I'm just remodeling my kitchen, and that was my original thought - to mix the soapstone on the perimter with a complementary granite on the island. I was thinking of a whiter granite with grey/black in it.

Well as it turns out I need a bit more than one slab for the soapstone for the perimeter countertops - i.e. needed 2 slabs - which would then also do the whole kitchen in soapstone. So it would have been more expensive for me to add the granite in.

And, the soapstone itself was so lovely I decided I would like that look better anyway. Just bought it yesterday - Julia :)

I also realized it was going to be pretty time-consuming to find an interesting but good contrasting granite - so good luck with your search!

I have soapstone and white granite, and Kathy is right -- It was surprisingly difficult to find a granite that worked well with my soapstone, since my soapstone is also veiny. I found that granites with a pronounced vein or swirl pattern worked better than stones that were more speckly. The one I got was called Juparana Dunas or White Diamonds from the people I bought it from. Here's a picture of the two side by side.

Kathy, I bet your kitchen will be wonderful! How exciting to order the soapstone! :)

Sweeby, what a gorgeous kitchen! Love that look - classic, warm and elegant. Love it!

I guess I should have posted a better title - instead of Soapstone and Granite, I should have said Laminate that sort of looks like Soapstone and Granite. My DH thinks it will look silly to have laminate (Basalt Slate) on the perimeter, and only a small piece of granite for the island. Like having granite in the entire kitchen was out of the budget, but had enough for a small island.

Maybe it's better to go with Butcher Block? So confused over such a small counter space!