I second what PP said. If you're going for a muted dark countertop, honed granite may be the way to go. Some soapstones I've seen can be busy. If you post this over on Kitchens, I bet you would get lots of pics of kitchens with this combo. Or do a google search. Hope this helps! Sounds beautiful!

Fwiw, I just mixed faux-marble quartz (Lagoon) with a Carrera backsplash and at least in it's pre-grouted state, I'm really happy. It was hard for me to find a backsplash that worked well with the grey-ish tones of the Lagoon, mostly because my cabinets are painted taupe. Anything that "matched" the cabinets seemed too brownish for the counters. The Carrera blends the two perfectly. I think it also works because I wound up using a very small-scale herringbone pattern, so the patterns in the marble tiles are less pronounced. Fwiw, I don't see the calacutta tiles that the OP posted working with a greyish quartz that's similar to Lagoon, and I'd also be concerned about pattern overload with a subway tile. But having worried about the fake-next-to-real problem, I wanted to at least add my experience that it can be done. One of the prettiest kitchens on here, done by a pro, is GW user @kompy, who used a different marble subway with Lagoon counters, and it looks stunning.

Thanks! As for period appropriate, I think given the size and origin of our house (ironically built for a steel co executive in 1927) stainless may just be ok. I will share some pictures, it is a beautiful old home with incredible detailing and materials. We were lucky to have the chance to live here! Yes, stainless DW with be by the sink. We were thinking carrara marble. Had not considered wood around the sink because of water concerns. We use the kitchen a lot! We often eat late after kids' activities and dirty dishes wait on the counter or in the sink, sometimes until morning. We are not pristine kitchen people! Pictures are from real estate listing before we moved in. It's furnished and lived in now! Current Butler's Pantry (will still be blue, slightly different shade, new lighting, subway backsplash, refinished countertops darker wood, flooring will hopefully be original wood refinished, german sink to stay, new cabinet hardware.) You can see the a bit of current kitchen through BP and the orange wall with horrible track lighting is the nook where the sink will be. Current 1980s kitchen, very bad layout, very narrow aisles, unusable counter space. The double oven wall will become the range wall. Approximately where DW is now is where counter height table will be. Foyer entering from front door, all the way straight at the top left the orange wall you see will be the sink wall. LR is immediately to the right, the other room on the right with light common through is DR. And just to see some other original materials, upstairs bathroom: Thanks!

Meridee, that's where we are now too. We are definitely getting a workstation sink now and have decided on the 45 inch, but can't decide which one. We have it down to the Krause and the Create Good Sinks. We like the ledges better on the Krause and the radius of the corners (easier to clean) on the "Create Good Sinks". But we like the drain and the fact that you can get double basins on the Create Good Sinks. But are those features worth paying twice as much for? $900 for the Krause vs $1800 for the Create Good Sinks. The photos are to show the difference in the radius of the corners. First one is the Krause, second one Create Good Sinks.