Alternative Countertop ideas

I'm right in the middle of remodeling a bathroom (in a salon) and I'm looking for funky countertop ideas. I already purchased the sink/faucet and cabinet. I'm using a round frosted glass bowl/vessel sink and a vessel filler faucet..single..the kind that sits right to the countertop.

So- I would like to find a piece of material about 33 x 22 or bigger and then I'll cut it down. I'm looking for something different, something that you might find in a salvage yard or something totally unexpected. I can always coat whatever it is with an epoxy if it isn't water proof. I thought about staining Hardibacker but frankly- I have a thing for cement board and I'm trying to not use it for everything.
The salon is modern/zen-ish. I plan on using laminate flooring (horizontally) to cover 2x2 ceramic tile that comes halfway up the wall.

Any ideas are appreciated...even if you think it's way out there...I'd still like to hear it.

Thanks!

What about strand Plyboo?

http://www.plyboo.com/strand.html

Hey D-
This product called Dakota Burl is a 4x8 sheet made from pressed sunflower seed hulls. It looks pretty cool for a counter top....


http://www.strawsticksandbricks.com/product/detail.asp?scatid=42
http://solar.colorado.edu/images/timeline/biobased/20m.jpg


-R.

Oh yes! I've always loved the look of bamboo and I like the way the natural materials would contrast the class and chrome. I especially like the Kerei Sample.
Thanks for the input.

What a great project. In thinking of cheap ways to do a modern kitchen in our home, we heard about a product used by schools in their chemistry labs. It was a very durable hard smooth surface. I cannot think of the name of the material. But depending on where you live, there may be schools which are being demolished that have those lab tops.

It's not inexpensive, but I really like the look of Enviroglas' Enviroslab. You can customize it by chip color, epoxy color, and chip size - much like terrazzo. I'm using it for my Zen/spa-like master bath with vessel sink - sounds similar to yours. They even have a chip that glows in the dark. Like I said, not inexpensive, but worth a look. I think their site is www.enviroglas.com I also thought about taking a sheet of cement board or backer board and using thinset mortar to adhere small river stones or pebbles and then place a glass top over it. I was concerned about the weight???? . . . . . BTW, I think the product louisegray is speaking of above is soapstone - we're using that in the kitchen. You can check salvage yards or building/construction resale places to look for pieces from old school science labs, but you can also get it new from various places. It's softer than granite so it's easier to work with and cut, but it's denser so it stains less and does not need to be sealed. Just apply mineral oil periodically to keep the color dark if you want to - otherwise it's gray until it blackens with age. Just do a search for soapstone counter tops. There's a DIY supplier out of NJ, I think - Texeria or something like that. Hope this helps!

One thing I forgot to mention - soapstone could be considered slightly more environmentally sensitive since it is quarried or mined at a much shallower depth than marble or granite. So many things to think about! Thanks and good luck. Let us know what you decide!

richierod-

That Dakota Burl is really cool, thanks for posting that.

Sara-
Your welcome.... I PM'ed you...

Almost embarrassed to say but I ended up using something totally vanilla for the bathroom countertop in the salon.:disgust:

I purchased a garage workshop countertop and cut it to fit.
It's just gray laminate but not shiny or fancy. It does the job.

I re-grouted the tiles so that the grout would be a close match. I was hoping to make it blend together.

I'm glad I asked the question. We're in the middle of remodeling our home and I got some great ideas from everyone.


Here's a link to the other photos of the salon. You don't have to log in..just click to view the pictures

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9AZMWrZw3asVi

[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/6507/10009361sa.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I like that bowl, D. Where did you find that?


-R.

richierod-
Thanks. I got it on ebay for about 120.00 including shipping. That was the faucet AND the sink.
It came well packaged with the pop up drain assembly and anything else that was necessary for installation.

I used this seller.
http://stores.ebay.com/Plumbing-Gallery

Typing in vessel sink faucet combo will give you plenty to choose from.

Wow. That is a freaking STEAL! ebay here I come...

-R.

Hi Dlavery,
Where did you find the counter for your sink? Its great!

Home Depot has a garage cabinet section. The countertop is a seperate purchase...all boxed up by itself for 20 bucks. I cut it to fit and then used a laminate caulk/filler skimmed on the cut. Worked just great.