I'm Karen.

One of the biggest decisions you'll

make when you're renovating your kitchen

is what countertop to choose.

There's so many choices.

And the look and function both go into that.

So there's a lot to think about.

Oh my go--

Oh, yeah.

Oh my gosh.

Oh, look at the [inaudible].

Buyers always seem to have a really strong reaction

to the countertops when they walk

into a home, which makes it such a key feature

in our renovations.

There's a lot of different countertop materials nowadays.

You can actually get countertops made out of paper.

Paper?

Yeah.

- I did not know that. - Yeah.

I think there's a couple of things

that you need to take in account when you're making a choice

and it's your budget, how you live your life,

and really, how you want it to function.

Mina can never get enough of carrara marble.

She loves the way it looks and the way it feels.

But it's not for everyone.

No.

You can seal it to help protect

it against acidic stains.

It will prevent some scratches, but even a seal

won't prevent everything.

Granite is a little bit more durable.

Yes.

Granite and quartz. - Yeah.

Not as porous.

Quartz tends to be a little bit more expensive,

but they're both non-porous, and they

come in lots of beautiful colors, and they're very

easy to maintain.

If granite might break the bank,

you can always try to find a small remnant piece,

and then use something else for the rest you countertops.

The house we did on [inaudible] in season one,

we did a combination of like an engineered butcher block,

so that giant U was probably $350.

And it looked great.

It looked beautiful.

And then, we were able to source a remnant

for the island that was a very high-grade chunk of granite.

But because it was a remnant, we could get it for less.

- Right. - And I think it was like $900.

Right.

If we'd done that much stone, it would have been too much.

Been to much.

So just think about those things when you're making your choice.

Think about your budget.

Think about how careful you can be with your countertop,

and then the ascetic you're going for.

And then find what fits for you.