Soapstone countertops.

[Josephine]

We are working on our 1903 bungalow. DH has his heart set on soapstone countertops for our kitchen. Does anyone here have them? How are they working out? What about upkeep? Any advice appreciated!

[yarborough house]

We have a soapstone counter top on our island..well we had it on the island in the kitchen. It is now a craft counter..anywho...I LOVE IT. And would have it in my kitchen we are renovating right now if it weren't for the huge cost factor.

Ours does have scratches on it but I think that just adds to it looking old like my house..
good luck and hope to see some pictures
Oh - love your name.

[Josephine]

Thank you for the response. I think that is why DH wants it so much. He wants to use a product that will blend in with an old kitchen. Our cabinets are about the color of Jadite and the walls are yellow. We are thinking about the dark green soapstone. We don't have a lot of counter space so hopefully we will be able to afford it. For an Island I have a retro kitchen table. After I do my dishes I'll post some pictures of the kitchen right now.

[Josephine]

Here are some pictures of my kitchen right now.

[Josephine]

And some more.

[Josephine]

and a last few.

[RoseMary]

What a great kitchen, Josephine. Are all the cabinets original? I love the Hoosier! It's a lot like mine:).

[Josephine]

Thank you! Yes I believe the cabinets are original. The shelves inside are adjustable with a really cool handmade feature. I love my Hoosier too! I found it at a garage sale in that condition, that was a happy day!

[vintage girl]

Love your vintage kitchen. I have a vintage kitchen also and am looking to replace my countertops too. Never thought about soapstone?? I am considering quartz, they have a new color out that looks exactly like carrera marble. But I think I will look into the soapstone. It is hard to find something that works with a true vintage kitchen. Granite is too shiny and still looks too new even if it is honed. I love the colors in your kitchen, very very pretty:) Here is a pic of my vintage kitchen.
http://www.cottagesandbungalowsmag.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=43&pictureid=385

[Josephine]

Oh, how pretty! I love the open cabinet look( should do it in my kitchen since everyone but me leaves them open anyway!LOL!). You have a lot of pretty collectibles! I also like the curtains on the bottom cabinets! We like the Matte look of the soapstone too. Seems like it would look nice with the vintage kitchen look. I read somewhere that farm kitchens used soapstone way back when if it was available.

[vintage girl]

Going to the open cabinets was really the best thing I have ever done. I love it. I thought it would be hard to maintain, but it really isn't, plus it gives me more room to disply my collectibles. The only issue is that one of my chihuahua's (I have 4) likes to climb in my lower cabinets:rolleyes: She is a bit chubby and the other day she got stuck behind my pans and I had to get her out:eek: It also seems to make the kitchen appear larger. I have a very small kitchen. One good thing about that is that it will not cost that much to replace one counter:)

[Brad St. Angelo]

We have soapstone counters in our kitchen and absolutely love them. Here is the thing, they are tough to find, you have to oild them for the first 2-3 weeks, but once you have attained the color you like, you will absolutely love your counter for the rest the time you live there. Ask around and see if anyone has taken out their soapstone counters, not many. Then see how many people these days are taking our their Granite, laminante etc counters. All the time. We got ours from Dorado Soapstone. Great selection.

[chyna]

Just a thought for you but see if there are any remnants at the stone place, you may just find the size you need for the fraction of the cost.

I was watching one of those bang for the money shows on HGTV last night and they went into a kitchen that the homeowners had installed soapstone and one of their complaints (the hosts) was that there was wear and dings in it already. the homeowner of course was defensive about that and said that they liked the worn look. My point is that if you want things very clean and unblemished (non-worn) that soapstone may not be for you. I've heard that it is a soft stone, no idea if that is true or not. :confused::)

[shabbychick]

I was just sitting here going through my new Country Living magazine, and I saw an ad for something called Modern Masters Tranformations at Lowe's. It says it's a paint-on product (in several steps) to apply over old laminate countertops. I have no idea how many different finishes it comes in or whether it's even any good. Have any of you seen this before? It seems like it might be a good alternative to new countertops, but I don't want to invest the $250 in the product if it's really not as good as it's advertised to be. This is the first I've ever seen of it. Their picture is a black granite-looking countertop, which is not something I want, but if it came in a finish that appealed to me, I might be willing to give it a try.

[ChapterTwo]

I was just sitting here going through my new Country Living magazine, and I saw an ad for something called Modern Masters Tranformations at Lowe's. It says it's a paint-on product (in several steps) to apply over old laminate countertops.

I also saw that for the first time in the new issue. Of course, I've just spent $$ having new Formica countertops installed. Gulp.
:(
I definitely would have been willing to try it. Oh, well - too late for me! I'd be interested to hear if anyone else tries it.

[chyna]

I'll I've seen at Lowes is a paint from Rustoleum that you can paint formica with. There is a limited amount of colors you can have it tinted to but if you are just in a basic type of colors it doesn't sound bad. That is what I'm planning on doing, or at least that is the plan at the moment. :p

[LindaLK]

Hello Everyone, :)

Josephine, I love your vintage kitchen. Do you have the color name for your cabinets? It is such a pretty color. Enjoy your evening.




Hugs,
Linda :)

[shabbychick]

I'll I've seen at Lowes is a paint from Rustoleum that you can paint formica with. There is a limited amount of colors you can have it tinted to but if you are just in a basic type of colors it doesn't sound bad. That is what I'm planning on doing, or at least that is the plan at the moment. :p

Let us know how it works out for you. I'd be interested in the before and after photos of that.

[jamesmrosas]

Hi Josephine,

Is this your kitchen? Wow. It's so nice and neat.

[Bungalove]

Josephine, I love your kitchen and think it will look great with your plans!

About the painted countertops, I started another thread about that and we love ours. New-looking countertops for $50 instead of $500 or $5000. Everything I read seems to say that overpriced granite is on its way out; of course there will always be people who love it and that's fine, but it's no longer considered de rigeur when putting in new countertops.

http://cottagesandbungalowsmag.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1019&highlight=Giani

[SouthernA&C]

We have a soapstone sink and 4 areas of soapstone countertop in our kitchen. They are very beautiful, and go well with our oak cabinets. The stone is certainly softer than, say, granite, and scratches do occur. I agree that they add to the character. A bad scratch can be gently sanded out if necessary. As to protecting the surface, we preferred to avoid mineral oil, so we protect our soapstone with Soapstone Sealer & Wood Wax from realmilkpaint.com