Thanks cat_mom and Maggie, hi and thanks for your interest! I don't have any pics yet beyond the last batch I posted awhile back as to choices... we're about to order the stuff although I've already got the vanity. The big decisions were whether to tile up the walls or not ... I asked the contractor to go ahead and work into his final estimate that we'll do so ... and the tub. I have a deep old white cast iron tub that I am 90% sure I'm going to have reglazed, because it is a tight fit into the alcove and nothing I'm seeing is really quite as thin and also deep and also cast iron. So if we do that, bathroom will be: Black wood vanity, 49" kohler black enamel cast iron vanity top, black tub, black toilet (hoping for Kohler Santa Rosa if the rough-in will fit), and absolute black 12x12 tiles 8' up the wall. Above that will be an off/soft white flat paint section and ceiling, and the door will be that color. Will have a beveled 4'x4' mirror and a beveled-mirror medicine cabinet. All the fixtures will be brass, and probably the knobs on the vanity too. Going with a couple round brass robe hooks (really knobs) instead of towel racks. Getting a black porcelain recessed toilet roll holder, and will have two 12x12 granite recessed niches in the tub alcove for shower and bath use. Will very likely add an all-glass sliding tub door ... though I'd love to do without that and without a shower curtain ideally ... I'm more of a bath person. (I was thinking I could always stash a shower curtain and rod in the hall closet for shower use occasionally... but most likely will go with the sliding glass door. I'm going to get a black plantation shutter box for the bathroom window. And for lighting I will likely have a sconce on each side of the vanity with a black silk pleated shade... so there will be soft light and it will go up and down from the sconces. I may add a dimmable recessed light above the vanity but really would like to leave that option open (pre-wired) till I see what that place looks like and how much I have to tinker with lighting to get the soft glowy effect I'm after instead of glare from all the shiny black and brass. :)

I have leathered Cambrian Black granite in my kitchen and butler's pantry. We haven't moved in yet - should be in about a month. I love the look and feel of it. It has more texture than the AB, which I used honed for my fireplace surrounds. I haven't seen a leathered sink but my experience with black sinks (I have them in our rental master bath) is I HATE THEM!!! They show everything and only look cleam immedidiately after cleaning. I know there are those who love theirs so I know everyone doesn't share my opinion. Best of luck!

The reason that I asked about the Santa Barbara was that I heard that that quarry is about done. I didn't want you to get your hopes up if that's true. Doesn't Francy have that and couldn't find a new piece for her kitchen? I think so. I asked Mimi about that one when we were looking for a harder variety. I loved the looked and asked her what it was. I'm almost positive that the one I kept on coming back to or pointing our was the SB. All in all, I wish that I had gone ahead with the soapstone, even the Black Venata, but as I said, I need to live with what I have now. Who knows? Maybe the softer variety wouldn't have been right for me. Maybe in my next house I can find the perfect combination of soapstone for us. My cabinets were probably not soapstone worthy anyway. Good luck! I sure hope you can find your Santa Barbara!

Do you have a link to it? I don't know Black Jaguar and couldn't find it on a search, but there was a Black Panther that was listed to be the same as Andes Black. Is BJ the same thing? I have Black Impala leathered which looks fairly close to Panther. I did look at AB honed as well and it was beautiful and felt good to the touch. I was concerned about fingerprints, though the slab I touched in the warehouse didn't show any when I tried. The Impala leathered shows almost nothing, and what does show goes away with a quick wipe-down. The thing about AB whether honed or polished that you need to be careful about is whether it's actually something else that is dyed/treated to make it look like it or authentic AB. I can't tell you the difference but there are several here who can.