3 coats of Waterlox?

And I can deal with etching. Not warping or rot.

Marble and soapstone don't warp or rot. Did you answer your own question?

I, personally, would like the soapstone or stainless best of your options, but you could combine. In my thread you said you really wanted a cast iron sink, right? So how about cast iron with a marble or soapstone deck and sinkboard? You could even do runnels or a slope to channel the water into the sink. Or a repro cast iron sink with an integrated drainboard.

I may be wading in here without knowing all the background...so please forgive if I blunder. Coupla things strike me though: Soapstone, antique heart pine counters, fireclay or soapstone sink, moss green cabs...seems like that warm, old, look is what your heart wants and white solid surface or stainless counters don't feel like the same look to me (FWIW). Question: Why the wood on the range/sink run and soapstone on the refrigerator run? PUtting the wood near the sink and the stove seems to be asking for trouble...both the rot and warping kind and the burned ring from the hot pot kind. Soapstone on the other hand is pretty much impervious to heat and water. Couldn't you get your wood counter fix by putting it on the other run?

Unless your lower cabs are going to be really dark (and aren't your uppers going to be white-ish?) I don't think the soapstone will make your space too dark. But then again I love my soapstone (in a space about the same size as yours, with medium-tone wood cabinets and two west and one north-facing windows).

Then again, the antique pine counters would be beautiful. I think the soapstone sink with soapstone surround sounds like it be fabulous with the wood.

This month's Fine Homebuilding had a great article on wood countertops around a sink, but if you don't use wood I think soapstone would be GORGEOUS. I like the looks of marble but the etching would bother me.

Are you going for an older look? I'd skip quartz and solid surface then. I don't know if your layout would accommodate, but I like the vision of an expanded version of #1-more soapstone counter-with runnels on the wetter side (depending on DW location or how you work. So the soapstone counter would cover not only the sink cabinet but also the one next to it that usually holds the DW. I think the longer stretch of soapstone will look better than just surrounding the sink. I don't think you have to worry about wood rot outside the sink area. In my kitchen, the other counters may get wet when I chop just-washed veggies. But I do use a cutting board, so water on the counter is minimal and wiped up when prep work is over. Even better, if you usually prep next to the sink, put runnels on both sides.

Adjacent to the stove, I'd have a 12-18" x 24" piece of soapstone resting on top of the wood counter for heat protection and a place to set hot pots.

We have wood counters around the sink and we are quite possibly the most accidental prone, splashiest family out there. I have three children ages 8, 6, 4 and so far, we've had just about everything spill, splash, and pool on our waterloxed counters and you can't even tell.

I'd add that if your family is not easy on things, this will happen all over the kitchen. For example, washing the dishes can happen anywhere in the kitchen if you are under the age of 10 and you want to help- in fact, some children believe the best place to clean a dish is where it gets dirty. Cleaning off muddy things is very hazardous for the whole kitchen when the sink sprayer is used. Or, if your family is experimental in nature, you might have different kitchen products mixed together on the counter to see what will happen (FYI a mess happens).

So, because of this I have often resorted to #5 on your list, but it's not because of the counters.

Regardless, all of your options sound beautiful, good luck with your choice and keep us posted!

I hear your concerns and share them. If you're at all like us, 3" of counter board isn't quite enough. Maybe look for a "natural" place, in line with existing elements - like extend over the cabs on either side of the sink or to a window or something. Get a large enough piece to actually protect the splashing zone.

Stainless counters are a bit neutral and take on some of the character of the surroundings. Not calling your style this, but I've seen lots of pictures in places like Country Home that have stainless counters.

Maybe consider a pre-fab stainless worktop type sink - with some drain board area to either side. They replace the counter in the area. The ones I've seen are mainly from franke but also custom sink makers like rachiele or handcrated metals. Expect prices to start at around 2k.

I have decided on partly stainless backsplash and I asked about doing some counters in stainless. It was less than I had been expecting from a restaurant fabricator - including building in (or what ever they call it) a small premade sink in a 40" stainless counter - like $300. I still haven't decided.

You might also consider a faucet with flow control? Definitely hard to pick out one with just enough pressure, but its something to think about.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I think the biggest problem is that on the 10' sink wall, there isn't a wider area to make a natural transition between counter materials. The biggest I could do is 39"ish (the size of the window). My perfect sink is probably white cast iron, but I'm afraid of having that sink run look forced or chopped up with different counters.

If I did wood, I was planning to Waterlox the heck out of it. But I'm also concerned about the expansion/contraction of wood that breaks the silicon caulk between sink and counter. I'll check out the Fine Homebuilding article. Thanks for the tip.

The warm, older look is exactly what I love. The fridge counter going to be at least 30" deep so I thought it would make a good baking surface (soapstone). Lots of room to spread out the dough. Sounds like maybe I should revisit soapstone...That was my first love before heart pine drew me away. Yes, sw_in_austin...great memory. My uppers and fridge run cabs are planned to be cream/off-whiteish.

Autumngal, I'm glad to hear that your wood counters are holding up well. We're a splashy, messy, experimental family too. Maybe I should just stock up on the vino. :-)

Bmore, I'm gasping at a $2k sink. My sink price creep is crazy. I initially wanted a $200 sink, then a $500 sink. Now my husband points out a $1k sink with a totally straight face. Eeeekkk!!