When it comes to decorating your home and creating a space you love there are so many elements that go into it. It can become pricey very quickly. There are several ways DIY projects and getting décor on a budget can help cut costs and turn out beautifully but there are also aspects of your home where trying to cut costs can be a big mistake in the end. Let me share with you about the biggest mistake I made when updating our home.
Back in 2020 we bought our current home with the intention of renovating and updating most of the current spaces. It was a builder grade home and had not been updated at all. I personally loved it for this reason because that meant I could make it my own!
Our kitchen was one of the first spaces we tackled. It had dark cherry cabinets and black granite counters. There was outdated lighting and a small island that was not functional. On top of that, the kitchen only had one small window so it felt dark and gloomy.
I had always dreamed of a white, bright kitchen and was excited to transform this space into something more my style! We began with changing up the flooring from the old tile to a wood laminate. Then we built a new, larger kitchen island. We used stock cabinets and built supports off the back to create a seating area. The new island helped give us more counter space as well as more seating in the kitchen. We ripped out all of the old granite counters by ourselves (that is something I never want to do again, talk about heavy) and modified our sink cabinet to accommodate a farmhouse sink.
After completing all of these projects, it was time for new countertops. I researched lots about what type of counters I’d like to have but I was also trying to keep our remodel on a strict budget. I loved the look of white counters with simple veining and stumbled upon the idea of epoxy counters. This seemed like a great solution at the time because they were cost efficient and I could make them look how I wanted. We hired a local company to make them for us (because this was a DIY I was not willing to tackle) and they were fine at first. They were the look I was going for even though they weren’t as nice as other materials.
We had our kitchen cabinets painted, new lighting installed, and I installed a backsplash. I thought the kitchen makeover complete and I was so excited to have the white kitchen I had pictured!
Fast forward about 10 months and I began to notice that our counters did not look as white as they had when they were first installed. I began to Google as to why that was and found out that epoxy yellows due to UV light exposure and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. In all my research prior to getting epoxy counters I never read this (just my luck). They gradually began to yellow more over time and eventually it became super noticeable. I was so upset and disappointed. It was a hard lesson learned but one that I wanted to share in hopes of saving someone else the regret of epoxy counters.
I began researching again about what type of counters I wanted to replace my yellow epoxy counters with and knew that I wanted quartz! There are so many reasons I chose quartz over granite! Quartz is non-porous, stain resistant, scratch and crack resistant, you never have to seal it and it is super durable!
I went to check out some quartz samples and fell in love with several samples from Spectrum Quartz right away! I brought them home to see how they looked in my space and found the perfect one for my space! It was what I had always dreamed of! The Expression quartz from their Brilliance Collection has an off-white background with light gray and white veining! The movement of the veining is so realistic and the white veining on a cloudy white background is gorgeous! The colors they offer look so natural as well!
Click here to check out the stunning Expression quartz from Spectrum Quartz!
Once we got the Expression quartz from Spectrum Quartz installed in our kitchen it finally felt complete and elevated the look of our home! We loved it so much we had it installed in our three bathrooms as well! Ironically, we’ve had the quartz installed in our home for 10 months now and guess what?! It is NOT turning yellow and looks as beautiful as it did on day one! It has not cracked or scratched and has held up beautifully! I am still as obsessed with it as I was the day I saw the sample! I highly recommend Spectrum Quartz if you are looking to upgrade the counters in your home!
Check out the before and after pictures of the spaces that got new quartz in our home! It’s amazing what new countertops and a few cosmetic changes can do for your home!
