I've been round and round with countertop materials on two kitchen renovations. Don't get marble. I love the idea of patina and an old European look, but you already sound concerned about kids and staining. Plus it is expensive. I got it on our first kitchen and while beautiful, I'm not as laidback and carefree as I'd like to think I am. I didn't get it for the second kitchen.

I considered stainless steel and found it to be expensive so passed. Quartz makes my skin crawl, I just don't like it. And for the same reason I thought I'd hate Corian - plastic, plus I live in a historic building and like vintage things. BUT, after all of my searching, we decided to use it and love it.

We have a galley kitchen and used Boos walnut butcher block on the dry side. (I agree, you can just as easily get a less expensive ones at Lowe's or Ikea.) And I used vanilla Corian on the sink side. I was afraid it would look too intensely plastic. But it is the exact same color as our cabinets and it just kind of disappears into the space.

A fabricator gave me a huge sample piece to test - egg yolk, wine, vinegar, pen, marker, tea, tomato sauce. I let them sit on it overnight and they all came off super easily. It is just a huge relief to not have to police my husband and guests about how they use our kitchen!

Think about jet mist granite. If I were considering a grey-ish or black countertop I'd consider a honed slab of that. It could be a good substitute for a soapstone look.

@John Liu - Great to hear about your kitchen status and countertop choices. Post progress pics sometime. Your kitchen has really stuck in my mind as an interesting one.

@Kendrah do you have any pictures of yours? It sounds like it may be just what I want. I hadn't even considered corian (for the reasons you said) until this week. I need to look in to pricing and the product more. Do you anticipate it lasting long term? Thank you!!!!

@Kendrah Thank you, I will - progress slowed by some trips and moving my dad into his own apartment (does it sound mean to say I’m so happy he isn’t living with me anymore? well I must be the meanest person!) but getting back to work - want it presentable by Thanksgiving.

@John Liu wow!! thank you, your stain test is very helpful. id read excellent things about waterlox but am now looking in to both osmos and emmets. how did you decide on osmos over emmets?

@Anna Osmo is a veg oil/hardwax product from Germany that meets European standards for food safety - that sounded just a little better to me than Emmet’s urethane resin gel that meets FDA standards.

Also, Osmo was easier to apply because it dries more slowly, you have lots of time to rub it into the wood and wipe off excess, while Emmet’s gets tacky more quickly and then it is harder to wipe off the excess. No big deal for a smaller piece, but a 10 sq foot block would have to be done in sections - which might be perfectly fine, just an added step.

To be clear, Emmet’s was seemingly impervious to stains in my test, while leaving espresso on for 12 hours did produce a very light mark with the Osmo - you can see those in the photos on the other thread. But it took less than five minutes to sand the light mark out by hand with 220 grit and reapply Osmo. And how often am I going to leave spills on my counter for TWELVE hours, we are not animals here! If you have zero fix-it skills and would have to hire someone to do that, then go for the Emmet’s. Otherwise I think either will be fine.

I was surprised the Waterlox didn’t do better. It is tung oil based so maybe would benefit from more coats and longer curing time. But so would the other finishes, I expect.

One nice thing about butcher block is that it is inexpensive compared to most other counters. I’ve spent about $1400 on three custom blocks for three cabinets totaling about 14 linear feet. If I could have used standard 25” deep Home Depot blocks, might have been $800 plus my labor to carry them home and cut them to size. Plus maybe $100 in finish and supplies.

Super budget friendly, a natural product, foodsafe, can be cut on though I won’t, no mining or plastic, warm look and feel, enough give that a dropped glass might not break, and if I decide to go a different direction, it’s not cost-prohibitive to change them out. I’d probably repurpose them for a work table or something.

Granted, not a lot of today’s glamour kitchens have butcher block but c’est la vie.

Oh, and I do sound obsessive but I, like you, have been researching for some time

- you can apply beeswax over any of thess finishes, and beeswax has this luscious smooth gliding feel to it.

In fact, my wife had me sand stains and burn marks out of an old butcher block cutting board, that had been treated with mineral oil and beeswax. I didn’t try to strip off that finish, simply sanded with 220 discs and a circular sander, which meant that some of the oil and wax got buffed into the wood as the stains and burns were removed. The wood came out smooth and slick as oiled glass. It is awesome. I am trying to figure out if I can do that with the Osmo.

Here is a video on how to apply it

https://youtu.be/LHmZox9WWSE

There isn't going to be a counter top that doesn't throw a curve because there IS no "perfect" counter top. Perfect is whatever is closest to perfect for you.

For all the agony? You won't find anything better looking all the time, or price friendlier than a "Jet Mist" honed granite. Or a butcher block.

You don't say what the cabinet finish is, nor the flooring.

Hand wring over marble seems crazy so eliminate even a Danby marble for price and etching. Soap stone is anti microbial, will not scorch no matter how hot the pot, but if price or patina hangs you up? That's out.

It's October in a moment. Decide...or the counters won't be there at Thanksgiving: )

@John Liu this is super helpful, thank you. I’d pretty much written off butcher block but I think it is now back on top. I appreciate it. How did you decide on blockhead?

@JAN MOYER thank you! that is 2 votes for jet mist, i think i need to head back to the stone stores in my area to check it out.

The red kitchen was a catering kitchen too and that pic was taken 5 yrs after we did the space with many catering jobs and I loved the butcher block twice a year I sanded lightly and reoiled with food safe stuff from Ikea around the sink I oiled more often but you do see the sink had a built in drainboard too. I loved the natural element with all the shiny contemporay cabinets.You need to share pics of the space and honestly you can put plywood down on the top until you find the perfcet answer for you . I now have a materila called stratifacato from Abet Laminati it is a laminate but nothing like what you are thinking it is used in labs and is amazing and is in my kitchen in this house which is also a catering kitchen . Check it out it is trully awesome . Can be installed DIY cuts like wood and oil stains just disappear after a few hours .The top photo is the new kitchen with that laminiate it is 18 yrs old .

Granite. Jet Mist or Absolute Black leathered finish.

@Anna, just found Blockhead online, called and talked to them, prices were good, ordered one block and liked it, so went ahead and ordered the rest.

@Patricia, can that very interesting laminate be cleanly cut with a standard tablesaw blade and the pieces epoxied to be watertight? Is it very rigid?

I’m thinking an alternative to slab built soapstone sinks?

Ooo, I found the website

https://abetlaminati.com/en/products/stratificato-hpl/

Very cool stuff.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting looks great. would you ever do an undermount sink with butcherblock? we are also considering a sink with a drainboard but i havent found one i love.

@John Liu what sink are you doing with your butcherblock?

John yes and no need to seal anything absoultely watertight used outdoors self supporting for 60" so 12" over hand not need to support . TRhe Stratificato is awesome I cannot stress that Affordable too It is something I found for a client who had some budget issues at the end of a huge reno and honestly did it for myself the flollowing year . You can do an undermount sink no problemm and I did the counter for my client with the aluminum layers in the material the choices are limitless for waht you can do . Not sure about the sink you would need to ask about thta from them.n I will always want a stainless sink .

What about a quartz that mimics soapstone? We used Silestone Charcoal Soapstone in this kitchen and it's a great option:

Bernal Heights Sustainable Kitchen · More Info

Bernal Heights Sustainable Kitchen · More Info

The search for perfection is quite elusive.......because it doesn't actually exist.

@Anna

I have stainless steel sort-of farm sinks, fabricated from 14 ga stainless by a commercial shop. They do not sit in or on the countertop, but are on separate bases. The edge of the block that adjoins the sink gets extra coats of Osmo!

"Perfect is whatever is closest to perfect for you." The guru strikes again. @JAN MOYER please include that in your book.

lol Will DO!!! ....OY! : )

whatever is closest to perfect for you? Is as good and perfect as it will ever get.

Sabina, that is a lovely, tasteful, understated kitchen. Calm and centered.

Thanks, @john !

I didn’t read the rest of the comments yet, but 2 kitchens ago I had my heart set on soapstone but then we couldn’t find it in our area for anywhere NEAR a decent price and we happened to notice a slab of leathered granite. It was leathered Steele Grey granite and it was quite affordable and I loved the way the leathered finish felt and how it didn’t show fingerprints. Long story short, I loved it so much that when we built what we hope to be our forever home, we went with leathered Steele grey granite again! I would do leathered granites of other dark colors too, but the bluish dark grey of the steel grey worked for this home as well.
My last kitchen also had a GORGEOUS solid walnut island countertop (waterfall countertop) that my hubby built for me and I finished it with Waterlox. It held up wonderfully to water, but in the five years I had to refinish it once because the first time it didn’t cure properly between layers. I loved the look of that countertop, but I wasn’t thrilled with how I always felt like I had to baby it, so asked to not have that again in my new kitchen. (I’m ok with a patina... but apparently my hubby is not, LOL!)
But I feel like the leathered steel grey granite is about as bullet proof as a countertop can get. It’s easy to clean. It’s stays looking clean easily. (No fingerprints or oil stains) When I clean it, and then run my hand on it, I don’t feel crumbs that I missed like I’ve had another granite with a busy speckled pattern do to me in the past. You don’t have to worry about templating issues because there aren’t any patterns to match, the pattern is that there isn’t a pattern, LOL! I discovered that it’s my ideal kitchen countertop, and to me, it’s close enough to black and goes well with my personal favorite, classic kitchen look of white cabinets with black counters. I still think soapstone is stunning, but this also makes me extremely happy.