If you are going for a 1920's vintagey look with creamy cabinets, have you considered a dark grey quiet soapstone? Soapstone is so beautiful, feels wonderful and has that vintagey patina look you will love.

Granted, a bit more upkeep in the early months - but worth in for the long run!

Yes, we've considered it all...including a long look at Vermont slate. And lots of going back to soapstone. We'd like that look of soapstone without the upkeep or softness. I think the chips here and there would stress me out. The slate we had a sample of definitely scratched easily (with me skidding a pot on it just a little). And from what I hear, soapstone is even softer than slate. We also have 2 little kids and I have zero free time for a heavy upkeep product.

That said, we LOVE the look of soapstone and good slate. And the feeling of it under your hands is amazing too. That's why we're hoping for a honed granite to try to mimic the idea of soapstone. The VA mist has a bit of that look (veining) based on pictures I've seen here.

I'm also scared away from soapstone based on price...but I don't have a concrete estimate on it. I tried hard to get a quote on VT slate but they never did get back to my fabricator. See, I'm in FL...long way from VT and not many people around me doing slate (and soapstone sounds not all that common either - though I find that hard to believe!).

Argh. Thus the 6 months of hemming and hawing.

Did you say Florida? See Joshua and Mimi at Creative Soapstone. They are in Punta Gorda. I was so excited when I realized that "the" Joshua on this site was right up the road. I've included a link to their website.

Here is a link that might be useful: website link

What part of Fla.?

St. Pete. 2 hours from Punta Gorda maybe? Is Joshua the stone guy that chimes in a lot? I think I did notice that he was in FL (but didn't know where).

You're about an hour and a half away. Know from experience, because I go that way for every Bucs game! He's right off of the interstate. Google mapquest gets it wrong. The first turn after you get off of I-75 is a little further down the road. I had to call because the usually spot on Mapquest was wrong.

OK, now I've spent the night poring over old soapstone posts, going back to my sample from one of the Vermont soapstone places and now I'm going to call Josh tomorrow and see about going down for a visit. If I could find a stone on the harder side, I might just do it. I really do love the look. My husband is a geologist by trade and would take no convincing at all. He really wanted slate when we were toying with that. Hollagator's pictures are getting me psyched up on this.

Did you end up going with Josh and soapstone? Or is that still up in the air?

I have honed Kodiak granite - if you search on google for canada and kodiak black granite, you'll find a link that shows a photo of it, I haven't figured out how to post yet... But it's great - matte and hard as well, rock! I also liked Nordic Black granite (you can see it with same search but use nordic instead of kodiak) - nordic had white veining in it to mimic that classic soapstone look almost perfectly. I wanted to get Noridc initially, but my fabricator didn't have it and couldn't easily locate a new supply for my time frame, so I went with kodiak and couldn't be happier. I'll try to post a photo but I seem to always end up with tiny tiny little photos that don't seem to help....
kpk

I have a soapstone called Santa Barbara, which Florida Joshua used to have (don't know if he still does). It is a really interesting soapstone--almost all talc--very little veining. but incredibly compressed and dense. I have 2 sons--wild, active sons. Within 2 days of installing the stone, they were driving their matchbox cars over the runnels. One afternoon I heard, "clang, clang, clang, clang." I went in the kitchen and found my 3 year old banging a glass up and down on the runnels. They are fascinated by the runnels. A differnt day, my 3 year old had 2 spoons, and he was pretending they were people, marching them around the counter--ding, ding, ding, ding--went the spoons.

But NONE of this is noticible. None! When it first happens, you see white marks (talc residue). Plain old water washes much of it away. But a dab of oil, and it is GONE. It seems like magic to me.

I have this crack in my stone (working on a resolution), and I have played around with it: scrubbed it with green pads, gone at it with sandpaper (100 grit, 400 grit). It easy to work with! Truly! Add a bit of oil to the top, and it all looks the same.

Now, I do think there is something special about the Santa Barbara. It seems to oxidize differently. Some stones need a lot of oil. My stone was oiled almost 3 weeks ago, and barely looks any different. I have to go at it with the scrubber or sand paper to get the dark color off (regular soap won't take it off, nor will scouring powder).

So, I say all this to explain that soapstone (Santa Barbara, at least) is incredibly easy to maintain. I have some "patina photos" that I have to get downloaded. Basically, my husband was sanding plaster on the ceiling over the counter, and then--uh--standing on the plaster grit. The soapstone looked rather buffed. But add oil, good as new. Add fine sandpaper, even better.

However: I haven't had a giant ding yet. I have dents. No big deal. Can't see them. But a big chunk out of the side of my runnels would be sad.

I am just amazed by soapstone. It is just magic! Magic, I tell you!!

I can totally see how folks devote their careers to the stuff!

Francy

You definitely have to look up Joshua - he's been a lifesaver for me as well. In fact, I nearly flew him to Minnesota to do my install and in hindsight I many times wish I had. Soapstone isn't as well known here and I think I basically got the granite install approach to my beautiful soapstone.

But, with Joshua's help via email and phone, I have it pretty much squared away! So, please, on all our behalfs (the GardenWeb Forum Users) -give Joshua our best regards and your business!

I don't know Va Mist but am in love with Cambrian Black so that gets my vote! I am trying to reach "kaypeakay" because my dilemma is between her color Kodiak, and the Cambrian that you like...I want "black" but Kodiak seems softer to me...of course its unavailable here in Chicago right now...but you are inspiring me to try plywood until I can really resolve this. So thanks and Good luck! Sully

Well, we have honed Virginia Mist with an antique finish and have been in our remodeled kitchen for just over a year. I looked at soapstone plus several different matte black granites. When I saw the VM slabs I loved them and it made my decision. The VM was also quite a bit less than the SS quotes. Upkeep has been no problem at all. The granite was sealed and enhanced. There is very little movement to the granite just a few white wisps. This was the look we were going for with our painted white cabinets. Hope that helps!

Sorry, I didn't look here after I wrote. We're going to see him tomorrow morning.

Did I decide? Remember me from the style thread? I don't make decisions easily...because if I make a mistake, I know I'll have to live with it for a long time. I am so on the fence because I have to justify spending more on my house then I was going to. I'm really trying to make it all come together. Hopefully one more look will help me pull the trigger. When I first went there, it was all so abstract to me. I knew what I liked, but I didn't know what it would look like in MY home. The samples really helped me "see" a little better. (I told Joshua that I was good to the samples and really didn't have any desire to fondle them...but now a big slab???)

Let's just say in 1988...found a house that I liked the way they painted the outside. I matched paint chips to their house. Mind you, theirs look great. Had painters come to paint. Cried when I saw that the gray was different and the pink (yes I said pink) bands around the house seemed to glow in the dark. I think that everytime I make a decision, I have flashbacks to that moment. I think that I need treatment. LOL