This thread is worthy of a bump. Thanks @enduring for pointing it out to me. I will say that it is great to see a bunch of ladies that aren't afraid of power tools. While everyone here is showing off their lovely DIY soapstone kitchen counters, I'll show off my modest DIY bath vanity countertop. Well, we redid our small powder room recently along with our kitchen and family room reno. We found a vanity that we liked, off of the Home Depot website. The stain is close to that of the cabinets that went into our kitchen. We didn't particularly like the black granite top that it came with. With our good experience with redoing our fireplace surround and hearth with soapstone, I decided to do a DIY soapstone countertop and backsplash for it. I got a slab remnant and a 12" tile from M Tex. in Denver. To get the front contour of the counter, I first used my jig saw with a diamond grit blade to do the rough cut. For the finish cut, I built a wood template and clamped that to the slab. I used a guide bushing mounted on the router base, to follow the template to take off that last little bit of material. I then used the router to round over the sides and front edges (top only). For the sink cutout, I started it with a diamond grit hole saw and then used the jig saw. The hole saw was then used to make the holes for the faucet. A belt sander cleaned up the edges and an orbital sander for the top surface, followed by some hand sanding here and there. The tile was cut into 4" strips, with a tile saw, to make up the backsplash. The outer pieces were shaped with the jig saw to provide some interest. I saw that profile somewhere on the web and just had to do it. A square file helped clean up the corners. All in all, it was a great little DIY project. Here's a closer look. We thought about oiling it, like the soapstone around our fireplace, but we are liking the unoiled color. Here's the earlier fireplace project. I designed and built the surround and mantle. Soapstone tiles are inlaid into the columns and frieze. In the frieze, they are actually raised out of the wood a bit. Soapstone tile around the firebox and a soapstone slab for the hearth. Soapstone will pickup the heat from the fireplace and radiate it into the room well after the fireplace is turned off. So, now I have to figure out what to do with the piece left over from the sink cutout. Maybe make it into a cheese board. I also have two wedges from the front contour that I can do something with. Eventually, we will tackle our master bath and I'm sure that soapstone will make it in there somewhere. Maybe the counters or the floors and/or shower pan. Soapstone floor tile would be great with in floor heating.

Sparkling, I suspect it's easier to replace a non-undermounted sink, since you can lift it out rather than having to undo some cabinetry and cut/slide it out. But it depends on how it's built in to the cabinet, I believe. Caveat: the Donsjo is so easy to use as an overmount because you just need two straight edges of counter on each side; note that you'd have to find a similar model sink for replacement, and not just any drop-in topmount. Most require a square/oval cutout. Also note that undermounting it would make it a farther reach to the bottom. Up to you whether that's good or bad. I will say that this is a more crucial consideration than I'd realized, and because we didn't like the depth of our last farm sink when undermounted - it was 9" deep + 2" of counter, simply too deep to be comfortable) we are now looking for a shallower version for the new kitchen.

Prill, that is some gorgeous soapstone! Wow. I love the veining and the unusual colours. I think you want to keep the bs subtle so that it complements but doesn't steal thunder from your stone. In that regard, something like Nantucket would compete. And I agree with Zeebee on the smaller mosaics. I've always loved Anita's ming marble; it's really interesting. Could be a great match for your ss. Are there other elements (besides your white sink) about your kitchen that are of note? I also love catmom's bs: Here are the colours that her Artistic Opera Glass comes in It's a difficult but fun decision to be faced with! Eliz

Square corners here, with eased edge. 3 years, no chips.