Someone here did a beautiful kitchen with the soapstone laminate and it was gorgeous! The new laminates are beautiful and they are very durable. I know people that are waiting for their laminate to wear out! Hope you will get some pictures. Have you tried googling for pictures?

At various times there have been posts about laminate countertops. Here are a couple links that show pictures from GWers kitchens and other sources.
You could also find some more discussions by doing a google search with the terms "laminate countertops gardenweb".
Laminate has come along way in recent years and there are lots of choices for colors and styles. Good luck finding the right one for you.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg11122704895.html

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0621374912262.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Laminate counters

Here is another link

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0621374912262.html

Here is a link that might be useful: More laminate

Oops I posted the same link twice above. Hopefully this is the other one I meant

Here is a link that might be useful: Laminate

We did Wilsonart Smoky Topaz with our white cabs in our townhouse kitchen:

Thanks for all those links - I wondered if this thread had been done before, and appreciated the conversation and pictures those links included. Taggie, your kitchen looks great; I haven't seen that color Wilsonart, and will check it out.

We put in laminate because we did an extensive renovation of our home and wanted to put the money elsewhere. We knew we could always change out countertops later. However, we really love the laminate we chose! It's Formica Lime Stone, in the "honed" finish. I never thought I would go for a faux finish, but I really love it. It also cleans up so much better than the older white laminate the kitchen came with.

It's hard to capture it in a photo, but here it is close up:

Here's a further away look:

I know this reference was contained within one of badgergal's links, but I think Senator13 deserves a special call-out:

Here is a link that might be useful: Senator13

hlove, your kitchen is wonderful! I love the vintagey look and the colors you've chosen. I love those pyrex bowls, and am looking forward to some open shelving in our remodel, to put out ours, along with the jadeite I've got tucked here and there. The laminate looks great, and I like it with that edge. Did you have a special width done or is that standard?

Angie DIY, I love those countertops, and am really going back and forth between a darker laminate, like this one, but basalt slate is the one I'd chosen, and a lighter one, like hlove's, but a bit more gray (formica has a lighter soapstone color I like a lot). I love the dark with the wood, but am not sure if it'll suck up too much light in my small dark kitchen. Thanks for the pictures, all this is helping my decision making.

We've got labrador black laminate around the perimeter of our window-filled current kitchen with white painted cupboards. It still gobbles up light. And I have to feel it to see if it's clean, can't tell by sight alone. Next time around, I think I'd like to go with something like Hlove's.

hlove - thx for the pic of lime stone! (got any more? one of the edge?) that's one on my list of 3 (lime stone, Colorado slate and butterum). It just depends on what I end up doing with my base cabs.

I put a small piece of butterum on the 'now' countertop (white) and even that little piece (5x7?) seems to make it dark. And if I do my cabs turquoise - it won't look good at all! will then go with one of the other 2.

Laughable, thanks for sharing your experience. Your kitchen is great - all that space, that cool (vintage?) sink, and so light and bright! If the light gets sucked up in that bright kitchen, I can imagine what would happen in mine, with stained cabinets and less light. I think I need to rule out Basalt Slate (sigh).

Desertsteph, have you looked at Formica's Pearl Soapstone? It might look cool with turquoise - it's a tone like hlove's, but gray. It's on my short list, along with their Perlato Granite and either Formica or Wilsonart's Calcutta Marble.

aimskitchen: Thanks! I love the open shelves, too. I tend to cook more when everything's in easy reach. My contractor made the counters...he glued the laminate on...so I'm not sure if they're standard thickness, although it looks the same as the laminate that was there before.

desertsteph: Here you go (the fruit is there for when I was showing 2littlefishies what my yellow looked like)! Looks better in person, of course, but this should give you an idea.
I remember how difficult it was choosing a countertop that wouldn't clash horribly with our painted cabs and shelves...I literally had over 100 laminate samples from three different companies!

My second choice was Smoke Quarstone by Formica. It wasn't as dark, and had some variation. I liked the riverwashed one, that they discontinued. They still sell the matte and the radience finish. I still really love that color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Smoke Quarstone

thx so much hlove! that really helps to see that part up close. I'm putting your pics in my kitchen folder.

Do you like that type of an edge?