Oh, holligator, that's just lovely. I am really torn about soapstone. I LOVE the look, but have never had a natural stone counter and am afraid of the oiling chore -- not likely to get done much in my house.

But, oh, boy is that ever pretty! (on a side note, can you tell me about your faucet? Does it have a side spray?)

oh my oh my oh my!!!!!! I can't believe how fast this is coming together for you!!!!

Oh boy that is gorgeous soapstone. What kind is it?? I am so jealous.

Thanks! I love it (in case you couldn't tell). I had such fun oiling it, that I can't (yet) imagine it becoming a real chore. And, by the time it does, it won't need oiling very often any more.

The faucet is a Kohler Vinnata--one that was highly recommended here. It has a pull down, so no side spray. I got a slightly larger one just like it for the clean-up sink.

Just gorgeous, Holligator! And it goes beautifully with your cabinets. Soapstone is my favorite but I have a small, windowless kitchen, so I'm going with a light colored Silestone instead. Enjoy your beautiful new kitchen.

Yummy! It looks lovely with your cabinets. I was going to post yesterday on your other post, but now I get to see the beautiful soapstone too. It makes me drool. Enjoy!

Just beautiful. I just cant believe what a difference a day has made in your kitchen. We are having much slower progress here. still Installing cabinets and granite template will be tomorrow hopefully .

OOOOOOOOO - AAAAAAAAAhhhhh It's delicious looking. Wow you are really moving now. Soon you will be . . . COOKING . . . in there. It is really looking great. Keep posting those pix.

Guess what? I saw your stone after it was put on the truck yesterday. What's funny, is that I know that because I picked one out just like yours that I liked and then I was shown that you picked the same one! It looks wonderful in your lovely kitchen. I have to say, I'm jealous.

I was so impressed with Joshua and his wife. What a wonderful couple they are. They took so much time with me and were very patient and understanding. The goodness just pours out of them. I was thrilled to find out that they were just up the road from me. I'm not sure if I'll be able to have it done due to cost (even though it is reasonable for soapstone), but I would have them do it in a minute if it weren't a factor. I'm still working on things (driving my family crazy, who unfortunately make decisions quickly and without care...not me), knowing that whatever decision I make I'll have to live with a long time.

Please be sure to keep up the pictures. It will help me decide or at least live vicariously through you. LOL

AWESOME!!!! It looks absolutely fabulous and you must feel such confidence knowing FJ is there doing your fabrication! Where in Fla are you? I have many friends in Fla and will recommend him if they are in the area.

I think, after seeing all the gorgeous SS you all have installed over the past few months, that in my next kitchen (when the kids are older and less likely to actually bang on the counter like it is an instrument) I will have to join the club! I love the idea of just being able to buff out scratches, etc!

I guess I'm having serious Soapstone Envy!!! Enjoy it for all of us that don't have it!!!! :)

GORGEOUS!!!! And lucky you living near enough to have THE Florida Joshua doing the work! :-)

Hey Hollagator :

The soapstone is awesome! I have a small run around our sink and it's the bomb. You will not get sick of the oil job because it just makes the marble pattern jump out.

Thanks for sharing the pictures - it is BEAUTIFUL! You must be on Cloud 9! Isn't it great after all the planning and choosing to finally see things come together. I bet that stone work even exceeds your expectations - Congrats!

LOVE the soapstone. Which one is it? My guess is the Black Venata but I'm not sure. I'm so torn over which stone I want.

Just gorgeous!!! Welcome to the club and ENJOY!!

Yes, you are now officially a Stoner. Welcome and congratulations!

I wish I could come and pet it! It looks wonderful!!!!

More pix, more pix!!

Francy

It's beautiful, I am so happy for you and anxious for the rest of us. Is that Black Vanetta?

Looking good! In fact, very good! Congratulations!

Beautiful!

Bravo!

Congratulations...enjoy!

It looks awesome!

Oh holligator, I am sooo excited for you!

Aaaaahhh Beeaauutiful! Your kitchen is looking great!

So, I get home from work tonight to find my counters about 75% finished! That is a lot of countertop in one day. Poor guys left home by 6 this morning and were still working when I left a little before 5 tonight. I'm not allowed to oil the new section yet (waaah!) because there is still some finish work to be done there, but here it is (sorry about the way my camera turns everything blue)...

Island and new perimeter section in back (yes, it's Black Venata)

RUNNELS! :)

A really pretty section unoiled...

Close up of the same section

Love it! I can't wait to see your finished kitchen.

Just curious, are you in central Florida?

So beautiful! I love the transformation from Oh-we-have-cabinets, to Look-at-that-kitchen!

Kristenfl, that's too funny that you saw my slabs before they got here! I agree with everything you said about Joshua and Mimi. They really are wonderful folks. No, you can't just live vicariously through me (although you are welcome to until you get your stone). You must get your own soapstone. Get a second job, take out a loan, sell your children--whatever it takes--just get your own soapstone. :)

Japper, I'm in Gainesville, which is generally considered "north central Florida." This is out of Joshua's normal range (he's in Punta Gorda, which is south of Tampa, near Sarasota), so there was a small mileage fee, but it was well worth it.

oh so beautiful!!!!

Ooooh, I love how the two "outside" runnels have a slight curve at the edge to match the sink. Nice touch!

I'm having so much fun with my runnels! I use them everyday for wet colanders of fruit. I put the drippy silverware basket on it when I am unloading the dishwasher. Pasta after draining. Etc, etc, etc.

And my kids like to drive cars back and forth over them. This creates little teeny white dings on the edges, which just disappear after oiling.

Soapstone is magic!

Here is my Soapstone Rule Number One: You MUST apply the oil with your hands. Don't use a rag. This allows you to commune with your stone in an intimate way. Your stone will appreciate this closeness. And, it will give you nice soft hands, so you will never end up thinking of oiling as a chore. It's a spa treatment!

:-)

Francy

Francy, you crack me up! I think we need an R-rated section for this board if you want to provide any more details of your "communing" with your soapstone. That said, I can't wait for my "spa treatment"! :)

Joshua left a few hours ago and I have gone in there probably a dozen times since to touch my counters. Everything fits beautifully. The runnels are perfect (wish I had some toy cars to drive on them). The one seam is invisible (to me anyway--Joshua said it wasn't).

My GC arrived shortly after Joshua left and went absolutely ga-ga over Joshua's craftsmanship. He said that the only stone person he had ever seen do remotely comparable work was a guy from eastern Europe who had worked in his grandfather's stone shop since he was 4 years old. The cabinet guy just arrived to finish up and said pretty much the same thing.

When the cabinet guys get out of the way, I'll take some more pics. In the meantime, I will just look at it adoringly.

Beautiful work, Joshua! I'm also in awe of your portable fabrication shop -- looks like a toy store on a truck :)

Hey now, I didn't say you had to be topless! Just ragless!

;-)

Francy

I'm so thrilled for you Holligator! It looks amazing, and I can't wait to see it all oiled! I'll be back here tomorrow to check for pictures!

I can't believe that we are already this close to being done. On Monday at noon, I had a big empty room. It's Wednesday night, and all I need are appliances installed and a little trim work done (who knows when I'll tackle the backsplash?). Here's what it looks like tonight:

Beautiful counters!!! I really really like your flooring as well

Francy, I rarely ever really LOL on these boards. I did this morning. Thanks for a great way to start my day.

Holligator, the kitchen (and soapstone) looks fabulous!

I envy the soapstone (too much added to budget here to contemplate), but my oiling chore was my butcher block counter this morning . . . and I was smiling the whole time. I may have to try Francy's trick of ragless (DH might like the other suggestion, after the kids are in bed!);oiling wood is a sensual experience too.

Have a good day, everyone!

oh wow Holligator! I can't believe how fast it happened....

WHOA! looks amazing! we're still picking out our slabs, what is the name of that stone? and what state are you in? Im getting ours from Dorado Soapstone in TX. Have you heard of them at all? anybody have any thoughts? They have Minas which is similar to the stone you have, black with the white veins. I love that big spot of it in the center of your island. Beautiful!

Unbelievable! Simply stunning! What are you planning for your backsplash? It looks simply fab!

Also stunning how quickly yours is getting done! I'm envious. We've had cabs and almost all appliances since the Friday before Xmas, and we're still not done (little things...painting and the last of the crown molding, etc). The little things seem to be taking a lifetime.

Holligator,

I haven't gotten back to you because I wanted to seal the deal with my kids first. Unfortunately, I can't get anyone to budge. I even cut the price. LOL

Seriously, after seeing your kitchen and hearing your excitement, we are seriously considering doing soapstone. When I drove to Punta Gorda, I asked for some samples, and then left without asking for them. Joshua and Mimi are sending them to me. I really need to see the material in my kitchen before I can decide. We already had gone ahead and did something at Expo in Naples, but we haven't gone ahead and said go ahead after I saw the soapstone on this site. We had decided on Luna Nero granite (absolute black) and everyone here scared me about it. It looks beautiful, but I'm not exactly June Cleaver, if you know what I mean. I love modern things, and I think it would look nice in my kitchen. It is a long galley kitchen, with a breakfast nook at one end. We have porcelain gray Imola Micron tiles and white European cabinets with stainless steel pulls . Our walls are medium gray and white. We have white plantation shutters (I know, off the beaten path of my style but they look great and the maintenance, awesome). What do you think it would look like in our kitchen? I really want something mostly black with some mostly WHITE veining. Does that describe yours?

I'd love to see more pictures!

Here's my kitchen. Please excuse the "stuff". See...always something waiting to be washed or recycled!

Thanks for all the compliments. I think I'll wait until we get most of the rest of the details completed to post more pics of my "finished" kitchen. The fridge and DW went in yesterday, but I'm still waiting on my stove. The gas guy the GC uses wasn't available, and the one from the store was clueless, so I still haven't cooked anything on my new Aga. :(

There is a pretty long list of fixes that the Cabinet Guy needs to take care of, but he's being really great about it and even pointing out things that I never would have noticed. The GC's crew was back today putting in the undercab lighting, installing the appliances, and other little things. Their promised "deadline" is tomorrow, but I doubt they will be finished. The delay was all on the Cabinet Guy, so I'm not bothered by it.

Kristenfl, I think it would look absolutely gorgeous in your kitchen--you may need to put those kids on the clearance rack! Yes, my Black Venata is almost exactly as you describe: "mostly black with some mostly WHITE veining." There is a bit of greyish veining and, if you look really, really hard in certain light, you can see a hint of purple and a hint of green, but most of the time, I can't see these colors.

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!! Indeed!!!!!!! Congratulations, you're now a STONER! Welcome to the club, where fondling soapstone is an every day occurrence and heartily encouraged by those who have oiled before you. ; )

Looking forward to more of your pics!

Diana

I said I was just going to do a quick scan of the new posts this evening because we are so busy and getting ready to travel. I wasn't even going to log in but. . . I saw your post and looked at the pics and I had to tell you how great it looks. WOW, fabulous and how fast. Congrats and enjoy it. Our stone should be traveling right now. I am so excited everytime I see someone else's pics.

Holligator,
Will you send me an e-mail? I just added my e-mail to my profile. And kristenfl, you too? It's possible that we are all going to end up with the same soapstone from the same slab at Creative Soapstone. Holly, I just wanted to hear more about how it's holding up so far. My big fear is that it's just too soft for us but I SO want it to be right! Looking for an honest opinion of wear.
Thanks,
Dawn

I couldn't be happier with my soapstone. It has already gotten to the point of not needing frequent oiling, although I continue to do it frequently because I enjoy it. As I have said before, I have a lot of really minor scratches because we have continued to have a lot of work done in the kitchen. The scratches have almost all disappeared with a little oil. A few are still detectable (barely), but there is so much variation in the stone that they are hard to find.

Joshua was just here today to drill a hole I forgot about before (a hole for cords in my desk). He is such a sweetheart and such a pleasure to work with.