Erin Napier Has A Clever Way To Get Beautiful Stone Countertops On A Budget

In any renovation, stone countertops are always a high-ticket — sometimes shockingly so — budget item. However, not every countertop project needs to break the bank. HGTV's Instagram posted a clip of celebrity interior designer Erin Napier, of "Home Town" fame, sharing how to get high-end stone countertops on a budget: using stone remnants. "We love remnants. A slab would've cost us like $2000, but this was just $400," Napier says regarding the stone she chose for a small bathroom vanity. Many commenters were left a bit confused about how remnants work and whether her numbers included labor. As an interior designer, I've always felt it was my job to help educate my clients about what they're paying for and where they can save. My gut instinct was to break down the stone remnant process in detail, so you'll know exactly what it means — and what it doesn't.

Typically, when you buy manmade or natural stone counters, you have to purchase the entire slab — or multiple full slabs — regardless of the final countertop size. This is because that's how fabricators have to buy stone slabs from their manufacturers. And while you might use the majority of a slab for a larger project like kitchen counters, many projects end up with leftover pieces when a slab is cut. While you can opt to use this spare material elsewhere in your home (more on that later), any usable material that's still left over with the fabricator at the end of the day becomes a remnant, or partial slab, that can be shopped by another customer. Let's clarify what that shopping process looks like, how to pick a suitable remnant, and the real financial picture if you go the remnant route with your next countertop project.

If you choose a remnant, the stoneyard will usually charge a significantly lower price per square foot or use an affordable size-based price tier. Material-wise, remnants can save you 40% to over 70% per square foot, depending on your project size, fabrication details, and remnant selection. This is the kind of savings Erin Napier refers to when saying the stone vanity countertop was only $400. However, while this may technically be true about the material cost, unless she has a special deal with her fabricator, the rest of us have other fees to consider.

For full transparency, you'll still need to pay the full labor costs for countertop fabrication and installation, even if the material itself is cheaper. In Napier's example, you'd pay a labor premium for the thick mitered-edge detail.  It looks great, but will, in reality, set you back more than a few hundred bucks when you factor in labor on top of material. So yes, it's a decent savings to shop remnants, but there will still be significant labor fees to budget for.

As a note to those wondering, "Wait, how can they double-sell the same material?" — let's unpack this. If you buy a full-sized stone slab, technically, the material is yours. Therefore, I recommend finding a secondary space to use the extra stone you've already paid for, though you'll still incur labor fees for each additional counter. You could keep the spare raw, unpolished pieces, but storing them is a cumbersome, heavy undertaking most people don't want to deal with. When a stoneyard takes on this responsibility, think of the second remnant sale as industry-standard compensation for the space, time, and effort it takes to catalog, move, store, and care for the stone between projects.

Let's walk through Erin Napier's stone remnant recommendation step by step for more clarity about the shopping process. While some fabricators may have a remnant inventory online, most require an in-person treasure hunt, which I highly recommend anyway so you can see the material with your own eyes. Come prepared with your final countertop measurements and a tape measure, as the pieces will come in a wide variety of sizes that may or may not work for your project. Bring any room finish samples with you for reference to make sure your stone selection will work beautifully with the design.

The stoneyard will usually organize remnants roughly by size, though it's certainly not a perfect system, so comb each display rack carefully. Besides the obvious quest for the most aesthetically pleasing remnant, you'll also want to double-check a couple of things. Sizing-wise, if a remnant is squared off, you only need a piece slightly larger than the finished countertop size to make it work. If the partial slab is irregularly shaped, consult the fabricator to ensure they can produce the right-sized finished product from the piece. Be on the lookout for structural integrity as well, inspecting for cracks, breaks, and imperfections.

Another consideration for shopping remnants is aesthetics – and this one's a double-edged sword for me. On the one hand, shopping for existing pieces limits your design options to the available inventory, and some visits are sadly a bust. On the other hand, sometimes you stumble upon an exceptional stone you wouldn't have otherwise considered because of factors like slab pricing and looks, giving your project a unique upgrade you never saw coming. I absolutely love it when this happens. If you're flexible and open-minded when searching for remnants, the universe may just surprise you with a gift.