I don't think Soapstone in a contemporary kitchen would work for me - It would have to be sealed and then it gets to what's the point. Our unsealed Soapstone has all sorts of stains etc. and I like them in our craftsman (not open plan) kitchen. We are currently thinking about recovering an island we have with nickel or stainless - we think the soapstone and the metal would work - maybe for you too.

We aren't planning to seal the soapstone- we chose it for what it is/does- but I can see why you would say that given the fact that I didn't give a whole lot of detail about the house. It's contemporary, but rustic contemporary. Oiled white oak floors, cedar exterior, unpainted metal roof, etc, so it's a house that is going to patina. Even if we weren't choosing materials intending on patina, I have 5 kids and one on the way- nothing is going to stay glossy no matter how hard I try! LOL

arch123, what do you mean by sealed? I thought soapstone didn't need to be sealed, but that some people choose to oil it to speed up the patina process.

Also, FWIW, I have chosen soapstone for my somewhat contemporary kitchen. In terms of color and style I think a solid white would work well with soapstone. We are adding a wood bar top next to our soapstone counter and at one point I thought of doing zinc or copper. My thinking was that I wanted to keep it to all materials that were more "natural" as opposed to manmade, but that's just me. I think you are on the right track, and you definitely don't want to compromise big time on putting in something like granite that you know you won't like.

I think it would be fine. You might also consider concrete or wood.

White solid surface never goes out of style, it goes with everything, and will appear seamless, no matter how large your island. In addition to being inconspicuously repaired and refinished to look like new.

There is a reason architects don't specify granite, estone, laminate, and wood to cover the walls in surgical rooms in hospitals.

Thank you everyone!

Ediblekitchen- it's not just you! I would much prefer a natural surface, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything at a "placeholder" price point in that category.

Josephcorbett, thank you for chiming in. It's always helpful to hear from a pro! The solid surface we will be going with is Hi-Macs. It's so hard to determine color from those little chiclet samples. Do you by any chance have any experience with either arctic white, ivory white, or phantom white and whether they tend to look whiter or yellower in large format?