For Sharonite: The island countertop is 77"x39" and there is 34" from the end of the island to the window sill. At the corners of the island, there is about 29 1/2" clearance which is plenty of room. Does that help? And thanks everyone. I feel like my kitchen looks so much "less grand" in the photos than a lot of the ones I see here, but the space is so much better than what we had and it's very usable and kid-friendly. Can't wait to get the desk area organized and some color on the walls.

I'm so glad to hear back from you! Thanks for the great closeups and the information about the installation process. I, too, never cared for the way the sink was originally installed, but figured there must be a reason. After seeing the finished apron front, I guess the only reason was that the owners didn't want to cut into the window framing, so mounted the sink with the backsplash just underneath. The cabinets are also lower and less deep than those built today, but I think that was pretty common a hundred or so years ago. I do wish I could find out what year this sink was made. The bottom of the sticker was gone and it wasn't printed anywhere on the sink. If I could find that out, it would help figure out when this house was really built, as there is some discrepancy with the dates. I have changed some of the planning on our install, based on your photos... DH was going to extend the window sill by the few inches needed to get the apron to line up with the countertop just behind the curve on the side of the sink. The shelf was to go straight out from the sill, then straight down, filling in the entire area between the corbels on either side of the window. I really like how your shelf is deeper than the box and rounded on the ends. We are going with that idea now instead of a straight shelf across and straight box down! Thanks also for the paint info. I know what you mean about liking, but not loving, the paint color. That is how I've felt about my current green paint since day one, and that was a couple years ago! I like it on cloudy days but not when the sun is bright or when the lights are on in the evening. I've also put off repainting because I remember how much work it was! Now, I've resolved that I will be painting immediately after this kitchen and the remainder of the butler's pantry is completed. If only I can find that perfect green :) Terry

It’s depeds on which one are you getting the original soapstone (from the earth) or the silestone(quartz) soapstone... Origiinal soapstone is cheaper than quartz soapstone, only because it’s man made and labor cost is included which is why it cost more than the orignal soapstone. I was supposed to be getting the original soapstone, but there was some confusion and mistakes, and we settled on soapstone quartz. They send me samples which I am not satisfied iwth the color effects.. I like to have more bold veins than the weak lines of veins. And it looks more Grey than Black.. Which is the color I wanted. So, I’m still communicating with the company, both home depot and the Granite design on this matter. Because our order was not what I was expecting. Although I was looking on pinterest and saw grey with bold vein is what I like to see or have. good Luck on your decision. I won’t have mine until hopefully by 19th of Sept. If we resolved this issue on timely fashion. Lisa P.S. I am paying more money than what you estimate on your price range.

I am definitely #teamsoapstone. I first quenched my lust for soapstone many years before I had a kitchen remodel planned, by having local stone yard fabricate a replacement top for my coffee table from a soapstone remnant. This is a Brazilian soapstone that Dorado Soapstone (importer/distributor) calls "Anasazi". It is very hard and dense, and pretty much impervious to scratching, with intense contrasting veining. This piece (coffee table photo above) has NEVER been oiled, it is just that dark naturally. My initial experience with the naturally dark, and practically un-scratchable Anasazi stone might have lead me to underestimate how soft the majority of (less dense) soapstone is. Dorado / Anasazi I later put, what turns out to be, a much softer ss in my kitchen. For my kitchen I was looking for the soft grey (unoiled) look, with minimal veining. I kept my kitchen counters natural for the first three years. I fully embrace the texture and patina of the small scratches my counters have (no-regrets), that is part of the vintage "been here forever" look I love about my 100+ year old English-cottage-y house. (I've also had a copper kitchen sink for many years before my kitchen renovation where we added the soapstone, for us the copper patina showing wear, and constantly changing in appearance, was a feature we loved, so we are already "patina people" in general). But, the oil marks and rings that would mark/"stain" the surface my un-oiled soapstone, anytime anything remotely oily would touch the counters, drove me CRAZY, and looked very messy (and, well, ugly) to me. (Note, not really a "stain" - a surface mark that a degreasing agent can strip from the stone). The solution for me was to switch over to the "wet look". After 3 years of frequent scrubbing with simple green to get rid of (de-grease) the incidental oil blobs and rings that came from normal kitchen use, I started oiling my countertops, and embraced the jet-black, wet look, about 2 years ago. I've only oiled 3 times, all with an oil-and-beeswax blend paste. After the first two applications where the counters sucked up the oil/wax, I went about a year before a re-application, which happened last fall. Counters in photos below are about 6 mos from last oiling. Oil-Wax paste My kitchen counters are what Saratoga Soapstone (importer/distributor) calls "Mineral Black" (also quarried in Brazil). I think it is probably one of the softer soapstone varieties out there, that is sold frequently for countertops, which was a (mineralogy) trade-off, in order to have the uniform soft matte dove grey look I wanted, the quality that drew me to the unoiled mineral black. Between the Anasazi and the Mineral black I feel like I have probably bookend-ed the Rockwell spectrum for material hardness for soapstone. Saratoga / Mineral Black Photos showing use/scratches/wear/love, just to be clear on what soapstone "patina" looks like (eyes wide open): More frequent oiling would make the wear marking much less visible - but they don't bother me at all, and I've not had any issues with water rings or marks from water, before or after oiling. I did strongly dislike the oil splotches-stains that I found to be unavoidable when trying to keep my soapstone natural and unoiled, for me that was the only down-side to soapstone. In the last photo the cloudy area in the upper-left ,the "oiled look" is starting to fade or evaporate, and the natural dove-grey quality of the unoiled stone is starting to reappear). I would totally use soapstone again, (I love my kitchen), but I would have gone into the shopping planning for oiled wet look from the start, instead of shopping/selecting based on unoiled-look of the slabs. But definitely important to know what you are getting, and understand how it will wear.