This morning I met with Joe Desantis (Imperial Tile and Marble) and one of his employee’s, Billy, to layout our countertop pattern.
A little history. We decided on an Italian quartzite stone (harder than granite) a couple of months ago. This stone is a spectacular work of art. It has fluid veins of greens, caramel and ivory, bisected by black fossils and other lines and patterns. We were lucky enough to find two slabs that were cut immediately after each other so as to allow us to bookmatch one countertop that is 13′ long. Without a bookmatch, the pattern would be interrupted. The genius is in the cutting of these unbelievable slabs. Joe, Billy and I worked to preserve movement of the stone across the kitchen while also accenting one large section of the stone we call a “turtle”. The pattern looks like a turtle or even the continent of Africa- however defined we wanted to preserve the look. I think we came up with a really good design. I’m going with a pencil edge (super simple to maximize the detail of the veins in the stone). I was extremely torn about using natural stone given the ecological consequences but when we came across these slabs already cut, outside of Boston, we knew we would respect the history and beauty of these stones, harvested from the earth after millions of years in the making.
Antonio was back today to cut out more stone for our front entry intercom. I finished staining, sanding and sealing my poppy door. I have one more coat of spar urethane to put on the frame once it’s installed and I’m leaving the interior of the sidelights unfinished until the unit is installed. Wayne is thinking he will start the door install Monday or Tuesday.
Finally, Sophie is holding on to her dreams of the Cubs rebounding today back at Wrigley.
Categories: Kitchen Project
EastSide Nest 
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