I had the same dilemma. Since I do a lot of baking I decided not to go with a black antique leather granite. I was concerned about the dough getting caught in the textured surface.

I settled on soapstone and so far love it from afar. We aren't done with the kitchen yet.

However the plumber did manage to put a deep gouge into the soapstone when he installed my drop-in cook top (I guess he took "drop-in" a bit too literally). The contractor will have the soapstone installer come out when they are done to repair/sand it. Now, I don't know what would have happened if I had granite (I assume? it would have damaged that as well). At least with the soapstone it can be repaired.

I plan on oiling mine to have it darken. I thought at first I would want very black, but the piece we fell in love with had a lot of veining and I like that look better.

If the you are not happy with the sample you have, get another sample from a different stone. Some are softer than others and perhaps you can find one you will be more comfortable with.

Just remember soapstone is heavier than granite so if you have an overhang make sure you find out from the installer what to use to support it!

Here's my thread where I was agonizing over soapstone and my cherry cabinets. There are soapstone pictures as well in this thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry Cabs and Soapstone - Just A Dream??

I really love the look of soapstone but in our second home (with lots of guests) I felt that I would stress out too much over the softness of soapstone. Please excuse the totally unfinished kitchen but here is my Green Pearl Leathered granite just installed this week :) !!

kitchenredo2-so sorry about your plumber. Your kitchen so far looks great and so I am sure it will be beautiful. I love the look of your soapstone...it is exactly what I would want. I live near seattle and the 2 little samples I have don't look nearly as nice. Maybe we just don't get the good stuff in this area. I will have to just go look at the slabs myself.
Artielange your kitchen looks great so far too! What a unique countertop. It has that soapstone look. Is the green pearl indeed green? It is hard to tell in the pic...looks charcol/black with a slight green tone. Thanks to you two! I appreciate the feedback and pics.

Megpie77, I just bought a beautiful slab of green leathered soapstone from Meta in Seattle. They also have grey (which turns black when oiled). My green sample has been on the job site for 6 months and I have completely abused it. I took a chisel to it and the scratch came out after sanding it and then filling it with Sharpie marker. I had to hit it pretty hard to make the scratch. I have found that type and area of the globe the slab is from determines the hardness. There are scales online as to which are harder than others. My fabricator told me to use a green Scotchbrite pad and that will get all the scratches out. He sealed mine so it stays the color of the slab as I didn't want it as dark as the oiling gets it. There are also lots to choose from at Pental and Michelangelo in Seattle. All within blocks of each other. Good luck!

Loving all the pictures here!

I'm in the Seattle area, too. We did soapstone in the kitchen in our last home. It was mariana soapstone and came from Quarry S/E just south of downtown. I'm considering soapstone again, but am also testing out a sample of antiqued cambrian black. I'm thinking my backsplash will be where the action is this time, and that's what has me considering something more uniform for the counter. It's so hard to decide!

Reshal-I love it! I have a sample of the green soapstone and I think it is beautiful but my husband doen't want green because he thinks he will get sick of it. I tried to tell him it's not bright green just subtle. I do prefer the darkening by the oil...do you think this makes the green more prominent or do you think it would just look darker all around? I too am having white cabinets. My only concern, like jraz, is that my backsplash my take centerstage and so am wondering if I should do a more uniform look such as the black honed granite. Ah! If I could just make up my mind. Thank you so much reshal and jraz. I will be driving to Seattle today!

By the way reshal. What color of white are your cabinets? They look great against the green soapstone. It's got me wondering if I chose the right white. I have pottery barn white furniture and had the store color match it. It is an off white: a bit of yellow and a bit of grey, but otherwise looks white. Your's looks brighter and am wondering if this is a better choice. They haven't made the paint yet. AAH decisions! Everyone have a great day.

When DH and I were at the stone yard a couple of weeks ago there were a couple of soapstone slabs that caught his eye. He couldn't resist testing(scratching) them right there. One scratched VERY easily and the other was difficult to even get a visible scratch in. I would keep looking for a stone that is hard to scratch. Go to a few different stoneyards if that is an option. Good luck. It is so pretty installed. And totally off the subject, artielange-- what an awesome kitchen. I bet you have a beautiful fireplace somewhere in that house you could post a pic of?

The cabinets are BM White Dove. I took a few photos to show you more of it painted and I turned on all the lights to give you all the color variations of it, although now that I look at the photos, the truest color match is the one above of the counter with the sink and soapstone. I love the color. Not too yellow, not too grey. It's clean during the day and warm at night if that makes any sense. I had a nightmare with the BM stock White Dove vs the BM store-mixed White Dove, which is another story. Please excuse the mess in the photos!

As for the green soapstone, it is green, but a dark subtle green. You see the veining more than the color, I think. When it is oiled it is very dark green. I am having the rest of my slab installed in my laundry room so yesterday I did some tests on my sample to determine whether I wanted it oiled dark or sealed as is. I noticed that it is very dark oil and it shows more green. Kind of like the darkest, coldest, green water or what it might look like deep in a shadowy rain forest.

I just put soapstone in my kitchen and I love it. I always thought I'd have granite and never even considered soapstone. But then I decided I didn't want granite and started looking at options. I found a beautiful soapstone and I really love it. I've had it for a month or so now - it seems to be very durable. You can just oil out any little scratches and it can be sanded too. Here are a couple of pics. Priscilla

{{!gwi}}

Still haven't picked a backsplash - as you can see.

prill-thank you. Your coutertops are beautiful. Thank you so much for the pics. All photos and feedback help more than people realize.

Everyone's kitchens are beautiful! But prill... your soapstone is some of the most beautiful I've seen. Is it a soft type? Your picture makes me re-think what I could put with the marble i want for my baking table. Hmmm... marble, soapstone, and stainless?

Back to the OP's question. I say soapstone after seeing these pics!

I got the same look with Caesarstone Raven - no oiling or maintenance. Got beautiful contrasting granite for island. Caesarstone is definitely not cheaper, however.

I looked at C-stone Raven early in my planning stages. It's pretty but it definitely does not have the beautiful veining or the feel that soapstone does. Definitely low maintenance though. Then again, many people choose not to oil their soapstone, so that makes it very low maintenance also.

Remodelfla - Thanks. My soapstone is Medium Minas from Dorado Soapstone in Shrewsbury MA. It seems to be very hard. It's pretty when oiled, but I like it unoiled and don't bother with oiling that often. Priscilla

I happen to like soapstone unoiled because I like the lighter softer color. The only thing is you often can't see the beautiful veining that way. What I love about prill's is that it's got the veining but not that dark.

Here's my .02 cents (from a Pro's perspective)

I tell people that EITHER stone will work...

In my opinion - using Soapstone ALSO hinges on where your home
is located. Here's my logic for this aspect: People that
live in the Eastern half of the US - especially New England
and such - that have a home that they want to project an
original "look" (like the kind of stuff that was used in the
1700's and 1800's) Soapstone is a natural choice. It
"fits in" with the "look" they are trying to achieve.

This is not to say that soapstone is not cool for any other
application - on the contrary - I really LOVE Soapstone,
and as a Fabricator - I like working with it, and it has a
rich texture and "look" to it.

That said - Absolute Black - HONED - in my opinion NOW - will
look good (I am told) - IF you use Method Daily Granite Polish
on it - over time you will develop a "patina" on the
Honed AB, and it the stone will perform well.

I am trying some Method on a scrap piece of AB to see this
for myself, and I am going to do this for an upcoming pod cast
that will be airing on Natural Stone 101.com - When I have
it finished, I'll post a link for folks to check out.

anyways... HTH

kevin

This is my first time posting, so I hope I get the pictures right. I am a long-time lurker approaching the end of a 5-month kitchen renovation and I didn't think I'd post until I was completely finished, but this question was one of the first that my husband and I dealt with at the start of the renovation and it was a big one for us. I REALLY wanted soapstone... I love it, love it, love it! But my husband didn't want anything that would show wear, scratches, etc. Our compromise was Cambrian Black granite with an antique leather finish. It was installed a few weeks ago and I LOVE IT!! It has the soft, matte look that I love in soapstone, but the installer said it's virtually indestructible. It has a slight texture and beautiful copper and silver flecks throughout that catch the sun and give it a bit of depth. The texture is not enough for anything to get stuck in it... it's very subtle. For us, this definitely was a perfect compromise between a soapstone lover and a guy who wants things to look brand new forever!!

(btw: I also considered honed Absolute Black, but the sample that I brought home showed too many fingerprints for my taste. The leathered finish is much more forgiving.)

Here is a link that might be useful: cambrian black granite with antique leather finish