The only stone you can put hot pans and pots on, is soapstone. But, there is no soapstone that is white, or light in color. Some are a lighter grey, some have veins of white, green, or tan. But, none are cream, or white.

Our counters are Belvedere soapstone, a very hard variety. It’s almost 5 years since installation, and there isn’t one scratch or chip...not even around the under mount sink, where pots have banged against it while being cleaned.

With soapstone, you’ll never have to worry about staining, or etching. Soapstone is impervious to everything.

Be sure to have the soapstone installed by a soapstone specialist, like M. Teixeira, not a stone yard that mainly sells granite, marble, quartzite, and engineered quartz. Soapstone is a different animal. It’s surface needs to be sanded with a specific grit.

Here‘s ours:

We love our soapstone!

Thank you, darbuka! I absolutely LOVE soapstone. It's the one dark countertop I'd consider. I can still remember stroking my chemistry class counters in college, and that was a long time ago. Your counter is GORGEOUS!!!

Granite comes in many colors other than browns. IMO polished granite is as indestrucible as soapstone. You can get white granite if you like the idea of marble. As for appliances Wolf and Sub Zero are both over priced and over rated so relax about that . I have neither in my kitchen and I run a catering biz from my home.This is one of many white granites do not get it honed or leathered just factory polish .

“IMO polished granite is as indestrucible as soapstone.”

Incorrect. Many granites will stain, and need to be sealed, especially the lighter ones. Soapstone never needs sealing. Make a habit of putting hot pans and pots directly on granite, and your stone will surely experience thermal shock, and crack. Soapstone absorbs heat slowly. It will never suffer from thermal shock. Any surface scratches on soapstone...should they occur, are easily reparable by the homeowner, with a bit of sandpaper ( I forget the correct grit), or a green scrubby pad. That can’t be said about granite.

Bonnie rents her home out in the summers. She’s looking for a counter she absolutely does not have to worry about, as renters are not always responsible users. Granite isn’t it. A hard variety of soapstone is.

Thank you, Patricia. I had no idea granite came in such a nice color! This could work. I've only looked at one place, and they didn't have anything like this. This is a new adventure for me. Last two kitchens I redid, one in the 1980s with mauve Formica (I loved that kitchen, and my new-to-me house has nearly the same color Formica - LOL!), and another about 15 years ago, and it also had Formica, but British Racing Green with a natural maple, routed edge. I loved that, as well, but my budget's bigger and better than it was when we were raising and educating 4 kids. For this kitchen, I'm going to get some professional help beyond my "guru of wood" who did my last two. He was wonderful, but he's 2,000 miles away and I don't think he'll commute.

I have never sealed polished granite and I have clients that are pretty rough on stuff hot pots on factory polished granite no issue . It is when you start leathering , honing that it now needs sealing . I would suggest you find an independent kitchen designer to help with this . You will lots of help here too I think it is too early to worry about the counter color for sure . I love that you love color. I like soapstone but thought you wanted something lighter. I use Ikea cabinets in my design biz proably 80% of the time IMO the best bang for your buck and some awesome storage ideas.

Patricia - I do want lighter counters, but I have this secret soapstone lust. I can still feel the countertops in my chemistry class in my mind. I loved those things. If I had a good, bright kitchen design, I'd definitely consider it. I have no idea what I'm doing, and although I've done two kitchens in the past, I feel like I need a pro to guide me on this one because my budget is bigger, and there are many more options for me than my former Formica budget. I'm living in a condo right now (never again!), and I have granite, ugly brown. It seems pretty indestructible, and I don't take care of it at all - hot pans go on it. I cut on it. I don't care for it, but it stands up to my utter distain very well. I am so confused!

IKEA - when we bought our condo two years ago, we knew we'd be renting in out in the summers. We furnished it almost completely in IKEA, and we'd always start near the checkouts, at what I like to call the "nobody loves me" room. We've gotten some spectacular bargains on things we really like, and if a renter hurts it, it's not the end of the world. We even allow pets, so if fido chews up a chair, we really won't sweat it.

Bonnie...good lighting is the key to brightening any space. Not just recessed, but layers of light, that provide up lighting, broad spectrum downlighting, and under cabinet lighting. Even at night, our kitchen is not dark. I rarely feel the need to turn on all of our lighting.

Here‘s ours, at night, in the dead of winter.

I have granite in three of my bathrooms (the fourth has a quartz remnant), and the laundry room. I love the veining in the varieties I picked. They’re easy to keep clean. They are brown, which you don’t want.

While I very much like granite, I just didn’t want it in the kitchen. Soapstone fit the bill, for what I was looking for.

Btw, most light granites, do need sealing, periodically.

As for cabinets, as you saw from your own experience, IKEA is good bang for the buck, especially in a home that will be rented. We put IKEA cabs in the laundry/mud room.

The only material, other than glass, that will meet all of your requirements is glazed ceramic tile, close set, with an impervious urethane or epoxy grout.

This Calacatta Royale large-format (18' x 36") white/gray marble pattern tile (here used in a kitchen and bathroom) minimizes grout lines. There are many more. Almost all ceramic tile manufacturers make more than on marble-look tile. Most are so close to the appearance of real marble that you have to feel the material to confirm that it is tile (tile is slicker most of the time).

It is impervious to stain, discoloration, dirt, and mildew. You can safely put hot pans on it or cut on it without fear of damage. In fact, before a pan gets hot enough to harm glazed ceramic tile, it will melt (a sure sign that the pan has gotten too hot to put on the countertop)..

If you want ceramic tile with no seams and thus, no grout, use a very-large-format porcelain slab -- which is just ceramic tile in large sheets.

All other materials, except glass and soapstone (neither of which has a marble-look option) either melt or scorch. Most will stain. True marble is a champion stainer.

For more information on ceramic tiles see Porcelain vs. Ceramic Tile: Is There a Difference? For a comparison and rating of the most common countertop materials including ceramic tile vs. stone and engineered stone and porcelain slabs, see our article on New and Traditional Countertop Choices.

Yeah, and you get a chip in glass or porcelain and you're screwed.

Formica, if you liked it back when, has seen some progress to date. You say you have a budget for a remodel but within reason, but without a number range it is hard for us to provide relevant suggestions. Depending on the size of your kitchen, a natural stone countertop like granite alone could easily run $5K USD, double that for quartzite. Soapstone would probably come somewhere in the middle between granite and quartzite, but much depends upon the specific slab you choose of any variety. Fair warning, a kitchen remodel can spiral in costs beyond what you may be expecting. I would get bids in for all the things you want done and then see what your specific countertop budget will be. You want something largely indestructible but lighter colored, and you love marble. May I suggest Wilsonart's new Soft Silk 21 collection? It is the most true-to-marble laminate collection on the market right now and comes with 3D edge moldings to mimic natural stone. You might like this option better than you think, especially if budget becomes a concern further into the process. Wilsonart is giving Formica a lot of competition right now in the laminate game with newer finish offerings, and laminate has several wear properties that other countertop surfaces don't rival.

So, yes, you've discovered that much of the granite on the market skews toward darker tones and busier patterns. The lighter granites tend to see more staining issues than most darker ones. If you find a light granite that appeals to you, search for the name of it here in the Houzz forums for tips about what to expect on that variety specifically in terms of wear. Granite can differ in name from place to place, but often you can find tailored information. Not sealing a lighter-colored granite would be taking a risk, particularly for moisture interactions that can cause green or orange spots to arise in the lighter-colored granites.

You wrote, "I don't want quartz. I want something someone can set a really hot pan on and not have to worry." Hot pans shouldn't be placed directly on any natural stone per Natural Stone Institute recommendations. A butcher block insert might allow you some leeway, but even wood can scorch. The trivet recommendations above are wise. If you chop directly on your granite countertops, I'm more concerned about your knife edges than the counter, actually. A section of end-grain maple or cherry butcher block in either of those closed-grain woods would be a lovely thing to consider if you like a built-in chopping area. Or, think about a workstation sink with an inset cutting board for ease of use.

Light natural maple would hold up better to renter wear-and-tear than painted cabinetry, if that is your consideration for the use of the space. Check out Beleza soapstone if you want a harder variety of soapstone available in Texas through Dorado Soapstone/Latera Architectural Surfaces. The harder the soapstone, the darker it usually is.

A surface that is not common here in the USA but that is very durable is called Abet Laminati Stratificato. It is a laminate that looks more like a solid surface due to its thickness. You can search the Houzz forums for more information about it if you wish.

Depending on your area and the shape of your home, you can sometimes make as much or more from renting your home to film or photography crews as you can to people who will actually live there. That might be a way to bring in some income from the home for fewer days of occupancy and no overnight guests.

@ Joseph Corlett, LLC

Really! When's the last time you actually came across a chipped tile countertop? Its rare enough that I can't remember the last one. And, if it does happen, you replace the broken tile with one of the extras you stored in the garage.

back2work - Thank you!!! Budget - under 50K. Last time I redid a kitchen, I do remember the endless spiral. I was actually looking at the Dorado/Latera website, since it looks like they have a store in Austin, TX, which is about an hour's drive from my house. I will definitely look at your other suggested options. Some sound intriguing. The current kitchen is complete crap, but it all works, so I have the time to plan and get it all right. It's so ugly, though!

Currently, the entire interior of the house is swathed in plastic - popcorn ceilings are gone, slight texture is happening, and the entire place is getting the white ceiling/ basic cream wall treatment. It'll be so nice to have a blank slate to move into. It's 0.6 miles door-to-door from my current condo, but I'm steering clear of it for now. My other big and immediate must-do is bathroom floors - they were carpet - OMG! Porcelain tile has been picked, and they're coming to measure as soon as the plasterers/painters are finished. I ripped up that bathroom carpet the day we closed on the house! Why should I pay someone else to do unskilled labor if I can do it myself?

I wish I could do the kitchen before we move in, but the person who's buying our condo wants closing by the end of May. Besides that, I need the money from the sale to move forward (we have no mortgage on the condo - hurray!). My last kitchen redo lasted from the end of April until the day before Thanksgiving, and I was still walking on sub flooring. It was beautiful and worth it, but what struggle. I washed dishes in a bathroom sink and cooked on a gas grill with a side burner.

Again, thank you!

Before my remodel, I had a tile countertop. I chipped the edge of one with a Crockpot insert. (Amusingly enough, my friend chipped the edge of her granite countertop the same week. Both Crockpot inserts survived.) I have older tile bathrooms. There are a few chips so I run across chipped tile every day.

I do love tile and have one tiled countertop in my new kitchen. My new bathroom is head-to-toe tile. I have lots of spare tile in my garage. :)

Soapstone gets a patina and if you ding it, it still looks wonderful. It doesn't FEEL dark because it has textural goodness. And if you don't oil it, like Darbuka's, it's actually pretty light.

Most of my kitchen counters are stainless steel, and have been in my last 3 remodels. I like it. It has just enough bounce so that when I drop things, they might not break. I usually use trivets for hot glass and cast iron because I am paranoid of thermal shocking my pans, but the counter doesn't care.

Fori - do you get dings in stainless steel? Your crock pot story - hahaha! I have ceramic tile in my current kitchen, on the floor - it came that way - and there are chips in it. I've thought about getting paint and painting the chipped spots, but now that I've, hopefully, sold the place, someone else can deal with it. I've always loved soapstone. As soon as the plasterers/painters are out of the house, I'll figure out a design plan and a ballpark idea of square footage of counter tops.

I have a thick gauge on the stainless, and it's mounted onto plywood. You can't ding it with anything found in the kitchen. The spouse made a tiny almost invisible divot in it with an ill-advised electrical wiring project. We were pleased that the GFCI worked. But I think that is not a typical kitchen thing, right? Most people don't work with hot wires...

One should expect a nice patina of scratches.

If you love both marble and soapstone maybe it’s because of their matte texture? I wanted either, and no other products were quite as appealing. I ended up choosing a medium soft soapstone (Black Venata), After a year it has acquired a few fine scratches and small chips (which a harder variety soapstone would not) but surprisingly they seem to blend in. The counters are really beautiful. They replaced light almond colored Formica and I worried that it would be too dark, but as one commentator mentioned, soapstone has depth and variation, so it doesn’t read as a flat black. Walking into the kitchen every morning makes me happy. Being able to put a hot pan down on it or spill basically anything without a worry.? That’s also the bomb.

Whatever you do, chose something that you really love - counters are the one surface in the kitchen that you interact with all the time. In my case I spent the budget on the counters and decent quality but not custom cabinets. Fancier appliances can be upgraded (or not) over time.

* I bought my cabinets from a big box store whose name starts with L. A contractor recommended waiting for sales around the major holidays. Schuler, their top of the line had a sale allowing non standard cabinet dimensions for 1 dollar per measure. I got semi custom cabinets with plywood construction (instead of MDF) at a really reasonable price.

Thank you, jad2Design! I think you're right on the counters - that matte finish is so velvety and beautiful in both. Cabinets - darn it - they're having a sale right now, and I can't even get past all the plastic and tape in my house right now to measure, but I sure am glad the popcorn ceilings are going away. "L" price-range cabinets are fine with me. My last kitchen, I had natural maple Merillats put in, and I was very happy with them.

I am a fabricator. Based on your criteria I'd suggest granite or soapstone. Your best option would be to visit a few fabricators with good on site inventory so you can evaluate your options. A competent fabricator inside sales person can be a great deal of help with the color selection while insuring you understand the material properties. Visiting 3 or more fabricators will take time but you will learn a lot and be able to make an informed material selection and also know you are getting a fair price. Given you rent your place out you need a very durable surface.

Another option to consider is leathered black granite, which often gives a soapstone look and feel but at a lower cost. That's what we went with, and we LOVE it.

Leathered Black Mist Granite

Soapstone! It's so sexy!

It depends on what your budget is. We are in the middle of a kitchen renovation and needed 3 slabs of our quartzite. Total with fabrication was just over $18,000.

Kristin S - I would love to see a picture. It could be a real potential! Thank you.

Rebekah Gibbs - I can't quite wrap my head around what our budget is, I can't even get into the house to measure - still swathed in plastic with plaster and paint work going on. If I only needed 2 slabs, that would work, but 3 slabs, maybe not. I really need to get some designer help with this place, and I honestly don't know how to go about doing so. Since we rent our home out in the summers to vacationers, our rental agent said I shouldn't get an induction stove - too many problems with people who don't know how to use them - so that just freed up some $$$. There's no point in my getting high-end appliances for someone to screw up. Sigh...

I have seen a sample of granite that was grey and white and looked like honed marble, but unfortunately only came in tiles. Maybe sheets of the same are out there. I like granites a lot for durability and they are budget friendly. You do have to clear seal granite once in awhile but my sister sealed hers after four years of use. And it was easy to do.

You can get honed granite, and people often go with honed Jet Mist or Virginia Mist granite as a substitute for soapstone. I would look at Dorado Soapstone first :). If they are like M. Teixeira they have a nominally priced sample pack that they can mail you.

I am buying soapstone from Dorado, and they do not offer sample packs.

Bummer. M. Teixeira definitely does, if you can find matching soapstone varieties between the two sites. Was going to say that the M T soapstone slabs were uniformly bigger that the granite slabs I looked at. You might check average dimensions when you go natural stone shopping. I ended up with 2 slabs to do counters for a 280 foot kitchen, $9925.00 for purchase, fabrication, delivery and install. And I’m in the SF Bay Area, where nothing is cheap :). Stone yards vary. MT require full slab purchases. I figured out the price for the finished counters came out to 124.00 a square foot because there was left over, but obviously this would vary depending on how much of the slab they can use. I think the unfabricated cost per foot was either 100. Or 110. Per square foot. Cheaper that quartzite but more than granite would be my guess.

jad2design - I hear you on SF prices. I have a house north of SF (I live in Texas 7 months a year and California the other 5 - family needs take me to both places), and 2 of my kids live in SF proper. Everything, price-wise, is crazy, but I love it there so much.

I've managed to find a few places within 50 miles of my Texas house that do soapstone, so I need to start doing some real legwork. We'll be here for another month, and then back to California until the fall, and I'd like to get the work started as soon as we're back in the fall, with a goal of popping the Thanksgiving turkey in the new oven.

Huh, I’m out in Contra Costa, but I live in a 100 year old cottage - not exactly what you‘d figure for the burbs. it’s exciting that you’ve found several possible sources. Re soapstone, everyone advises going with a fabricator and installer who is experienced with the material. I recommend that too. M.Tex provided the fabrication/installation as well as the material, so I had no worries in that respect.

But one thing to bear in mind is that your general contractor usually provides all the subcontractors and they fall under his umbrella. If your contract independently ( which I did ) with a soapstone supplier/fabricator then that part of the kitchen job, the counters, falls outside of the g.c.s realm.. The only intersection between the two is that the general contractor provides the undermounting support system for the sink and sets the sink in place prior to counter installation. That point of attachment is done differently than for granite for undermount sinks. Be sure and ask the soapstone folks about that. Soapstone is so close-pored? dense? that you can’t glue an undermount sink to it as you can with granite. The sink sits instead on a cradle, or in mounting straps... I believe it is all straight forward stuff if you are in the trades, but, the g.c. will need to know what is needed in prep and have the sink ready for the counter install.

The harder varieties of soapstone really would be bullet proof for renters :). Sadly, you shouldn’t go with any of the softer ones. They and you would end up distressed.

Here are a couple of installed pictures of my leathered black mist granite. The white is a little subtler in person - it really popped in the photos. Hope this helps!

If you're anywhere near Dallas or can get Daviid Beatty of Texas Countertops Inc. to travel to you, he's one of the top soapstone fabricators in the country. His work would be absolutely flawless. Website isn't much, but he's seriously among the top soapstone fabricators you would ever find anywhere: http://texascountertopsinc.com/contact_us

Hi Bonnie,

We were in your position about 2 years ago. Figuring out what countertop material to go with. We wanted granite but didn’t like a lot bc I wanted all white but it was gonna be expensive to but the Slab And get it fabricated $1,000+ . Depends how big your space is . Quarts was gonna cost more too.

Decided wanted something natural and strong . So we went with z countertop . They make concrete product . We went with a white mixture . We did it ourself, which cut the cost of labor alot. Turned out pretty good for doing it for the first time ourself . Check it out below .

cost us $600 i Think for all the supplies . Like concrete mix , z forms which created that sharper square edge . Sealer we got it from somehere else. That’s was about $100+ . Every year we have to seal it but haven’t done that yet . Soon we will but it’s holding up great . Even put hot pot on the countertop and it’s fine bc it’s a Natural stone . Plus I cook a lot for a mom of 3 boys!

hope this was helpful :)

I love my honed Jet Mist granite counter tops! Never sealed, no stains, no marks, no chips. If you can do dark, go for it!

I can't imagine paying $18,000 for counter tops with Ikea cabinets. It's just not worth it.

Kristen S. your counter tops look beautiful!

Kristin S - your countertops are absolutely beautiful! Leathered granite, which until this discussion I didn't know existed, is definitely worth investigating. Thank you!!!

jad2designs - would you believe it? I'm a weirdo - I like top-mount sinks. I had a huge Kohler Galleon sink installed in a house we lived in and redid the 1920s original kitchen. It's discontinued, but I was very happy with it. I have undermount in my current condo, and IDK, it just doesn't have the appeal to me of drop in. I'm kind of old-fashioned I guess - I want a big, white, single-bowl, cast iron sink. I cook and bake a lot, and right now I have double sinks. There's no way to soak a big pan in those little compartments. I'll have to discuss the pros and cons of drop-ins with the contractor and/or countertop people.

My contractor, the one I'll probably use (he's done stuff for us on our condo), is an absolute hoot. He'll do whatever I want within reason, but he's also usually got really good ideas and knows when something won't work. When we got estimates on ripping out all the popcorn and painting the inside of the house, which is going on right now, he told us to go with someone else, because he'd charge more and have to subcontract the whole thing. He's going to do a back deck for us, and a few other things before we leave for the summer, and he knows this house is going to be an endless money pit-type place for us.

I keep dreaming of light blue/green/gray cabinets although I also have daydreams of natural maple, which I'd put in my 1920s redo and I liked them, too. I'm looking forward to seeing samples in real life. If this is any real rendering of the color, I'd probably pick this soapstone because it has that same blue/green/gray coloration, at least in the picture.

Thank you!

Diana Bier - I need to start trolling for cabinets. I want either a light color natural wood or light-color painted cabinets. I'm only going to be in Texas for another month, then heading to my house in California until fall, so I want to be ready to dive right into this redo the second I get back to Texas the first week of October. I need to do some legwork before I leave so my contractor can get started. I have him lined up, but he's not a designer, and he's a small-potatoes kind of contractor (he does great work!), so a lot of it is going to be on me.

Last two kitchens I did, the places where I bought cabinets did design plans, and I loved both of those kitchens. I completely changed the footprint of one, but kept the footprint of the other. I was in a metropolitan area on the east coast then, but I live in a rural, small Texas town now, so IDK where to even find a real cabinet showroom. I used Merillat cabinets in my last kitchen, one of their better grades, and I loved them. My contractor did everything, including making me all new woodwork that he routed out to match the cabinet trim. He was my Guru of Wood.

I looked online for information on honed granite. It looks beautiful and really does have the sort of visual I'd like to have. I have polished granite now, and it's hard to keep that shine, especially when my husband helps with clean-up. I use windows cleaner to keep them shiny, and he just uses the kitchen sponge or cloth and they look like crap, but I don't complain because at least he's helping.

Anna - they look beautiful. I can ask my contractor if he knows anything about concrete countertops. I'm just not sure I could do it myself. I did some googling, and although I seriously live in the middle of nowhere, I found a place about 10 miles from me that specializes in concrete floors and countertops. I don't now why, but my husband has been opposed to concrete countertops. I need to take him to this place so he can see how good they can look. Their website looks fantastic. https://www.element7concrete.com

Do thorough research about concrete countertops for their pluses and minuses.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2491784/the-truth-about-concrete-countertops#n=100

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/query/concrete-countertops

This is an interesting thread because my main criteria is being able to occasionally put a hot pan on the counter top as well, which is why I am likely sticking with granite in our new build. I've had granite for more than ten years now and never sealed it so consider it maintenance free. However, I didn't know soapstone was also an option so I'm off to do more research!

Holy Cow. That Le Creuset trivet is beautiful but it's $75!!

Still cheaper than repairing cracked granite ;-).

Keep an eye out for similar trivets second hand - they won't break!
Maybe once thrift stores and charity shops can open again.

Def check them out. They look like they do an awesome job. What might cost the most is labor. If you want to save some money, see if you can buy the product and they do the labor and the design for you :)

With the correct finish, a live edge slab makes a great counter.

Projects · More Info

Bonnie, my last overmount sink was a low to medium price Koehler that chipped and wore badly, and I didn’t know enough at the time to look for a really good grade of cast iron. It was also a double sink, which I learned to loathe. I do think cast iron sinks can be really beautiful. And gorgeous with matte natural stones.

Will your new kitchen require an electrical upgrade? Mine needed outlets installed every 6’ of counter to bring it up to current code, plus a new sub panel. In my case I knew for sure that I was keeping the exact same layout, so I had all the electrical done a couple of months before the new cabinets and counters went in. The electrician was good with sheetrock, so he patched and muddled, then I painted everything in the kitchen that wasn’t going to be covered with the new cabs. I mention this because having the electric done in advance saved a lot of time when the rest of the remodel started up. My job was done in 5 weeks, except for my final part - refreshing the painted floor (still not done). But, if there is any chance of you shifting things around it’s not an option.

jad2design - Great point on electrical! I used to have a house built in the 1920s - fuse box, knob & tube - what a mess. When I redid the kitchen in that, al least 20 years ago, I had all the outlets put in recessed underneath the cabinets. The little electrical boxes were recesses up into the cabinets, so there was nothing on the wall space between the cabinets and the counters. I think they've come out with a better way to do it now I loved it so much, and it's probably what I'll do in this hideous kitchen. I also banished soffits from that kitchen, and I hope I can do it again. If nothing else, I may install cabinets that have a short row of cabinets above the regular ones, even if they're just false fronts or just a few inches of space behind some of them. I don't know how it would look because the kitchen ceilings aren't super high, so I'll have to noodle around with some drawings.

Darn it, we thought we had our condo sold, and I was seriously ready to jump right in and do it. Unfortunately, as seems to be the way of a lot of real estate happenings right now, we're back on the market. As soon as we sell, the kitchen is going to be gutted.

The painters/plastereres, who are giving the whole place a de-popcorn-ing and fresh coat of ceiling-white with basic beige on the walls, are still not finished. They said "one week". We're heading into week #3. I just want to move!

Here's the current kitchen - it's BAD!

We did peel all the wallpaper and it's getting the basic beige treatment, too. I told the ceiling guy to take down the light when he did the ceiling (everything got a light eggshell sort of texture), and he forgot, so for now, lucky me, I still have the "klieg lights" in the kitchen.

Your Koehler sink - that is so unfortunate! My Koehler Galleon was a huge, white sink, and it never chipped or stained. We have four kids - they were all home then - and about 5 years after I redid the kitchen, when we sold that house, it looked as good as it did when I put it in. I fear that their product line has gone dowhhill. We stayed at a rental house jn Lake Tahoe a few years ago during ski season that had an elderly Koehler lounging tub - long, narrow, deep, slanted back - and it had stood the test of time, still looked great in the 1960s house that was rented season after season. It was the most comfortable tub. It's terrible when a good company goes on the cheap. What do you recommend that's not brushed stainless for sinks? I have it now and don't like it. Thank you!

There’s something grim looking about brushed stainless steel, but I’m perfectly fine with regular polished s.s. I desperately wanted a Franke undermount stainless single sink, having seen them in display rooms. The finish had a magical silvery smooth glow to it. Problem is, the glowing finish doesn’t last. In two years it looks like any other stainless steel sink. My sister, who flips houses, dragged me by the ear over to her current sink and said “no, that’s a Franke”. It looked like a sink you would pick on a razor thin budget. I went instead with a Kraus undermount from the L big box store at approximately 1/4 the price of the Franke I’d had a crush on. I absolutely love the Kraus

if you went with a soapstone counter an integrated soap stone sink is a pretty awesome look. There are two types - an all in one piece sink carved out of a block of stone and the much less expensive fabricated kind, where the pieces to make up the basin are all glued together. If you were keeping this house forever I would consider one or the other kind of soapstone sink and maybe an English/European style drainboard carved into the counter (a smooth bevel cut in the counter sweeping towards sink). The advantage to that is you can order the sink to any depth or dimension you want, _except_ you have to take into account the existing plumbing and what depth it will allow. The downside to a soapstone sink tho is that like copper the finish will always be a bit mottled from oil splashes or conversely where soap has removed part of the developing finish. Having managed rental properties I would ask the maker of a fabricated sink whether it was strong enough to support the weight of someone standing in it. Because people do weird stuff :).

The Koehler sink I had started to show wear only after 10-15 years and the advantage to an overmount is the ease of replacement once it does start to wear. That’s a big plus. And back to the point that enameled sinks look really pretty with natural stone.

Your new kitchen looks to have a classic work triangle layout, decent square footage and sufficient natural light. No so bad at all:). I’m not crazy about soffits either, but in general, good bones, no?

I kind of like farmhouse sinks, but I fear that they're a fading trend. I would LOVE a soapstone sink with one of those carved-in drainboards. I also fear it would eat up so much of my budget that I would cry.

Renting out property - oh, yes - people do some of the weirdest things. I try to think of all the possibilities and plan ahead for them.

We put in a Kohler "Bakersfield" sink 12 years ago and it looks still looks new. It is a top mount, single bowl, enamel cast iron sink, however, I don't know if their quality has changed over the last 12 years.

i like really farmhouse sinks for looks but I agree that they could become, and maybe already are part of a passing trend. The style has no American antecedent as far as I know. It’s a butlers sink associated with British city mansions of the early late 1880s/early 1900s.. Because they aren’t naturally part of our vernacular I worry that in 20 years they will look as anachronistic as 80s Tuscan style. Anyway, re soapstone sinks I only mentioned them because, well one can dream :). Pesky things, budgets.

I just wanted to update this old thread with some information about one of the comments above about soapstone being so dense that it doesn't adhere to silicone very well for sink placement. My soapstone fabricator has told me to allow just 1/16" of play between the top of my stainless steel sink and soapstone countertop for the cabinetry build and in preparation for countertop installation. This would be in contrast to 1/4" that @Joseph Corlett, LLC has mentionedin another thread that he uses.