Not sure why the pictures I'm submitting aren't showing up in the thread ... any ideas?

An overview of what is being done

the "Fridge/Peninsula' wall

Capital Culinarian - 6 Burner, Manual clean Range ... Wok Ring installed

Culinarian frontal ... GC has to replace doors on cabinet to the right and above right of range ... he installed them to open the wrong direction

Culinarian frontal ... GC has to replace doors on cabinet to the right and above right of range ... he installed them to open the wrong direction

Punch list of remaining items

Countertop (Heavily leaning towards Soapstone)
Backsplash install (up for grabs - greenish Subway tile?)
Hood Install (original 1200 CFM was defective)
Polyurethane floors (2nd and 3rd coats)
Faucet (Hansgrohe)
Instahot and Tank install (Insinkerator)
Fridge (48" BI SubZero)
Missing puck lights (contractor said I spec'ed 7 when I need 9 - WTF??)
Pendant over peninsula (adjustable height from ylighting.com)
more????

All burners on full ... Almost 150,000 BTU?!

Typical of the six ... Needs some adjustment for a "true" simmer

Now there's a serious cook's kitchen! Couple of things:

*Do you have a trim piece for the corner of the peninsula facing us as we look at the first photo?
*Find some outlet/switch covers that blend more with the cabinets. We found a bronze one at HD or Lowe's for the one we needed to blend. There are online sources for them if you can't find one off the shelf.
*Are the puck lights you're referring to going to be your under cabinet lighting? If not, you'll definitely want to take care of that.
*You'll probably want a pendant over the peninsula unless there's a light source up there we're not seeing.
*Love the soapstone idea.

As a soapstone owner I will say that it totally rocks as a cook friendly option. I'm a very passionate home cook/baker. Love to experiment and entertain. I am somewhat tornado like when I'm in full throttle mode and I find my soapstone to be indestructible in addition to gorgeous. I love it whether I feel like waxing or letting it go natural and each stage in between. Each level of luster has it's own beauty. The best part is it's function. You won't regret it.

What a great space! That range rocks!!!!

Good eye Suzannesl!

Yes .. we're pre-install of those final trim pieces - as I'm told, the GC is holding off until the counters are installed since there may be some minor settling once that occurs ... there are also some pieces to be installed on the non toe-kick bottom edges (e.g. the bottom of the beadboard fronts ;-)

Yeah - on the different color outlets ... the whote dacora outlets are sort of garish ... I'll definitely be replacing those as the kitchen goes into use

the puck lights are my only under cabinet lighting ... it turns out the mis-spec is going to cost me 300-500 to resolve ... I'm now leaning toward having a second set of remote battery operated LED Puck lights from Costco installed and calling it a day

There's a single pendant to be installed over the peninsula ... http://www.ylighting.com/george-kovacs-counter-weight-pendant-p542-612.html ... it can go up for diffuse area lighting or down for task lighting which is what I was looking for

Thanks for the affirmation on the soapstone ... its funny how everyone looks at you sideways when you say you want something other than Granite

More affirmation: I am really loving my (DIY) soapstone so far!

C - I had to do a double take on your kitchen as it is almost identical to our new kitchen except we put a cooktop in where your range is located and wall ovens where your peninsula juts out! (and we put in more drawers)
Even the colors are similar!

We put in plug mold uc as well as GM larc led light bars on dimmers. Electrician is going to move them back a bit as when we added the trim, the light doers not diffuse as far as it should ( I chose the location -oops)

Currently in the abb club. I saw some beautiful green tiles at heath tile. Talk to Wendy and she will send you samples. Search for chitown post on her backsplash. I love what she did and plan to do something similar.

Please post your progress!
Thanks

Usual iPad cryptic and completion matching errors.

Angie and remodelfla - I wish I could say the same about my soapstone (I feel like an addict who's coming clean). It's beautiful barocca, just a gorgeous stone. But it dings and scratches at every turn. I feel like I put a towel under everything. My DH accidentally tipped the sugar dish and lid fell off - another ding. I colored it with a sharpie, but that's getting old. Oil doesn't cover those dings up, either. I wanted SS for so long, but now wishing I'd got a look alike. I haven't tried sanding stuff out, but it's not realistic to pull out the sander after every meal. I feel guilty about it, but I guess I'll live with it a few years, til I can justify changing it out. My DH says let's just let scratches, divots, chips happen, since we typically like patina. I do like patina, but the dings and deep scratches at the least little thing is more than I expected. Sorry to be OT, but something to think about when choosing soapstone.

I totally get it Lake Girl and I'm sorry for your disappointment. I almost did n't go for ss when my original samples like the Santa Rita (which I loved the look) dinged and scratched like crazy. When I found a harder variety that had the crazy veining I wanted... I knew it was perfect for me.

moral of the story cIRCitmage - get a hard soapstone variety. I think it would be beautiful in your kitchen.

In case you haven't already seen it a gazillion times; here's a closeup of my ss and you can see the seaglass green colored glass tile behind it.

Thanks all ... I'm agonizing over this SS vs. Granite issue and have possibly over-informed myself ... analysis paralysis ... I think it may come down to color choices ... in SS - i'm partial to the greenish grey with white silver veining - is that a "hard" SS and what is its name?

I'm also considering a tan with brown veining granite since the kitchen is sort of dark and the 80sqft expanse of dark maple cabinetry needs some lightening ... can anyone point me to some pics of dark maple cabinets with dark soapstone?

remodelfa - those are *exactly* the backsplash tiles I was considering ... funny how your and my project are so similar ... can you post or direct me to other pics?

WOW! What a wonderful space! Your stove is to die for!!!

Thanks abctate (and others) ... The fridge and the stove were the only items we didn't go budget on ... everything else is cut rate - IKEA, Home Depot or Costco (lights, faucet, outlets, etc...) ... there was some extensive structural work that had to be done as well to open the wall near the peninsula ... it was otherwise cutting off both the view and the space for no obvious reason ... the home was designed in the 60's with a 60's state of mind and had not been updated one iota since then ... lots of mad men era fixtures, and room flow patterns (small, low, brown, green and blue color palette ... I'd post several pics of the work we did, but it'd be off topic for the thread ;-)

cIR... there does seem to be some parallels. Here is a link to my 80% finished reveal and more pics or info then you could every care to see. It still, over a year later, sits at 80% done.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

Also pulled the trigger on Anastacia soapstone ... Went to M Texeira in Hackensack ... was told that Kanada and Anastacia were the hardest SS with greenish hues ... Liked the Anastacia best, although the Kanada was on a 20% sale ... hoping to see templates up against the slabs we picked soon and delivery within about a week ... more pics once the counters are in! ;-)

Promised the pics ... pre-oiling

Peninsula

Peninsula

Sink corner

on-oiled counter running from refrigerator

after oiling ... some of the nice greenish "sworls" we liked in our Anastacia soapstone

after oiling ... some of the nice greenish "sworls" we liked in our Anastacia soapstone

after oiling ... some more of the nice greenish "sworls" we liked in our Anastacia soapstone

a more panoramic shot

I'd actually like it to be between this and the unoiled "grey" ... we'll see how long it takes for the oil to dry off

Some notes on the install

I used M. Texeira in Hackensack, NJ .. they gave me a good price, a small sale discount (10% vs. the 15% I would have liked) and covered some additional sqft that appeared after templating at no charge ... all in all - very nice and professional on the sale side

Templating was done in Hackensak at the fab workshop (vs. the main office) ... we went and choose what sections to use for which pieces based on how the clear template revealaed the features in the stone we liked ... our primary focus was the slab used in the peninsula and we tried to get the highest concentration of green "sworls" that we could in that piece

after fabrication, an unfortunate installer accident resulted in the large slab used for the peninsula cracking along the two of the veins ... rather than being one piece - it actually is three ... it remains to be seen whether the patch job that they used will be acceptable, but it is not easily apparent to the uninformed eye or finger ... the installer ("Jose") from M. Texeira owned up to it right away and offered to replace the slab at no charge but the replacement would take a week to fabricate ... Tex sent Leo up from the fab shop and he assessed the damage and monitored the repair and install all afternoon ... we left it at "I'll see if this patch/glue job works and reserve the right to have you come back and replace the one you broke at a future date" ... after the accident, I feel that M Tex did a good job of owning and fixing the problem ... Hopefully I made the right choice

Some small issues - the undermount sink is slightly offcenter and not siliconed in ... the small slab to the left of the range is light enough to move easily and not affixed to the counter ... there is a gash in the new paint to the side of the sink corner that needs repair

All in all, the broken peninsula slab has me concerned but the repair may be an acceptable fix ... a reduction in the invoice would be a welcome accomodation to address the defect

Very nice! The soapstone looks great.

Wow, your soapstone looks gorgeous!

Cannot help you whether you made a good repair or not, but just document everything and send in an email to whoever you are working with to confirm anything agreed to verbally.

Great choice and love your kitchen. Glad I caught it!