Beautiful. Love the inspiration. What’s the countertop sample?? Looks a bit gray. I’d do dark for the island and white with very minimal gray veining

Two cabinet colors, one countertop material

Two countertop materials, one cabinet color.

Otherwise it begins to look like a ping pong effect. I’m wondering why you’re afraid of soapstone by the sink

Honestly in both your inspiration pictures the islands look divorced from the perimeter

@HU-187528210 sorry, I should have clarified that the countertop that the cabinet samples are sitting on are not soapstone. They are just the countertops at the cabinet shop that I happened to set the samples in to take a pic. Here is a pic of the soapstone we are looking at:

@loobab Thanks. I‘ve been worried about the hard water and soap resiude around the sink and also the chipping from banging things on the edge while I wash dishes. But I’m still considering using all soapstone.

Oh, soap and water are nothing! Didn’t you have labs that used soapstone counters? Decades of frog blood and guts and acid didn’t harm those lab tables! Yes they chip, but they can be easily sanded, and how much dish banging do you do? Calling Joe please...

@cpartist Thanks for the feedback. I’ve been shying away from soapstone around the sink because of hard water and soap stains and also the liklihood of chippping the edge up a lot when washing dishes. But your comments about the island looking “divorced” from the perimeter are exactly what I’m afraid of if I don’t have either on element of the cabinets or the countertop consistent between the two. I’m torn because I really like having a stained element in the cabinets and I love the soapstone. I considered all stained cabinets....but then I feel that would get darker/more rustic looking than I want (especially if I used the soapstone). I considered all white cabinets with the soapstone, but I’m not a huge fan of the black and white look. I think the solution must be to put in two kitchens😉.

Your pick is nice, I favor the darkest colors with the fewest veins but that’s just a personal decision. The soapstone with a greenish cast is nice too. And for sure, only one cabinet type and color if you have two type of counters.
Pristine white Corian would look nice as a contrast, and you wouldn’t have to worry a second about its care or durability.

How large is the kitchen. Unless it is quite big, I would do either one countertop and differing perimeter cabs/island, or two countertops and all the same color cabinetry.

@Sammie J The kitchen is 14’x17’ L-shaped and the island is 5.5’x7’. We have a walkway of 52” around the two sides of the island that run parallel to the perimeter. The island will be used a lot for seating and I want it to kind of stand out as a piece of furniture, but I also don’t want it to look out of place and disjointed from the rest of the kitchen.

@loobab Thanks again. I try to wash as few dishes as possible in the sink😉, but the ones I do seem to be the big ones that don’t fit in the dishwasher and clang against the sides.

It looks like I have some tough decisions to make. If I want to keep the soapstone, it sounds like I either need to do it on all the counters or just pick one cabinet color (white or stained).

I would go with either with different cabinets and one countertop, or different countertops and one cabinet. The island will stand out as a piece of furniture based on stools, etc...no need to use all different materials.

Not loving the cabinet selection, feeling more white or even blue here..

@Sammie J good point. I know since I’m worried that mixing both could look disjointed, I should play it safe and only mix up one. But I keep seeing SO many pics on Houzz and the internet that mix up both (different cabinets and countertops for the island as compared to perimeter) and I think they look good. But then again, design really isn’t my thing so most of the time I don’t know what looks good (that’s why I have a designer helping me and I like to get input here). And those usually have white cabinets with dark counter in the perimeter and dark cabinets with light countertop on the island......different than my idea of white and light on perimeter (to sort of fade into the background) and stained and dark on the island. I’m headed to the stone yard again today and maybe I’ll see something else that gets me excited other than the soapstone (and that I can afford😉).

@Altair we were planning white in the perimeter, but might consider white on the island too. It’s just that I was hoping to bring in some of the warmth of the wood stain in the island instead of the all white. We don’t have the final stain sample color yet, so once we do and put it next to the soapstone, I might decide it’s a no-go.

It's a hard decision, as it is a big purchase that you probably plan to live with for quite a few years. When you are looking at inspiration photos on the web, make sure they have the same size room and similar layouts as your home - and remember, most online pictures are altered to provide the best "oh-la-la" image...

I like the idea of a solid white perimeter counter top with a contrasting island counter top. Have you seen this one from Silestone? Its pretty darn cool and could really elevate the look of the stained island. Comes in a sueded finish, so it will have that "softer" feel you like with soapstone:

@Sabrina Alfin Interiors Thanks. Something like that is a definite possibility. Our stone yard carries the MSI line of quartz and they have a couple that look really similar to Silestone one you attached. They offer a matte and a concrete finish, both of which give more of that soft feel and I was looking for. I was checking them out today, but the supplier seemed a little hesitant to recommend the non-polished finishes in the quartz.

Do you think something like that one you pictured on a stained island would look okay with white perimeter cabinets and white perimeter countertops? It seems many are warning me not to do two different cabinets AND two different countertops, but I’ve seen several pictures that do it and look nice (in my very unprofessional, non-design oriented mind).

It will work fine. Good luck!