So we live in a farm house built in 1942.  Right after we bought it we did a major remodel to make it livable but did not tackle the bathroom or kitchen.  Exactly 2 years ago we took on the bathroom remodel. Having recovered from that, we decided to redo the kitchen.  Above is Tom in the “before photo”.  We had put a lot of stuff on the counter to hide it and have a rug on the floor for a similar purpose.  Here’s a close-up of the countertop material in one of its better sections (believe it or not):

Here’s more of the flooring demonstrating one of the many holes in it:

I have always wanted a colorful retro 1940s look with checkerboard flooring and a bright countertop.  I was talked out of linoleum so we decided on glazed ceramic tile for the floor.  We hired my brother, a tiler, for the job.  We looked into granite slab countertops but after quotes ranging from $4,000 to $8,000, we opted instead for granite tiles.  It turns out bright colors (or any color for that matter) are out, and browns and grays are in.  We could not find tiles of color in our local counties.  I ordered the floor tiles on line, and we drove to Seattle visiting 5 granite business in the Georgetown neighborhood before we found a green granite tile ,for the counter.  And these were on the top shelf of the warehouse in an old rickety container that nearly fell on the warehouse worker who was kindly putting up with us.  When we tried to purchased the “Tropical Green” tiles the office worker thought they hadn’t had it in years.  But we happily purchased our 30 tiles and drove home.  By this time our home and lives were in disarray.  Here’s our kitchen

and our dining room.

We improved the levelness of the floor by shoring up the foundation, and Greg did an excellent job (as always) repairing the surprises we found under our old floor and tiling the floor.  Here’s the end results:

Then Greg took on the countertop.  The old layers were torn away revealing more “surprises” that needed attention.  And the sink was removed.  Any time we touch the plumbing here it is scary.  Then the tile was laid.  Here’s the countertop related chaos:

But then this morning I came home from work and found this beautiful countertop!

I am so thrilled to have the kitchen of my dreams finally (after almost 9 years).  It was a lot of work and challenges, but we (mostly my brother Greg) rose above them, and I now have a gorgeous colorful retro kitchen.  The only thing left to do is place metal edging on the countertop.  Tom and Greg could not find any locally so I ordered some online.  Once we have that placed we will be entirely done with our home remodel.  Now it is time to start redoing stuff.  Like now that we have shiny new floors, the walls and cabinets look dingy and….

ADDENDUM:

Here’s a portion of the countertop after we received and placed the metal edging:

You can see the color of the tiles better.

Just FYI, the floor tiles are Marazzi I Colori Glazed Ceramic Tile from floormall.com.  The countertop tiles are Tropical Green granite tiles from Daltile in Seattle.  The metal edging is Aluminum Lip Edge Trim 6’Length,  2-5/64″ Leg Height from mcmaster.com.  And the tile work is by my brother Greg White of Seattle.