When I had my kitchen redone a few years ago, I chose Silestone quartz, color soapstone for my countertops. I love it! Cleans up with dishsoap and water, no scratches, no chipping. I do use silicone trivets under hot pots; however, I always used trivets for hot pots with previous stone counters.

Ci_lantro you have a made a great point about the pattern on Darcrest not being linear and that for sure is something to consider with the Lshaped kitchen. Didnt think of that. Thank you.

The feedback here has been beyond amazing. Love this group and wish I had known about it when stared our house.

Is there a way to respon to specific comments? Finding it bit hard to comment or ask questions with going back and forth on the screen

@HU-337240152 @ and username

If you put @ before someone’s Houzz handle, that person’s name becomes highlighted. They will find your comments to them in notifications. (Or Inbox as it now seems labeled.)

I know you said you wanted dark, but personally I think light would look better with walnut.

You have spent a lot of money on awesome wood and now you want fake plastic stone? I agree soapstone is the perfect choice no maintenance no radon what is wrong with that .

@daisiesandbutterflies It is interesting you say to go light. Originally we were going that route and we might go back to that if we cant agree on a dark slab. Im waiting for some quotes on soapstone as that is what i like the look of the most and was not considering only because fabricator strongly discouraged and as a matter of fact is still trying to discourage me.

I also think light would look best. If you go with your dark choices both are really nice

Since you were seriously considering light counters, why not narrow it down to the best light counter and the best dark counter, and then make your choice? Just keeping all options open.

Also, maybe get a different fabricator's opinion. This may not be your situation, but I have found out after the fact that contractors talked me out of something I really wanted only because they were not comfortable doing the work or didn't know how to do it. I have lived to regret listening to contractor's choices/advice more than once.

@daisiesandbutterflies i have reached out to a couple companies that seem to specialize in soapstone and just waiting for replies.

We do have some light coloured samples here as back up. Problem there is that one we both like the most is actually a porcelain slab which is actually a lot more expensive than the quartz and we want the edge to be exactly 3/4” because of how cabinets have been designed and this slab would give us some issues with getting a proper edge that is not too thick or too thin

If you want exactly 3/4" thick counters, I think that rules out soapstone. Soapstone slabs are typically 1.25" thick.

Personally, I would not choose porcelain because it chips easily, especially the edges and repairs are difficult.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6148312/porcelain-countertops-chipping

@ci_lantro you are correct about the thickness of soapstone. Im sad to learn about this as we cant have counters thicker than 3/4” because our windows would not open. It is now back to quartz.

I heartily agree with @daisiesandbutterflies regarding the design opinion of contractors. They can talk you out of something that you love because they don't either like it, don't want to install it or don't know HOW to install it. Many of us regret listening to contractors on design decisions.

I also agree you need to pick one light and one dark option to narrow it down. Your cabinets are the star of the room here, so picking something "quiet" to play second fiddle to them is the right design decision. Soapstone would do that or a simple solid. Is Silestone in the mix? They have a gray that mimics soapstone.

Again, wait for information on soapstone from someone who sells and installs it often. Ask about the thickness to see if you need to just walk away since you can't get the thickness you need.

Porcelain is a wonderful product but has been rejected for countertops exactly because of what @ci_lantro said.

Black Tempal

@Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc. That is a beautiful counter and looks like a great pick for that kitchen which Im sure is gorgeous judging on that shot. Im not sure how to convince my husband to go with Black Tempal and kind of realizing I have to look at something different or we will never get our kitchen finished. He wants Darcrest. Someone here made a very good point that the advantage of Darcrest is that it is non linear and as such will work better for our L shaped counters. I find darcrest a bit strong and that all the brown in the wood and the counter will be overkill. My husband thinks the cabinets and Darcrest will form one continous block. I dont know if I should give in to Darcrest or just do white counters instead?

Maybe you should consider more of a solid. Your Walnut has a lot of movement. Here is Walnut with a solid dark gray perimeter.

Ceasarstone Raven is one of my favorites.

We have pental quartz belgium blue with our walnut cabinets. no linear movement so i think it would work well with your situation. it might be worth checking out if its one you could both agree on.

@RedRyder we do need to forget about soapstone because dont have the room for 1.25” slab. Not happy about it but have to live with that fact. The Silestone seems to have blue in it which probably will not work for us as that is the issue my husband has with Black Tempal. I do plan on going to see it in person just to make sure.

Here's another image of the Black Tempal. The last image looked blue because it was in front of a window.

@Kristin Petro Interiors, Inc. We have ruled out mid grey counters because there is nothing grey in our house (oddly enough half of our house on outside is mid grey because we were too chicken to do black). Inside we have white walls, black tiles in foyer, white oak floors and black doors (wanted white oak but construction didnt go well and no money for wooden doors). We like idea of black kitchen counters but just cant agree on which one. Im doing my research on Darcrest as it seems that might be an easier battle to win than convincing my husband of Black Tempal. Do you have experience with Darcrest and would you say it would be too busy with our cabinets? i have never seen a big slab of Darcrest in person. Our local showroom has Darcrest on display made into a counter and that counter is in a dark corner of the showroom so cant actually see anything which is kind of frustrating. All I have to go on are small samples and internet pictures.

If we go light, should we do white or is slightly off white better/ok. Here is a photo of all samples i brought home from showroom.

My husband and I both like White Ciment but that is porcelain and is too expensive.

Organic white is glossy which we dont prefer.

Topus Concrete looked great with the wood in showroom but at home it looks pink to me.

Bianco Ash looks and feels nice but is a bit on creamy side and we have SW Pure White walls and not sure if that would look off?

I vote Bianco Ash but I have to say your walnut cabs are going to be the SHOW STEALER!! So happy for you. Go w w toned down counters as no one is going to see them after that walnut!!❤️

Agree that Bianca Ash wins the “light option” contest.

Have you considered Absolute Black granite? It comes in 3 or 2 cm and can be polished or honed. I would choose honed for your kitchen. It will not compete with your glorious cabinets.

@Jazz Lover thank you. We are happy with the cabinets. Just wish picking the coonters would be easier.

@RedRyder when we designed the cabinets i was 100% sure i dont want granite. we designed for counters that are 3/4” thick. if i could do thicker i would do soap stone. i think we are now stuck with quartz

Cambria has several dark colors. Their “Woodcroft” is black with thin lines of a light brown that might work for you. Take a look at their website. Anyone I know who used Cambria is happy with it.

Here’s a wood kitchen with Woodcroft. They obviously used it for the backsplash as well.

Im going to chime in again, not sure if your limited to specific suppliers but Pental belgium blue is a nice darker choice with no linear movement.

@RedRyder I will have a look at the Woodcroft slab. i kight be confusing companies but for some reason rememeber that Cambria was supposed to be a lot more expensive than Caeserstone. Also on photos it seems the lines in it are slightly gold. Gold looks fantastic with walnut but in rest of our place we seem to have silver and thought should stay away from gold on counter at this point. But maybe we are wrong about that?

@wsea Someone else has also mentined this slab. Would you know if ot looks blueish as it has the word blue in its name? Cant really find info on that.

Its definately not blue. its named after a limestone of the same name. not sure where the name came from as the limestone also is not blue at all.

edited to add a photo of it n my kitchen

For the lights I vote for the biaco, and for the darks I vote for the pental belgium blue.

I don’t know about Cambria pricing. Just want to share all options. Your cabinets are so special, you really need to get the countertop and backsplash right - even if they play second fiddle.

Gotta see all of these suggestions IN PERSON. Photos of stone/quartz/whatever never do them justice. Glad you have a piece of the wood but consider taking a full sized door with you to every countertop supplier. It makes a huge difference when you’ve got a whole door with you.

Your kitchen is going to be gorgeous not matter what you choose. Is your island top going to be the same as your perimeter counters? White counters vs. black counter. Huge decision. I would look at tons of kitchens that have walnut cabinets with white and black counters. See which look you love more. Don't pay attention to anything except the cabinets and the counters. Sometimes other things sway you and you don't even realize it. If you can't decide after that, I would go as far and clearing out the kitchen and getting white paper and black paper to really visualize the difference. See it in the day and night. To me, white counters have a more "casual/light" look. Black counters more "formal, dramatic, rich" look. Usually people know whether they want light or dark depending on how they want the kitchen to feel, amount of natural light, what the rest of the house looks like, etc. I'm big on knowing what you want your environment to "feel like." If your furnishings were all light looking/feeling, then a dark kitchen might not mesh. It seems like you would have considered soapstone. Is the counter level with the window sill? This might sound crazy, could they move the window up a bit? Sometimes you think things will be too expensive so don't even ask. You seem to be pretty flexible so you will probably quickly settle on one, finish your home and move on to normal life. Moving something a few inches reminds me of a funny story. We once had a house moved ten miles to a new lot. The contractors attached the house to the new foundation. Somehow the foundation was poured several inches into an emergency vehicle easement. We went to the city council for a variance where one councilmen asked, "you moved the house ten miles, can't you just move it over a few inches?"

Look forward to seeing your finished kitchen! Good luck with your decision.

ETA: If you are looking for richness and drama, you could get it from white counters with some dark veins. But really, which ever way you go, the walnut cabinets are the star. They are stunning.

I think I'd look for white w at least subtle veining..... the darks dont appeal to me that much.

I like these better than all white.

Marina Del Rey · More Info

Lake Austin Contemporary · More Info

Bakes & Kropp - High Style Sagaponack Kitchen · More Info

@wsea your kitchen looks great

@RedRyder I for sure need to see the stones in person.

I like @herbflavor’s white suggestion. A solid white quartz can look boring next to your rich cabinets. Similar to the dark Cambria I suggested.

If veining is done in a moderate way, it will enhance the richness of the wood.

@Gigi W i have looked at so many images that now i feel majorly confused. I feel that black counters will go well in our kitchen because of some other black elements we ended up doing such as black doors and black tile in foyer. we also have a lot of light in kitchen with 10 foot ceilings, white walls and no upper cabinets so white counters kind of feel washed out but what is in my head does not always workout same in reality. My husband is workign on cleaning up all the construction mess and once clutter is gone it might be easier to see what to do with the space. We were going to do the island counter same colour wood and counter but the island has not been built yet so can still changed that up.

@Gigi W Moving the windows is 100% out of the question now. Would be cheaper to rebuild kitchen counters.

If you really like the look of soapstone but need the specific depth, why not consider Silestone Charcoal Soapstone.

I've seen this in person, and it is gorgeous. I'd use it in a second if I had the right spot for it.

That was a dumb idea anyway, moving the window, because you can get the look of soapstone with other stones. I'm leaning toward black. And it seems like you were too initially. But again, think of the "feel" you want in the kitchen. I think you can "lighten up" a dark room, but it would be hard to "darken up" a light room. You will have your sink and cook top to break up the black counters. Where is your cook top going? As far as the island goes, you might look into something with legs so it doesn't look too heavy. Your kitchen is bottom heavy because you don't have uppers. I tend to overthink everything so just go with what you want your kitchen to feel like. Wrought iron legs or drawers on top and a shelf below. The more I envision your kitchen, the more I think white is not going to give you the look you want. You chose walnut for a reason. It's dramatic and rich, and although I've seen many walnut kitchen with white counters, while beautiful, I feel they don't always bring out the best in the walnut. For your island counter, I would do the same as the perimeter ......... unless you want to up the drama and find a black stone with some fabulous veining, not too much contrast, just enough to make it interesting. When the kitchen is cleaned up I'm sure someone can easily photoshop different counters and island tops. But nothing beats standing in the actual kitchen to get the feel. I hope you make a decision and not second guess but either way, your kitchen is going to be beautiful!

@Gigi W Our cook top is going to be under the window that is visible in the photo and sink will be on perpendicular wall under a window as well. Not that great that our cook top is in front of a window but we had a lot of issues/restrictions with designing our house and did’t want to give up windows as much as possible and have ended up with a few windows in odd placements. Our island is going to be 3’ by 7’ with 4’ of cabinets and 3’ feet of a cantilevered counter for three seats but I like your suggestion for the island design and will propose it my husband to see what we can come up with. Cant wait to have all junk off the kitchen counters but not too sure if it will happen before we pick a slab as we really want the house finished and there is too much going on and certain things keep getting pushed back constantly.

The more I overthink your choice, I think you need to show your entire kitchen. More needs to be taken into consideration regarding counter choice. For example. If you were to have a black range and a black sink (I know you won't but stay with me) if you went with white, that would be a lot of contrast. It might look like a checkerboard. You need to envision your kitchen with the appliances, sink, etc. in to really know what the counter is going to look like in terms of color blocking. Black counters will recede, white will stand out. When you have a lot of dark (walnut) you need to pay attention to the possible contrast. Where your eye is going to go. What is going to stand out. Again, I overthink everything. I do think if you are still deciding between black and white, get someone to photo shop the entire kitchen with both black and white counters. Did you have sketches done? Please ignore any unhelpful advice or comments from me. ETA I would love a cook top under a window! Maybe a little extra cleaning, but to gaze out a window on a rainy day while stirring hot soup, yes!

We only have a rough design we did of the kitchen in Sketchup. Will see if we can get someone to do a mock up of counters but that will depened on how quickly we get a photo without clutter. Our cook top will be solid black and have not purchased sink yet so not sure if we should do black or silver. Good point with the white counter and black counter being such a contrast.

As for window above cook top Im not all that sure how to feel about it. that window faces the street and dont really know what we will do there when dark outside.

Sinks under windows happen more often for a reason. It’s easier to do dishes with a view. A cooktop will make a huge mess.

@RedRyder True. That set up was not an ideal choice but i still prefer having the window over just a wall. im not too worried about mess as wiping glass should not be any harder than some other backsplash. it will probable show more but will just need to stay on top of it which is still ok because will have a cleaner kitchen. Privacy is more of an issue

Wow that walnut is gorgeous! Would love to see more of the kitchen. I used SW Sherwin Williams Pure White in my last home and love that shade. Since you have an active movement in the walnut and warm medium to dark tones in those (and to a certain extent in the floors), it might be nice to have the countertops be more uniform without pattern, in a light neutral to allow the cabinets take center stage. Since you want to capitalize on the light from the windows you have, what about using a "pure" white countertop. I like Bianco Ash, but understand your concerns about having it look "off" with the white walls. Having done different homes with top of the line granite, soapstone, quartzite, marble, and slate, I was completely happy with manufactured quartz for durability, stainproofing, etc. I'm not sure if they still make this color, but I used Zodiac Snow white in my butler pantry with SW pure white cabinets and it was a great match. After poulticing my macaubus quartzite nearly daily to get rid of stains, I wished I'd used in in my entire kitchen too. Best of luck with your beautiful kitchen!

Maybe the wall color choice should be after the countertop is laid (?)

@RedRyder we for sure are not doing things in proper order. it has been a crazy experience. but right now our entire house is painted that colour and trying to see if we can stick to it in the kitchen. Would be willing to paint the kitchen for the right counter. The Bianco is very nice but Im not loving it completely with the walnut.