Beautiful!

Lisette,

I love the clipped corners. I've never seen anyone do it at the sink, It really adds to your kitchen. It looks very clean, and might I add your DH did a good job cutting the sink out. I knew he would do a good job. And I love the one seam in the back. . .lol can't wait to see it all oiled up. . .

Mimi's pick for tiles would be a mosaic glass (Brick or cubed) tiles. You would have to ask Bill V for the correct terms as I'm not a tile guy. I love the more modern flare so I'm all about the glass tile too. . . I'm sure you will make it look awsome.

Now just get working on the other side. . lol. I think it will be alot easier than the sink area, less to get perfect (sink cutout). I think we forgot to give you bee's oil too. . . you'll have to try some soon.

Hi Joshua,

Thanks for the compliment, that means A LOT to me coming from you :o)
The clipped corners came from the fact that the freezer door wouldn't open without hitting the stone if we didn't clip it so he decided to do it on all the corners.
Yeah, the other side should be easier plus now we have some experience. I hope to get it done this week!
Glass mosaic sounds great but what about colors? A brick pattern would work because our flooring is laid that way.
Oh, I do have Bee's oil and I did use it. Takes longer to apply but hopefully it will last longer.

Gorgeous colors and great job on the install!

Perhaps some of these glass mosaics would compliment your colors and work with your classic, clean lines.

Here is a link that might be useful: Encata glass mosaics

I love it! You guys did a fabulous job and your dh made a good choice with the corner cuts. So funny that it was because of the fridge door, and yet it looks like a great design element.

I'm absolutely no help with backsplash. I'm tentatively planning to do a short (1 1/2"?)soapstone edge. I saw a pic of someone's kitchen like that and thought it was nice, unobtrusive, protected the wall, and left other options open in the future.

This might be out there, but what about a subway (brick) pattern using stainless steel tiles? You could match the sink without worrying about accent or floor colors:
http://www.frigodesign.com/formedtiles.html
http://www.kitchensource.com/kitchen-backsplash/sn-kbs683.htm

Alternately, and probably a much warmer option, consider working in some soapstone mosaics?
http://www.doradosoapstone.com/_Tile/index.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: stainless subway tiles

native_tx,
I LOVE the Petite Linea in the bamboo!! It picks up the color of the floors and has a little black piece that picks up the soapstone. Thanks for that link!

Circuspeanut,
I considered the stainless subway tiles but I think I might already have to much SS on that wall what with the sink, dishwasher and you can't see it in the picture but we have an all fridge, all freezer combo in SS. It is huge... I do like the soapstone mosaics as well but I'm worried about matching my stone, what if the tiles aren't the same color when oiled, will that matter?

From one DIY'er of soapstone to another - Great Job. I still haven't selected a backsplash either so no help for you there. Give that DH a pat on the back!!

Hey hippiechick,
Hubby was actually reading this thread and when he saw your post he leaned forward in the chair so I could pat him LOL.
Your counters are gorgeous and your DH did a fabulous job himself! Congrats on a great kitchen, I'm sure you are enjoying every square inch of it.

I like the idea of the stainless steel tiles.

Had another thought - how about a Carrara marble backsplash? Kind of a negative image of the ss.

Also, just wanted to say that I think if I had been able to show Hubby your soapstone before we chose our granite that I just might have been able to convince him to go dark. It's absolutely gorgeous.

pbrisjar,

I wonder how carrara would look, I do love it I just wonder if I need to go with a bit of a warmer color? ARRGH this is so hard!
Thanks for the appreciation on my soapstone but your granite is simply stunning. It looks like some kind of marble.

LOL - That's a large part of why we went with what we got. We were both very drawn to marble but wary of the etching / staining issues (I had not yet found GW). The slab yard even sold the Arco Baleno as a marble. I do love the colors in it, I just had wanted a warmer kitchen that I'm winding up with.

Personally, I think you have lots of warm with the cabinet and wall color. Why not get a sample of Carrara and try it?

This one has black marble AND stainless steel. What say all of you? Would it work?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Oooohhh! Purty!!

I don't suppose you have any more of that SS lying around extra? Because I'd vote for a tall SS backsplash - all the way up to the bottom of the window sill. That's what I'm working on now with my project. Only aggravating part is that I can't get veins to match up because the stone wasn't cut with that in mind.

- Don

We just had our soapstone installed - we weren't brave enough to DIY it!

We have 4" of soapstone as a mini backsplash. The rest of the wall is just painted. I figure that whatever tiles I pick I would get sick of them in 5 years - so I would rather just have painted walls instead of tile.

Here is a picture of it - counters are done - lots of other stuff still in progress.

nskylark,
Your kitchen is gorgeous! I love the inset cabinetry and oh, that sink looks sooo good. I was kinda scary to DIY but my DH has it all under control. LOL I like the look of the ss backsplash and if we had enough left over I would do that as well but alas we do not so I am forced to find something else...
Thanks for posting your pics.

I agrfee with cat_mom. That's very nice indeed.

nskylark This is OT but what brand/model is your refrigerator? Love the soapstone BTW. And the sink is fabulous.

bump

OMG! Blackeyedpeas- thanks for posting these pics. I'm doing dark cabs with soapstone and have never seen it together.
What a relief- it looks gorgeous!

What did you decide for the backsplash?
I have no upper cabs-just open shelving. I'm planning on doing white subway tile to keep the focus on the soapstone.