Thanks for the nice comments. When I started the kitchen I never expected to be able to afford natural stone, but with the soapstone and what we could do ourselves, it came within reach - mostly because we have such a simple layout. We had M.Tex do all the fabrication so we only had to install it and deal with those seams. The heaviest piece was about 175lbs (26" x 47") well within the capabilities of DH and I to lift and move. I was way more concerned about lifting the double wall oven in place -that's over 300 lbs, but it has retractable handles so it wasn't so bad. For the backsplash - I have planned on having plain counters and letting the backsplash be the focus for so long - I'm having a hard time switching gears and giving that up - but like 10KD said, I'm worried of having something that competes with the soapstone. I think I'll paint the backsplash the same color as the cabinets - right now I have a mix of bare sheetrock, primed sheetrock and the old beige the kitchen use to be. I also have more of the soft sage the walls are now - maybe I'll try that in one spot too. Mostly for the color - paint is way cheaper to experiment with.

Can you put wood into your kitchen, or does it have to be tile? As for the honed granite. I had it in my pre-renovation kitchen and it was no where near as difficult as some say. I have four little ones and found it no harder to keep clean than other surfaces. It did not hide dirt, but a quick spritz and wipe would clean all my mess. So don't rule out black if you love it. That said, I am going with a light granite in my new kitchen and looked at Kashmire White (I chose Bianco Romano) and think it looks lovely. I am going with a wood floor in my kitchen, but if I wasn't I would definitely go with a darker tile, set in a quiet pattern, on the floor. Let the white cabs and counters take the eye and attention. Good luck!

Jkemner - It sounds like a lovely combination, but I have to agree with the others regarding the maintenance of a light tile floor. I just had mine installed a few months ago and thought it would be great because my room is so dark and I clean the floors so frequently anyway. I was so wrong! The above commenters are correct that it is a constant battle to keep the floors clean looking. My worst peeve is that a single drop of water on the floor will get smeared by a shoe or dirty foot and it shows. The Kitchen Designer Blog has some recent entries about light floors. She also has some very nice pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: The Kitchen Designer Blog

Lauren - what did you mean by not wanting your cooktop to "pop" out? Did you mean a black cook top on a white granite island? My sister has a white (induction) cook top and its very pretty. You might consider that with the white granite it you don't want to do black or soapstone.