S is for Soapstone

One of the biggest decisions (in my opinion) that I had to make in this whole process was what to do on the counters in the kitchen.  There are so many amazing options available, and I knew I wanted to do something a bit different.  Don't get me wrong. I love granite. I love solid surface material.  But I wanted a different look. I would describe it as I wanted something simple. Something that would look like it could have been original to this house.

So I started to read and research.  And soapstone caught  my eye.  It has many interesting qualities, but what struck me most was I LOVED HOW IT LOOKED!  Think back to the days of the black tables in your science class. They were most likely soapstone.  You can hardly do a thing to it...except scratch it.  And the amazing thing is the scratches make it look better. I know that does not make sense. But really they do.  Maintenance is a breeze.  You need not worry about what you use to clean it.  I wax mine with a special wax and my gosh it just makes it look even better.

So if you are in the market for something new on your kitchen counters, I encourage you to look into soapstone.  May not be as easy to find and does not come in a zillion colors like the other options.  But it is so cool!

Here is a slab of soapstone. The guy who worked at the stone place wiped water on it so that I could see what it would look like when it was waxed.  It comes to life with the water/wax.

And here are some pics of the finished product in my kitchen.

You can almost detect a green tint.  It is very subtle.

Love the streaks of white.