Okay. Update on removing countertop(s). We took the first (of 2) countertops off. Abbisgram, you were correct, and there were only a few screws attaching the top. All came out easily except one which was impossible to get to without disassembling the whole cabinet, so we got out the sawzall and took care of that one. Decided for several reasons not to special order countertops. We bought a sheet of 3/4" plywood (4x8), had it cut in half lengthwise, and that will do all the new countertops. Got the first one on and will need to put the tiles and edging on. Regarding the comment from the guy at Lowes: He was correct in the sense that the cabinet was very flimsy; however, it didn't 'fall apart'. The front (where the doors are attached) is pretty standard, however the sides of the cabinet are 1/8" (at most) luan, and there is no back piece at all, just a 1x2 strip fastened to the bottom of the (old) countertop, then screwed to the wall. Thankfully, the shelf inside the cabinet seemed to help keep it all together til we got the new top on it. Once the new plywood was on though, it is as sturdy as it was before ... lol. Not sure if I mentioned that this is not our full-time home, it's a mobile home that we purchased in a resort town, so we are not there to work on it every day. Hoping to go back next week and remove/replace the 2nd countertop, then cover them. Bottom line is that it wasn't nearly as scary as the Lowe's guy made it sound. And thanks, abbisgram, for the encouragement. :) As a side note, the finished countertops will end up costing under $100 for approx. 13-14 feet of countertops. I'm not the best at taking pictures, but will try to post some when we finish. This post was edited by danandcarol on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 22:44

Hi! We have honed Virginia Mist and love it! It doesn't show much wear, fingerprints, ect at all! Everytime someone walks through the door they rub it and ask a million complementary questions! ;) Wear has be AMAZING with kids too. Once (or twice or three times) I've gotten oils (be it cooking or cleaning oils) on it, it darkens and then after a few days it's normal color again. It's AWESOME!

Not sure I like the gray cabinet door next to your floors. Does it look better in person? The door looks like it's too cool a color for the floor. Black might work better, and it seems to be a consensus on this forum that gray is on its way out or is already over. But to be clear, I think the floor is beautiful, so no need to change it. I like an island in a different color than the perimeter cabinets, but I would prefer the same countertop throughout. I think your island would stand out enough without having a different countertop. There are lots of different opinions on quartz vs granite. IMO, this is a question of whether you prefer a natural material to manmade. I think you could find as many people prefer one as the other. If you get a counter with some movement (looks busy), then you should choose a monotone backsplash so they don't compete. But as Patricia says, the backsplash comes last. There are so many options in tile that you don't have to worry that you'll find something you like.

. these are MSI Laza countertops, but not the gold. do they have these in stock? Do you have a sample door of your cabinets? you should really get one when looking at white slabs to see how they look next to each other. Forget the backsplash until everything else is in. what if you did a solid quartz countertop and a marble tile splash? I did this w/mine. used calacatta gold on the tiles, have calacatta on my island, but went w/Silestone Eternal on the perimeter. (they also have the Charcoal version you might like better. here's a close up of mine. I was using black tiles elsewhere (coffee bar w/black/white cement tiles, and a black zellige tile floor inlay by the pantry), plus I have the Cafe in the black and a dark island, and thought it was too much black this is what it looks like in the charcoal here's a picture showing a black cafe fridge w/the dark countertop black and gold w/a quartz marble Cambria Bentley Porcelain slabs