Soapstone is beautiful and it is what I have for my counters but I wouldn’t recommend pairing a natural stone sink with a synthetic counter - I.e. the Silestone. Both are gorgeous materials, but I think that they won’t make each other look good. Putting them together will just highlight their differences. I like stainless steel for durability but if it is too cold when paired with Silestone then maybe there are other finish options like nickel, brushed stainless, dark bronze, copper? I also think fire clay sinks are so pretty, but continue reading on Houzz. Apparently people have had real problems with them crazing. Looks like it will be a really nice kitchen.

Read up on Kohler Whitehaven sinks in the Kitchen forum as an alternative to Fireclay.

I have two older Ikea Domsjo sinks (can't recall if they're porcelain or ceramic) but haven't had a problem with scratches or nicks in two years, and I try to use nothing harsher than baking powder to clean it. If scratches and nicks are a concern, you can always get a sink grid or rack; you can get them specifically for the Whitehaven.

Yes to Kohler Whitehaven

For sink i recommend Shaws. They are the original farmhouse sink makers.

farmhouseguys:

All the sinks you've selected have a full apron, meaning you're going to have to buy a farm sink cabinet. If you get a short apron sink, you'll easily alter a standard cabinet sink base.

It takes a hell of a carpenter to scribe a tall sink to its base cabinet without excessive caulk. The Kohler Whitehaven and many other short apron sinks are self-facing; no scribing required. I highly recommend them.

I always want to know why a farmhouse sink? I think a good quality stainless undermount will stand the test of time , work well and look good for as long as you want it. They come in lots of sizes to suit pretty much anyone and when the whole farmhouse sink thing is over it won’t matter. I am not seeing farmhouse in any of your choices except for maybe the color of the faucet which IMO is industrial and best also in stainless

@Joseph Corlett, LLC - The farmhouse (apron) sink cabinet was already chosen by the builder and that is why we are proceeding with that option.

Why farmhouse? Because it keeps the cabinets clean and free from damage. Sinks are impervious to drips/splashes, wood cabinets are not. The single-basins are big and roomy, and can be nice and deep depending on what you choose -- you could wash a mid-size dog in mine if you wanted to.

I was first smitten by what I first knew as Belfast or butler sinks in the early eighties, when I was in college and had a subscription to British Homes & Gardens magazines.

And then in 1988 my mother took me to the Smallbone showroom in NYC, where I finally got to see one of those glorious sinks in real life and received the unfitted kitchens catalogue I still treasure. It's been full-on mad love for the past 32 years : ) . I went to England on my honeymoon in the early 90s where my husband and I actually went to a few kitchen showrooms and I contemplated hauling home a sink as a souvenir lol.

I finally got two such sinks in our new house two years ago (though I had bought the Ikea Domsjo sinks, one single basin and one double-basin, about seven years earlier because I was worried Ikea would stop making them before we needed them, which turned out to be the case, sigh).

And as Mrs. Pete says, if you spend a lot of time at the sink, washing dishes or food prep, they're very convenient and efficient.