That is beautiful!

Very pretty! What stone yard is that from? I am hoping to get soapstone in the future. My plan is to leave it natural/dry/un-oiled so it will be lighter. I wonder if that photo was taken while the slab was wet?

I took the photo - definitely not wet! It's actually darker in real life.

This was at Stone Holding Co. in Fargo, North Dakota. They have showrooms in St. Cloud, MN, Minneapolis, and Sioux Falls, SD.

Here is the photo of the same slab from the stone yard web page:

This one is more representative of the color (maybe a bit dark), but mine shows the detail better.

I am not sure that it is soapstone, other sites call it a quartzite

Yeah if that's not wet I don't think it's soapstone.

Laurie: the only problem wiht leaving it unoiled is that it will get "stained" from oils. You can probably scrub it out with dawn but that's a lot more maintenance than I want on a kitchen counter.

I make my own beeswax/mineral oil blend which works great. I apply it literally with my hands and then buff off with a cloth. I use an old sock slipped over my hand.

I've had soapstone for ten years and didn't consider anything else for the kitchen in the home I'm building now.

This definitely isn't the look we're going for in our remodel - but I don't think I've ever seen anything like it, and figured this group would appreciate it