broconne: Have you considered a free standing unit, such as a cradenza? I have a LaCache free standing unit now (tall) and it works great, is easy to maintain (if necessary - mine has been working hard for 5 yers without a hitch) and looks fine. I almost purchased a credenza unit that looks beautiful. True, they are a little more expensive but they are almost fine furniture anymore. For ease, you may want to take a look at the IWA online catalog as they have all sorts of options including what you are thinking about now, then search out the individual unit that fits your needs the best. IMHO a kitchen is the worste place to keep wine, despite the fect that you will probably open it there. Lots of temp fluctuations and vibrations even though you are putting the bottles in a self contained "cooler". We are in a similar situation as you, what with going to contract on a home. Having said that, I sacraficed a closet as opposed to an integrated unit in the island (preventing me from having an ice maker) or under the counter (taking away more valuable appliance / storage space. Don't mean to intrude in your plans - just figured I would share some other options to think about

I just had to post here...OMG...the lady that wrote Laminate and luxurious in the same sentence.."NO". I hope I never have to meet someone like you in my lifetime. What a bunch of snobby, snarky..people! I am sorry..I think you can have a beautiful, luxurious kitchen without paying for granite, quartz, soapstone...etc. My goodness. I am building a house now and get to hear from our subs about all of the snooty women that they have to deal with...literally walking out of a house because the closets aren't big enough... What kind of country have we become? I say..if you want to buy high end appliances...beautiful cabinets..and put it all in a laminate kitchen. I think it can be stunning! Don't listen to all of these snooty fruities.....do what YOU want..and the people that matter...won't walk into your kitchen and take a mental note of your laminate..I would think it was beautiful! And for those of you who think that I must be some low life...my husband is a doctor! There....rant over! :-)

Hard water? Definitely avoid darker counters. Also dark sinks and ORB faucets. I won't even have chrome, too many water spots. You are right to avoid shiny granite, the hard water will leave dull wipe marks. Solid surface does come in a lot of nice colors, we considered it, but since we wanted darker counters, rejected it because it scratches fairly easily and we were told the scratches would show up as white. If you want a light color, I think its a good choice.(The light color won't show the wipe marks too much) We chose premium laminate, not a popular choice here on GW but we liked the low maintainence of it. Our last laminate counter wore like iron, 28 yrs and 3 kids later, with barely a scratch, so we decided to go with laminate again. I'm not sorry, I do love my new counters. Will it matter for resale? Possibly, but I doubt it would be a deal breaker. Yes I do have a top mounted sink, which I am fine with but I believe you can get undermount sinks with laminate too. (By the way, you should look into a better water softener, hard water can do some damage to your pipes, maybe a new softener can handle the extreme hardness of your water)

I can't wait to see what you do! We're almost complete with our kitchen reno and we bought a Bluestar 36" Platinum, have a 36" Monsoon Vent-A-Hood (no problems with heat so far, fair bit of cooking, but this week will tell the tale!), and soapstone counters. Bluestar Platinum: the 25K burner was a nice-to-have. We liked getting the removable griddle/grill insert as DH is a pancake maker. I haven't done any steaks indoors on it yet, but the time is coming this winter. DH is also an engineer and really liked the tight tolerances of all fittings. We looked at both the Platinum and RNB at the showroom and the Platinum felt engineered like a high end sports car. No complaints here. And I'll be honest, I plain liked the look better. And since this is the one and only complete kitchen customization of my life (no plans to move, universe please be kind to us!), we chose the Platinum. Soapstone: we are fortunate that Dorado Soapstone is in Denver, CO, about an hour away. I went down and picked out my slabs, which was fantastic. As others have said, there are different hardness factors, so don't let arguments about that convince you without doing some HW. In my earlier life, I spent a lot of time in labs. There are reasons it has been a prime material for them for so long: takes heat just fine (I remember seeing a Bunsen burner flame falling directly on the counter, no issues); won't etch (bring on your lemon juice, vinegar, red wine!), and is naturally germ-resistant since it's nonporous (hot water with a little soap is really all you need!). We've had soapstone tile in a teenager's bathroom for about 8-9 years now--it was waxed or oiled (can't remember which) once upon installation and we haven't done a thing other than clean it. In the new kitchen, I've re-oiled the island countertop a couple of times, mostly just for my own "new kitchen" love, but it's really no big deal. A little mineral oil on a rag--not really different than wiping down my countertops. I'm going to put up my Before and After shots soon with more details soon, if you're interested. I learned so much from browsing this site, I'd like to give back. Wishing you all the best as you decide!!