IMO quartz is not replacement for real stone . get real soapstone , quartz is plastic and does not belong in a working kitchen where hot pots are the norm it also cannot go behind your cooking appliance for the same reason.

I wanted soapstone originally but heard it stains and chips. But thank you - did not realize I couldn’t put quartz behind my range.

While soapstone is beautiful, it is a soft stone and porous. If you want a patinaed look, complete with red wine stains and history, natural soapstone is good. When we install a kitchen our crew takes off their tool belts, and belt buckles as we've chipped a few edges here and there. The trades, especially the plumber has to be careful as well.

We're actually looking for a quartz soapstone material that will be pretty durable for our home. While a lot of distributors say you can put hot pots on quartz, we don't encourage it. All it takes is one real hot pot cracking a stone and the phones will start ringing. That's what trivets are for. The quartz is very non-porous, so wine stains, beets, and such can be cleaned up.

Good luck

Thank you! I love the look of suede silestone but would use trivets as a precaution. I really wanted a slab backsplash about 18/23” high, but if quartz doesn’t work behind my cooktop I’ll have to rethink.

As to the backsplash, I think it's a matter of aesthetics. I suggest maybe taking a photo and then Photoshoping in a dark backsplash. You can always use tile as well, something simple to not overwhelm the soapstone. You can also go with a lighter ( greyish) stone, and not go too dark, or produce too much contrast. Undercabinet lights, like strip LEDs, will show off the stone, or tile nicely. How about a grey glass tile?

@kculbers used this same Silestone as a backsplash behind her stove with no worries. Hopefully she will see this and comment and let you know how her "can't go behind your cooktop appliance" story goes.

I have the suede finish charcoal soapstone quarts around and behind my slide in range and haven’t had a single problem with it. Thanks

No worries with Silestone suede finish charcoal soapstone quartz behind my range.

It was installed 5 years ago.

I will say, it has chipped some on the inside edge (front side) of my under-mount sink. And, over the years of dishes being left to air dry, there are some slight residual staining even after wiping down. A good counter cleaner usually takes care of that. I posted a picture of the chipping on another Houzz thread.