This is so not what you want hear but if after the initial trepidation passes you are still unsure I would hold off. NKBA is clear that one place to consider cutting corners is the countertop because it is easy to change it later. A couple of people on here have done Soapstone laminate - perhaps it would be a good trial run - if you don't have a lot of countertop putting in postform laminate even for a year or so won't break the bank and if you like it you do the soapstone and if not you can shop around for some other solid surface you like better.

Having said that I wonder if the sink might be pushing it in such a small space - your right that too much of one material may overwhelm the other elements in a smaller space. Are you doing side and backsplash edge in soapstone also? Maybe think about ditching that as well to reduce its' presence.

My guess is your going to love the soapstone and wonder why you doubted yourself but you have to work through it.

If you are unsure, maybe you could compromise and just get the soapstone countertops, but not the sink. The sink could weigh down a small room, especially if you don't get a lot of natural light in there. Do you?

I am wavering about soapstone myself. (with a fireclay undermounted sink (or stainless). I am mostly concerned about maintenance and durability. We are very messy people, and I am afraid that the soapstone will have a lot of water rings and scratches. After paying all that money, (to us) I don't want my DH to say "well, your the one who wanted it..."

I think that's right -- I don't get enough natural light and the sink will weigh it down. DH really wants the farmhouse sink, but I could do it in white -- or even an undermount stailness. Yes, that sounds better ...

Shadey

My kitchen, though bigger than yours, had white cabinets with white corian and I also worried that the soapstone would make it dark- On the contrary, it made it look much better - and larger. One thing that may help is black construction paper and chalk. Buy a bunch of paper and completely cover your counter with it, add some chalk "veining". It won't be exactly the same but should give you a feel for how the color affects/effects the space. I would shy away from the apron sink (both white and soapstone) The white one will chop up the visual flow and the other is too bulky. IMO, to keep a smooth, continuous counter line which will make the kitchen look larger, it's best to stick with undermount stainless steel sink. Good luck!

Shady, I have a galley kit and did red with soapstone and farm front sink. If you so a search on "Blue kit, cold feet" scroll down and there is a couple pictures of our unfinished kit to see a galley with soapstone sink and counters.

I think the soapstone will look great.....but the heavy sink may not. It's not a huge kitchen and that sink could make it look even smaller by breaking it up. I'd go with an undermount sink in the soapstone. Or if you just HAVE to have a farmhouse sink, consider a white one.

I wanted soapstone in my arts & crafts era house but went with Cambria. I was "infatuated" as DH would say with the look of soapstone but after learning about the care and wear n tear issues (and cost) I couldn't do it. Options: Use the Formica laminate that looks like soapstone (then you can't have an undermount sink) OR go with soapstone and an undermount SS sink.
signed- still in love the look of soapstone but not the issues it comes with...

It wasn't clear to me in your post whether or not this is a home you plan to be in for a long time. If it's not, that would make me advise rethinking doing all that soapstone. It's a big investment.

I have soapstone countertops, farmhouse sink and ss topping my bi-level island...LOTS of soapstone...in my relatively small cottage kitchen. It's my favorite part of the house, and I love working on it. My kitchen has white cabs, adjacent double French doors and a bank of windows over the sink, so even though it's not huge, it's open and full of natural light. If your kitchen has a lot of light, then you can probably pull off the dark stone.

But, now I am remembering how great eandhl's kitchen looks with the deep red cabinets and the soapstone. Take a peek at her pics. Good luck in your decision!

Everyone keeps mentioning formica soapstone. I saw some laminate soapstone that I would love to use in my laundry room, but I haven't seen anything online that looks like it. It had great veining like soapstone. I would love any info on this laminate soapstone.

You can do an undermount in the laminate using a product called counter-seal or a similar process using a solid surface product. You need a 36 inch sink base to do a double which sort of nixed it for us. Nobody here seems familiar but it isn't a new process. We have a certified fabricator in our city and he said we didn't need to use their sinks. You can also do it with Karran acrylic sinks but method is different. As a compromise we are doing a deckless drop-in which is a bit cleaner look than the standard drop-in and lets you mount the faucet on the countertop as you would with an undermount.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to counter-seal

Shadey--You can get drop in stainless farm/apron sinks, too.

Kelleg--Here's an old thread on the laminate soapstone substitutes: Wilsonart Oiled Soapstone...

My local Home Depot has Formica's Basalt Slate ready made countertops so, if you have a HD near you, you can go in there to see it in the large.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sink

Here's a close-up of Basalt Slate Formica on my island: