I have both. I put soapstone in my mom's in law apt first and then when I did my kitchen, I went with a honed American black granite instead. I will never do soapstone again, not so much because of the maintenance but the softness of the stone. It's literally like soap, hence the name. I can scratch it with my fingernail. After a year, the area around the sink cutout is completely chewed to bits. It looks horrible and my mom hates her $4000 countertops. People warned me of the softness of the stone but they say that about marble too and I had just put in a marble bathroom and have had no issues with the marble so I figured, how bad could it be? So, if you like that antique look of gouges and scratches all through your counters, then go with soapstone. My 1800's kitchen already looks like it's been there 100 years after only one year of use. But, if you are a neat nick and want a perfect pristine look, then the soapstone will drive you nuts. I think we had the counters installed only a day before the first ding reared its ugly head. One last note is that I heard that the hardness does vary somewhat from slab to slab, so that may be some of my problem. I wish I had this Intel before I went the soapstone route so passing my experience along. PS. I Love my granite and people do mistake it for soapstone all the time. I did start out iffy with that countertop too but after I put the stone enhancer/darkened on it, I couldn't be happier with it. It looks great, doesn't chip and I don't have to oil it constantly.

I would select a milk paint in pale gray or similar to your wallpaper OR a deep red since it will be a dining room piece and that will provide some color to the room as well... BUT I would leave the top as stained wood and I would also leave the recesses areas on the door in stained wood as well, for added interest. The stain color it is currently a perfect shade (or at least it looks nice in the picture.)... Nice piece! Funny, I didn't read any remarks prior to suggestion, and it looks like sheilaskb had the same idea... I would also second the idea about having tempered glass cut to fit the top to avoid water marks, but I would definitely NOT paint the top, and keep it stained. It will look much more classy that way. Too many people paint the entire piece of furniture the same color and loose a lot of pizzazz when they don't keep the stained wood grain for the top.

I hate poly because it looks fake and scratches in a non-patina like way. I also don't like when things look new and perfect (which is what poly gets you at least at the beginning). I have seen some nice poly jobs, and certainly if I had kids or a dog that is the way I would go, but for my needs some sort of tung oil or waterlox finish is what I am leaning toward (I have not sorted it out yet). I wish I could figure out what was used originally (still learning about wood). Keep in mind I am an historic preservationist and poly is not period correct so that is clearly a part of it.

@tgb1...have a hardwood flooring professional measure the thickness of the floors before deciding what to do. If they have enough meat on them (they have enough wood above the tongue...should be 3mm or MORE) to refinish then you TELL the flooring professional about the Murphy's Oil....It may or may not be possible to get a new finish on these. The only thing they can do is try a test patch and leave it alone for a few weeks (pick a bedroom that no one uses). If it works, keep going. If it doesn't (signs of pealing, bubbling, white lines between planks, etc) then stop and reconsider. To get a new finish on a floor that has had Murphy's Oil soap used, it normally takes a few more passes with the sanding machine (to get further away from the contaminant called "oil soap"). That means this old floor would need 4mm - 5mm left to really be sure that a new finish can be put down. The floor is ALMOST 100 years old. It is past the 80 year life span of most of these hardwood floors. It made it to 100 years because it ready for removal (that last refinish was probably the last kick at the can for this floor). Be prepared to remove this floor. It is done. It has lived and been abused for longer than and entire human generation. It has done what it was put there to do....60-80 years of being a floor. You might want to ask about hard wax oil finishes. They MIGHT be able to be put down over Murphy's...but I don't know if it makes a difference.