The Journal - Ryan and Leah's New House

So we've finally picked out countertops! We ordered three 4' x 8' sheets of Wilsonart Willowstone laminate. It is a swirly/speckly gray/green that goes well with our dark brown/black tiles, our deep cherry cabinets, and our happy Benjamin Moore Dorset Gold walls (which change color depending on time of day, section of the room, type of lighting, etc.).

While I'll still miss the dream of having black granite countertops with bright silver flecks, it's helps when I put things into perspective: We could have gotten almost five whole square feet of granite countertops for the price we paid for our whole countertops.

Hmm, not such a competition there.

I have to remind myself to stop calling the countertop FORMICA since that is a brand and not a product type. Those Communication Law classes from college are all coming back to me. You can not xerox a xerox on a Xerox, people!

So the last item of countertop business to figure out is edging. We don't want to go with the traditional laminate edging (though that can be a last resort) and have been investigating other options. While our top choice would be a beveled wood edge, we are faced with three rounded corners, and bending a 1/2" thick piece of wood around a corner is not so easy. Ryan's been investigating this online and reading all about heating and soaking and layering the wood to get it to work (not all three at once, mind you), but it seems very complicated and time-consuming. While I know Ryan is a pro at anything he tries, anyone's experience and advice on this subject would be much appreciated.

Another option we've been looking at is using some kind of sheet metal or chrome edging, even something similar to the edge of our retro kitchen table. Or Ryan's been talking about riveting the edges, which sounds a little difficult to keep clean, but really who cares about practicality when it would look so cool ;)

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