Welcome LG Hi-Macs

In the middle of installing hardwood floors, we also had our new countertops installed. Why not add more chaos into the mix? And I have to confess, this is the only thing that we have not done ourselves. The old counter tops were white Formica. The kitchen looked like it belonged in a sterile hospital with the white cabinets and white counter tops - not the look I want in my warm and inviting house.

There were multiple options we looked into before choosing the LG counter tops. We thought about tiling the counter tops, replacing with Formica, stone options, and even painting the counter tops. However, the old white Formica was popping up in the corner seams which made painting it not a good option. We would have to either replace the Formica, which I really didn't want to do, or go with something totally different. So, it was off to Lowe's (with a 30% off coupon) to see what the "totally different" options were.

And boy, are there a lot of counter top options out there. Russ quickly opted for the LG Hi-Macs, I was a leaning more towards granite or quartz. Every DIY-girl dreams of a solid slab of granite or quartz in the kitchen, glistening under the pendant lights... Okay, I'm back from dream land. But I still had my heart set on that cold slab of stone. Until I heard that the LGs have no visible seams, are solid surface, never have to be sealed, have a 15 year warranty, and the sink (which is free) is molded in so it becomes one piece and nasty germs can't hide under the lip of the sink. And the installation is included in the price - Sold!!!

And there are a bunch of colors available - from green to white to red to Mesa Granite...which is exactly what we I picked. It is the perfect color to replace the white Formica counter tops. It is warm brown color with black and white flecks that will pull the white cabinets in nicely.

Two weeks later, in the midst of the hardwood floor installation, the counter tops were scheduled to be installed. To save some cash, we chose to demo the old counter tops ourselves., which was really fun. I love to demo! And we discovered that the kitchen used to be navy blue. See the navy stripe of paint from where we removed the back-splash:

We chose not to get a back splash that matched the counter tops, like we previously had with the white Formica. We might tile the back splash at a later time, or we might not. Who knows. But I did have to paint over the navy stripe before the counter tops could be installed:

The install went very quickly and was super easy - I just watched. The counter top was in 3 pieces. They glued and leveled the seperate pieces into place and then used a special sauce and machine to make the seams disappear. Don't ask me for details. I just know that the tackle-box like machine on the floor with the wires running from it made the seams disappear. Good enough for me.

About an hour later and my sterile white kitchen was long gone. Say hello to beautiful Mesa Granite LG Hi-Macs: