drywall dust.  I'm wearing a mask, my glasses(contacts kept drying out,) and ski goggles for a better seal and high impact resistance in this pic.  I also recommend doing a leave in conditioning treatment on your hair both before and after you work your stone.  Talk about split ends.
soapstone diy

Here's the penninsula after the first oiling.  Look how young SB is here.
soapstone diy

My prep corner,
soapstone diy

and my baking corner.  Love!

Obviously the kitchen is a lot more finished now, but this is where it all started - my love of soapstone counters.  Every other decision came afterwards.

I'm linking this up at Stuff and Nonsense's Fridays Unfolded, because a little bit of countertop petting unfolds every week for me, The DIY Showoff's DIY Project Parade, and Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday.

Let's get this party started.  Grab a button and link up anything you made, did, bought, etc. Before Blogging.  This link will stay open until next Thursday.

28 comments:

  1. Your kitchen look so lovey!! I could spend hours in your kitchen if you invite me:)

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  2. Hey mama, thanks for the invite! What a great idea! And GREAT JOB on your kitchen!!

    Adrianne
    happyhourprojects.blogspot.com

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  3. Thanks for stopping by BPPackages and for the invite to your party! Love your counters!

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  4. Thank you so much for the invite. I did not mean to link up twice but it kept telling me there was an error. Oops! Sorry! This is a great idea for a linky and thank you so much for hosting!
    HUGS~
    Jenni

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  5. thank you for inviting me...i can't wait to look at all your stuff!!

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  6. Thanks for the invitation.....There was life before blogging? really now? come on?
    This is an Awesome idea and I will be back!
    I am following for sure and I will post.
    By the way love to see the woman showing off their power tool skills and the kitchen looks great!!

    ~~Wendy

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  7. I love your kitchen also. Love the soapstone. I want those counter too, but first I have to replace my laminate floors (hopefully in 2011) and then move on to the counters later. I am joining you from Kirkwood Cottage blog. I will post on Throwback Thursdays. Thanks for the invite - most appreciated!

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  8. The kitchen is awesome! I love the black/silver and pops of red. I can't wait to read the rest of your posts. I am your newest follower. :)

    Thanks for the invite...I'll definitely link up - glad it's open til next Thursday...

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  9. Oh your kitchen looks awesome! The soapstone is so pretty and you all did an excellent job on it!!

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  10. Great job, I'm just waiting for you to build a new house or restore a car???

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  11. Thank you for visiting me and inviting me to your party! I love the concept!! Awesome countertops!! I LOVE them!
    xxDaniella

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  12. I love your countertops! What a fun before & after. Thanks for visiting my blog. I linked up to your party! :)
    Jenn

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  13. What a cool idea for a blog party. I have to see if I have anything pre-blog to link up.

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  14. I was wondering if you were going to have the party this month with your up coming trip. I will be back tomorrow with a something to link up.

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  15. Oh, and your kitchen counters look amazing. This is one area that I have never tackled! You are brave!! I must say, I love the photo of you with wearing the Scott goggles. You really take your work serious. lol.

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  16. They are beautiful and I had no idea that they were such a job to put in. I can't believe all of the dust.

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  17. I finally decided on a throwback project!

    Marcia, I did decide on a word for the letter art. "Welcome" would be perfect for my mudroom. It probably is the most used room in my home and I really need to do a better job of making it more welcoming. Thanks again for having the giveaway and I am honored to have won :D

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  18. You did it yourself? I'm really impressed!

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  19. Wow! You are so awesome. I cannot think of ANYTHING before blogging that could top putting in my own stone counter. Have a fun weekend.

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  20. Thank you! This gave me the extra boost of motivation to post my 'before blogging' project! I linked up to you :)

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  21. WOW! What stunning countertops! Your kitchen is GORGEOUS!!!

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  22. Those countertops are beautiful! I think it's great you installed them yourselves, with the help of some friends.

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  23. Your countertop are gorgeous! I would love to pick your brain about why you chose soapstone over other materials. We have granite that needs replacing. The measurements were incorrect, and we have a 1/4 " seam in our countertop that looks awful. I am not happy with the granite, but I am concerned about marble because it is more porous. I am thinking about ceramic tile at this point.

    Great post!

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  24. Thanks for visiting and inviting me to the party. I have joined it with my brick fireplace and mantle makeover that I did about 3 years before blogging entered my mind. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed seeing my post about our porch, deck, pool, and woods. Oh yeah, and about our fabulous red cabinet on the porch! Visit me often, please.
    Helen of Helen's Decor

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  25. I was so thrilled to be invited to the party, that I failed to say how much I admire your countertops. I'm wishing I had the nerve to try that one. It looks absolutely breath-taking in my opinion. Great job!

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  26. Wow! They look great! I can't imagine how eager you must've been to get those in before the holiday! It looks like they were certainly worth the wait! Beautifully done!

    Pam

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  27. Don't know why the pic repeted, but if you can delete one, it'll be great!, I don't know how. I love your kitchen counters, just fabulous! They sure were worth the wait, hon, just too great! I'm also at MM, BNOTP. Have a nice week. Hugs, FABBY

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