Hi,

We're in the middle of renovating our kitchen and I'd love some opinions.

Here is what it looks like now:

The cabinets are kraftmaid -- maple in dove white. The counter is soapstone, Python from M. Tex.

What should we do for the island? It has 2 levels, one is a workarea with sink and the other is about 6 inches higher and a bar/eating area.

At first we were leaning towards butcher block on the island, but since we have an undermounted sink, we would need to varnish it which doesn't thrill me. Also, the price was way higher than we expected (between 2k and 4k not including installation).

I really love the soapstone on the perimeter and am leaning towards that on the island, but aren't sure if we should do the bar area in soapstone as well, or go with a wood look (something my husband and I both like) and make a custom tabletop ourselves.

Any suggestions would be great! Also, if anyone has ideas for the back splash that would be excellent too.