Hopefully soapstone owners will chime in here, but I wouldn't consider jet mist a soapstone knock-off or anything like that. They are totally different natural stones, and depending on what type of soapstone you are looking at, it might not be much less expensive.

I, too, loved the look of soapstone but ultimately decided granite was a better fit for our family, which is what led us to jet/virginia mist. You might want to spend a bit of time researching the differences, if you haven't already. People here were so helpful.

There are a number of places in the CT area, but I'm not sure if that is too far for you. It seems to be in plentiful supply here and in Boston.

One last thing--depending on the slab, jet mist can be more grey than black. Just a thought.

Good luck!

Hi Ebse,

Oh I'm sorry if I offended you by saying we would get the "real thing." I realize that might have come across wrong.

What I mean, is I love what I have seen in terms of both Soapstone and Virginia Mist because of the soft black and white veins that can run through pieces.

But based on what I have read, I'm concerned the SS might be too soft of a material for my family as well.

Thanks again and sorry if that came out wrong!

No, no, no offense taken! When I was researching countertop materials, I was unclear about the differences among stones, and reading your email I thought you might have some of the same questions that I did.

Have you looked into nordic black antiqued or cambrian black antiqued? Both are lovely and supposedly very low maintenance. We were on the fence, and those were top contenders. In the end, I also chose jet mist honed because I really liked the particular slabs that we found (dark grey with lots of nice white veining).

If you have your heart set on jet mist, I would keep calling the major (and smaller) suppliers in your area, because you never know when someone might get a shipment.

I had many dreams of granite. Or should I say nightmares. : )

Jet Mist is from an area of Virginia so it is often
easier to get a hold of than some soapstones from Brazil.
If you can not find Jet Mist / VA Mist. Try one of these
stones which are similar in color. American Black Pennsylvania,
Academy black granite or Impala Black South Africa.

I love Soapstone. My DH did not. Jet Mist is definitely a
granite but some of the slabs have a little veining or
movement that appears in certain light to look as lovely
as soapstone. If soapstone is what you like you might be
very disappointed with Jet Mist. I love my Jet Mist.

There are also a few on this GW who fell in love with
Gray pearl. It does not have the same movement of Jet
Mist but it has a beautiful grey color that gives the same
feel.

Best of luck on your search. Dream lovely dreams tonight.

Thanks for the encouragement. I am definitely still a bit unclear about what I want. Mostly because no one around here has anything for me to look at in real person!

Although, just today one place said they have the Cambriam Black antiqued - and someone posted a picture of that under another question I posted - so now I will go over and take a look at that.

To supplement I just painted my laminate with black paint. We are in the middle of the whole project - so I figured - why not! And it is definitely helping me visualize the impact. I just posted the picture under the "Anyone have pics of darker cabinets with black"...they are funny, if you want a laugh. Although I probably could cry about this decision. Much too difficult! (Especially when there is no place to go to even look!)

Also see if anyone has Ocean Green. It has many of the same characteristics.... the ones I saw were actually more of a very dark grey-green with whitish veining. Gorgeous!

I am in Philadelphia and have been to lots of granite places in my search. Some of the bigger selections have been at Tropical Stone (Malvern), Stonehenge (Chester), Alpha Stone (Essington)--if you are there you might as well also check out Imperial b/c it is in the same industrial park by the airport, and Colonial Granite and Marble in King of Prussia. A few other places with decent selections are Corinthian (not sure if it is Malvern or Frasier, but out that way on Lancaster Ave.), AAA Hellenic (West Chester) and Cava (Washington Ave. in Philadelphia). I thought I'd find what I wanted more quickly. It makes sense to call ahead to get an idea if they have something along the lines you are looking for and also to plot out a good route for efficiency if you think you'll be hitting many suppliers. Good luck!

I did see your black paint. Creative!!!
My daughter suggested I do this before I chose jet mist
to see if I would like the grey blk color in my kitchen.
I think it is a great way to view a color.
I did not do it though, barely have time for coffee. : )
I am too busy on GW.

Too funny. Okay I even decided late last night to use a white crayon for the veining to see if that changed the look. Really quite pathetic.

My husband thinks I'm nuts. But I'm agonizing over this decision. Even picking my wedding dress was so much easier. Next to this decision - naming my child was the only more difficult decision I've made. :)

Oh and then I called a granite place to see if they had VM granite and they said, "You know the rule of thumb is dark counters with light cabinets and light counters with dark cabinets." And then the second guessing started all over again.....oh well. I shouldn't listen to anyone except people on GW.

Colld -

Thanks for the info. in the Philly region. I went to Colonial Granite - kind of scary place - you had to walk over the templates to get to the stones. But their price was rock bottom (no pun intended). Although the did not have VM.

I found a place, but haven't been there called Wolf Granite - have you heard of them? They had Virginia Mist!! Well actually they have a supplier in NJ who has it, so we can go there.

Have you heard of them?
Thanks!

I haven't heard of Wolf Granite--that managed to escape me. I listed the places that seemed to have the most selection, but I also went to StoneWorld in Bensalem, Doyle Gerlach in Sewell, NJ, and Renaissance in Blackwood, NJ. I am going to MSI and OHM in Central NJ this weekend as my final push (they are supposed to be massive). I have to make a decision....

I saw something called Milky Way at Tropical Stone that I thought was pretty. It was black with gray and white veining. What I saw was polished but maybe you could get it honed???

You might want to consider a trip to Bucks County Soapstone, they're in Perkasie PA. They have a showroom along with lots of slabs to chose from. In my area, no one else had soapstone counter tops on display just samples and a few slabs.

I started out knowing I wanted black counter tops, then found and researched soapstone and never looked back. I just had them installed so can't yet chime in, but so far they are everything I knew I'd want.

Good luck with this difficult decision.

Don't let the granite people talk you out of what you want. If you've seen the combination and like it, who cares what the granite salesman has to say? Many of them barely know anything about their own products let alone have a design sense! [All granite, including AB, needs to be sealed...ummm...not true!]

I saw your pics of the painted countertop and I think it looks very nice...so stick to your guns!

Hi repaintingagain-

I did my NJ granite run today. I saw Virginia Mist at MSI (Edison) and Jet Mist at PMI (Marlboro). I think I found what I want. Yay! Deciding between Millenium cream and Giallo Matisse (this is granite but one store said that color was marble). MSI and PMI both work with Phila area fabricators.

I think I visited almost every supplier listed here. Ended up finding the slab and the size I needed at PMI when everyone else said it didn't exist.

Colld -
You are awesome! Thank you so much for letting me know where to find the Virginia Mist and Jet Mist. Basically I think I need to work backwards - start with the supplier and then find a fabricator who works with them I guess. It sounds like PMI is great. I looked up the stones you mentioned and they are gorgeous! I have never seen the Giallo Matisse - totally beautiful. Will you do them in a different finish? or keep them polished?

Eastcoastmom - who did you use to install? Are you in Philly, too? What stone did you choose?

I think I need to schedule a babysitter and then do a day long trip of driving to these places. They are probably 1 1/2 hours away from where I live, but well worth the trip if I actually find something I like. I'm completely confused now that the KD said I couldn't pull off Virginia Mist. So I guess I have to rethink everything, even if I go back to VM as what I want.

Thanks everyone for all of your kind words and advice. This forum is SO helpful to me right now!

Going through the builder for the granite install - he uses Marblecrafters. I have also heard good things about Superior Marble and Granite, Stonemasters (Kennett Square), Planet Granite, Suburban, Michael Addesso, My stone wasn't rare, but the size was - I needed to cover an 11 foot island!