Two houses: summer/retirement got soapstone.
The other kitchen: maple, with one section getting zinc, which matches a hoosier off in the corner. Would have done stainless had I been able to find that place on the outskirts of town that will do a residential job. They didn't exist in my location. So stainless was out of the budget.

Still my favorite countertop surface - soapstone @ our lakehouse.

We did Kashmir Gold.

we're going with Sea Pearl quartzite

I have River White granite

Suzanna your kashmir gold is beautiful; great choice to complement your cabinets

LG Viatera Rococo. I wanted White Cherokee marble from Tate, Georgia. But, I just couldn't destroy it. I thought I was brave, but I'm not.

Suzanne_sl, your Kashmir gold is gorgeous! How is it holding up?

Homechef59 - that is gorgeous!

Amck2 - I always wondered about soap stone... That is bold! Interesting mix with the blue cabinets.

Lilly spider - nice choices! Lovely combination!

Zorroslw1 - loving the choice for backsplash.

Thanks, I will be doing 3x6 tiles in the pictured slate.

houserookie, it was a bold choice & contrary to my usual tendency toward quiet elements. But I was taken with that slab when I first saw it. It looked like a reverse marble to me. I put it on the island prep top where I get to enjoy seeing and working on it, but for the perimeter counters and upper island level I went with a more traditional variety so the space isn't overpowered by the stone. The blue island was daring for me, too. Perimeter cabs are white.

I like different surfaces for different purposes. So, a bit of marble for the baking area, some ceramic tile between the cooktop and oven, butcher block or big cutting board in prep area...and probably a vintage style laminate everywhere else.

Life on the farm is tough on countertops! LOL So laminate is probably our best choice. And granite is just too cold for our winters :)

Lavender_lass

You are right about laminate being tough. We gutted our current kitchen 15 years ago and put in laminate counters. They look as nice as the day they were installed. No upkeep or fuss, just wipe'm down.

Fantasy brown quartzite. Kitchen demo starts tomorrow (and other demo work started last week).

Super White in our new home. After 10 months, I'm still loving it. Have not had any etching, scratches, or staining. We did have a sealer the fabricator recommended put on that supposedly will last for 10 years. At this rate, I'd say it was worth it.

These are the three slabs that went into our kitchen with the remnants going into our master bath and half bath.

In our former house, we had Blue in the Night antiqued granite. I loved the blue flecks that would jump out when the light hit them just right.

Cherry shaker kitchen · More Info

nhbaskets-you have had 2 very different and equally stunning kitchens. Awesome!

Absolute black leathered with alaksa white for me.

Laminate is currently an unpopular choice and considered "low end" but it's actually a great material for kitchen and bath countertops. A little resilient, hard to stain, low maintenance. The only thing that you really can't do is put hot pots and pans on it and you really shouldn't do that with any quartz or granite countertop either.

The 45 year old laminate in my parents recently sold house was still in great condition.

Agreed, I never set hot pans on laminate either.

We are putting in a laminate called Soapstone Sequoia. We nearly put in Bella Noche laminate, but after seeing what some remnants of it looked like in our kitchen, we quickly realized it was not for us. It had a lot of shine to it, and little even shinier flecks to mimic a polished granite. It gave off a terrible glare, especially under the UCLs, that we found to be harsh and extremely hard on the eyes.

The Soapstone Sequoia has a much softer look to it. The UCL's give a soft glow on it rather than showing each and every pin dot of light like the Bella Noche did. It does not shine harshly in front of the window, it just looks light and subtle. I'm assuming that it's similar to what a honed finish might look like. It also has an interesting texture; a bit uneven like a natural stone could be. We'll see how that holds up!

These pieces are in the kitchen temporarily until the properly fitting pieces come in. We found that it was quite a bit less expensive to get it from Bargain Outlet than Lowes.

Here's what it can look like up close:

Pal- hope you go with SS. We have it surrounding our cooktop and hood. Love prepping and cooking with/on this surface.

I went with Cambria Whitney.

My second choice was Silestone Kensho. I wish somebody would use it so I could see what it looks like in a real kitchen.

We have white hex tile on one side at this point. It was cheap, diy-able, and should be possible to rip out and replace in the future. I would have been more than satisfied with plain white corian, but that was too steep. So was butcher block in our non-standard counter depths. Dreamland was a mostly white marble.

We'll finish the kitchen with more tile, though the pantry may get a small piece of butcher block.

Crema Brazil granite coming soon to our new home!

Loving everybody's choices!

I know I had 3 picks for the kitchen countertops that I mentioned in my opening post. But while looking online at countertops for the bathroom, I came across a GOR-GE-OUS quartzite that took my breath away. It would be perfect for the kitchen! And DH liked it too - which having both of us agree on a look is a victory in itself. Fusion quartzite! Oh my! Can I change my mind? I hope they have it here in my area.

I chose granite -- Verde Lavras in a velvety honed finish-- and couldn't be happier. I was never in love with the look of most granites either (River White one exception), but after looking at and pricing other options this stone ticked all the boxes. It replaced VERY beaten up formica. Laminate must have improved a lot since that stuff had been put in, because I never would have thought it was durable based on what I had!

Our Taj Mahal quartzite will be installed on perimeter counters in the next couple of weeks...can't wait! Iroko Spekva wood for the island.

So many beautiful countertop choices! I will be using soapstone for perimeter and quartzite on island and as backsplash.

Giallo Napoli granite for me. It doesn't require any babying like some of the softer granites, marbles and soapstones do and it has chunks of garnet in it which pick up the red tones in my cabinets wonderfully.

Taj Mahal quartzite for us too. I think one of my favorite things about remodeling the kitchen was looking at all the beautiful granites and marbles!

We have chosen soapstone for the perimeter and black walnut for our island.

Soapstone! Original PA by Hummingbird Soapstone.

My Kitchen · More Info

Un-oiled in the bathroom

My Kitchen · More Info

I chose Quartzite also (Aqua Venato) - Love it.

We went with Silestone - Chrome

Forgot the image for the Curava lemongrass.

We chose Yellow River granite slabs. We have bookend slabs, this is one of them. The glare is from the warehouse doors which were open.

Our cabinets are natural cherry. Templating (knock on wood) next week. (:

We are doing prefab ColorQuartz in Venatino. It's one cost cutting measure that we went with. Our pieces are less patterned, I think. I'll have to look at the pictures and see.

I'm just about ready for counters, so this is good timing. Right now, the plan is for soapstone around the sinks, and wide plank maple in the other areas. I got a good deal on the maple, but it is in the rough, so I have to plane it, joint it, glue it, etc.

Another LG Viatera Rococo! In my opinion it's the best marble lookalike quartz on the market. No pictures yet, we start in May.

Jancy - do you have a picture of that installed yet?

White carrera. Love it.

We did Cosmic Black granite in a leathered finish on the perimeters of white shaker cabinets, and a white honed carrera marble on the island which is stained a dark gray. I love them both and was definitely aware of the patina inevitability of the marble. Hard to believe, I know, but I truly like the look of a lived-in, well-loved, imperfect kitchen even though I know it's many others' nightmare!

I love my Costa Esmerelda granite after six years. I have one small ding right by the sink. I think I probably did it when washing a pan and letting the handle stick out. My counters are pretty green, with whites, silvers and golds mixed in. Some Costa Esmerelda is more gray than mine. Thanks for all the pictures from everyone. I love seeing what everyone has chosen. I really love seeing the quartzite pictures. That is a material I have just found about recently.

@espook Yes I do but as you can see in the photos my kitchen still has to be finished. My under cab lights still haven't been finished and ceiling lights still not in so color looks a bit different in real life than the pictures. My kitchen is so small its hard to get a photo of the whole thing. My counters look more gray in photos also but not so in real life. Actually when I shine my iPhone light on the counters they have sparkle to them.

Sorry - it looks like some photos are coming out sideways and I'm unable to rotate them.

I love that last picture! Is the glittery part smooth or rough? It's so pretty :)

Here are the other pictures....a little easier to see this way.

Great and timely thread! I *think* we are Team Soapstone on cream perimeter cabinets and med-dark stained island. DH visited a yard today and brought home samples and we are having another SS guy come over tomorrow. Exciting!

Thank you lavender_lass for the compliment and fixing my photos. Some sections like the veins have more glitter than the rest but there is glitter through the whole counter.

No the counter isn't rough, it's smooth. I can't wait to actually get my lights done so I can actually see the sparkles more. It looks so pretty when the light hits it.