The lighter ones might fight with your floor. I'd be inclined to go dark, but not brown. Can you find a decent selection of soapstone in your area? It's classic, farmy, and vintagey all in one.

In addition to soapstone, consider a leathered granite:

@queenvictorian I came across this GRANITE at my local Stonemart today. I actually thought it was soapstone. Nope, it was granite.

And when I wet it, it darkened up like soapstone. I couldn't scratch it.

^^^Yeah that's super cool granite - we've been to our local stone slab warehouse and I didn't see anything like that.

We've been looking into marble-like quartzite ourselves, to have the old house stone countertop look we want without the delicateness of actual marble. We want to do light counters with wood cabinets, otherwise I'd totally be all over soapstone (or that granite that looks like soapstone).

Thank you all for your insight, I hadn't heard of soapstone before. Is Soapstone much more expensive than granite and quartz? Any experience with using it as far as sealing/conditioning and chip or heat resistance?

Below is one granite I found at a local place today, what do you all think of it if we went darker?

This will tell you everything and more about soapstone . . .

https://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com/search?q=soapstone

That granite looks like leathered Uba Tuba. I like it.

Soapstone is what they use to make science lab table tops. You probably blew stuff up on a soapstone surface in high school science class. It is extremely dense, extremely heat resistant, and impervious to chemical reactions. You don't need to seal it. You can oil it for a shiny finish if you so desire. The main caveat is that, while dense, it's soft so prone to scratching. If you don't mind not having a ~*shiny perfect *~ look to your counter tops, then soapstone could be your stone. And then If you do scratch it, buff and oil it to make the scratch go away.

And, they make packs of soapstone 'crayons' so you can make notes on your countertop with them, then wipe away with a sponge (don't know how well they work with oiled soapstone).

I used to use chalk to write on mine for my kids morning “to do“ list. It was great. You do have to wipe the stone before writing though.

Also the oil doesnt make it shiny...it makes it much darker. It will look shiny right when you oil it but you buff it off before using it.

Find some Virginia Mist honed. It is granite and totally easy to care for. Looks like soapstone without the oiling etc. I would definitely NOT do a brown. Is the flooring a final decision? I wouldn't do the browns in it either. More whites and grays would work with white cabinets and black-ish countertops.

Woodmeister - Kitchen 21 · More Info

Virginia Mist honed with white shaker-style cabinets. Gorgeous!

Here are some pictures of actual slabs of some of the options mentioned. I took these at my local Stonemart:

Here's an actual Black Soapstone from Brazil (there are many kinds and color variations of soapstone).

Here's Virginia Mist - the sliver of slab you see peeking up in the back is the honed finish, the main slab shown, of course, is polished.

Here is Via Lactea in a leathered finish.

Here is Black Galaxy in a leathered finish.

And here's polished Absolute Black.

There are extensive threads on soapstone - pro and con if you search this forum.

I think your choices should be what you personally like rather than being driven by a mythical buyer down the road who may or may not like what you select. Unless you are flipping for immediate resale, attempting to read the tea leaves is a losing game since you aren't selecting what you love and you may or may not be selecting what someone else loves.

That said, my personal experience with marble is that it's not that high maintenance and would probably be more appealing to the average mythical buyer than soapstone. I have seen it in use in kitchens that aren't particularly pampered with no issues of staining. It does etch but the reality is that etching isn't that big a deal on a kitchen counter as you see it only when the light is shining at a particular angle - it's not that noticeable when a counter is actually being used.

Old bistros have etched marble counters. And if you want to get back to the completely shiny pristine surface, you can have it professionally polished.

My new remodeled kitchen was inspired by Arts & Crafts/Prairie but isn't a slavish recreation. I used Black Galaxy because I liked the way the copper picked up my copper accents and it's one of the bullet proof granites with no sealing or particular maintenance issues.

I'm a big fan of soapstone as well and used it in the kitchen remodel of my craftsman home. Here's a link: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4506819/finished-1923-kitchen-with-breakfast-nook#n=57

If you do go with a brown granite, the boringly-named tan brown granite is by far my favorite of the "builder grade" granites. I genuinely like it; it's not just that it's the best of a bad bunch.

I do agree that soapstone is a great look in a vintage kitchen, but its softness isn't going to appeal to everyone. Some people embrace is character and patina, while others are driven crazy because it doesn't stay perfect.