I agree w/ happytobehome. I've seen soapstone look perfect in the most traditional of kitchens in 100 year old houses, and in very contemporary spaces. My kitchen is transitional-leaning-contemporary and I think the soapstone is perfection with it. Because I have cherry shaker cabinets, I could make my kitchen look relatively traditional with just a few changes: hood, barstools, lighting, faucet, possibly backsplash. Here is mine for a look at soapstone in transitional space: Anita

Thanks so much everyone for the kind comments! I will definitely do this space justice and use a real camera and post pictures once we are all done. Just to quickly follow up with some questions: -hardware is from hickory hardware in polished nickel...bought at our local home depot which happens to be a superstore, know reg. Home depots don't seem to carry......can go online to hickory hardware to see who sells locally too.... -dining table and chairs crate and barrel ( love the glass top, kid friendly an bein a small space opens the room; once I save me money hopin to get a colorful rug to warm up the space-in love with the mandala rug in blue from Madeline weinrib at ABC carpet and home -the range hood I had custom designed from our cabinet maker, plain and fancy. Wanted a bit formal because we tore down wall between dining room and galley kitchen to make one big space and you can see the hood when open front door so wanted something pretty and inviting... All the Best, Rosie -dining pendant is Pearson pendant from restoration hardware

I agree with Pam about the function things, but, at least where I live, having the kitchen fit the style of the house, aesthetically, will have the greatest visual appeal. Make the whole house cute! Use the original kitchen as a style cue. Sochi phrased the plea not to lose the MCM as personal--I'll extend it to the rentability. Renters want function function function since there's nothing they can do about anything. Having the whole house read as a single style makes it so much easier to furnish and live in, and makes the house make sense to the renters when they're walking through while it's empty. I've lived in a '30's beauty of a rental with an unadorned, clean '70's kitchen, which wasn't bad. It was all function, white slab cabinets, white tile, and newish appliances. The kitchen had no charm but had lots more function than the '30's kitchen would. Lots of cabinets. Separate cooktop and ovens. Garbage disposer and dishwasher. So that was fine, if unexciting. The rest of the place was really cute, and had the original hardwood floors and walk-in closets, plus original tile and huge tub in the bathroom. Then there was the early '60's place with the panelled wall in the living room, panelled den with built-ins, and pink kitchen. Original, very clean, appliances. It was cute! The whole house was cute. The original kitchen, with it's display cabinet peninsula was cute. The panelling was a bit of a gulp, but it was clean and unmarked, and went so well with the style of the house. My furniture looked just fine. And the kitchen was very functional, other than too wide an aisle. Lots of cabinets, and more in the laundry room. Okay, as a former renter? LOTS OF CABINETS!! That's the ticket to pleasing a renter. And cute. Renters want the place to look like something. Keep that MCM thing going. Anyway, slab cabinets are easier to clean between renters. :) I also have experience from the landlord perspective (including surveying the competition), which also says that closets and cabinets are worth extra $$$, but generally, you'll get your rent based on location, pleasantness of surroundings, space, upkeep and storage. Utterly bland will rent at full price. Too much character (e.g., mauve walls or anything "weird") won't rent well, but a little style with neutral colors goes a long way.

Palimpsest, That is a great design but my kitchen is very different, unfortunately. Localeater, I actually really wanted cabinetry like that and had the Hansen blocks priced but they are unfortunately out of my current budget. If I were sure I'll be staying in the house for 10-15 years, I'd probably find the funds but if we end up selling, that investment won't be worth it. Westsider, I don't like shakers! I currently have very "elaborate" raised panel cabinets that came with the house, so I know what "pain to clean" means, LOL. I have tried and tried to like something other than slabs and I keep going back to them. :-( But the kitchen is not only "traditional" but also has some "old Italian" flavor. IDK what we were thinking when buying this house. But there was nothing "modern" in the neighborhoods we were interested in and this house was very unique compared to all others. Could you post pix of your kitchen? Modern_mom, I am very much looking forward your pix! And, btw, I don't mind seeing them w/o the backsplash, wink-wink. Thank you everyone for your responses. I'll try to find more pix resembling my kitchen and what I actually want.