Off the subject, but where did you find your kitchen inspiration picture? It looks like the kitchen is open to the den, keeping room and breakfast area, which is what we would like to achieve as well :)

I would like to see more pics of that area to see how it flows . . .

As far as the soapstone sink, I would be interested to hear responses. I have heard of chipping around the soapstone sink and have been reconsidering the original thought of using soapstone on perimeter with undermount sink because I was worried a heavy pan may chip the sides.

I think how many materials a room can handle is a matter of scale. An immense kitchen like the inspiration photo can handle, even needs, more material changes to keep from looking monotonous. In a more modest sized kitchen, too many materials look jumbled to me-not enough of each to unify. But, in the end, it's whatever you like.

never mind - found it :) soo similar to a house I bookmarked so I went to the builders site and there it was :)

So riverspots, are you saying my kitchen might be too modest to handle that much? That is my concern. Would stone and wood still be too much in the island, if the prep sink was the same as the perimeter stone? Or do you think my island should just be one material, maybe keeping it in stone, if I'm worried about damage to a wood top? I want the best of both worlds to make it practical, but I obviously don't want it to look wrong. Thanks.

here's a thought: what about using teak wood on your island..

i loved my soapstone sink. cannot emphasize it enough. there are so many varieties of soapstone out there that it is really vague to talk about "soapstone" as a monolithic stone.

soapstone is non-porous so it can't stain.

i don't think 2 materials for the island is a problem. is the wood area going to be raised? i would just be concerned about the seam between the stone and wood tops.

i think kitchen styles are getting more relaxed and, for higher end kitchens, practical. i have seen many kitchens with variety of surfaces which are used for different purposes. love it!

I don't see too many materials for the size of your kitchen. (But I have 3 countertop materials and 4 cabinet finishes in my kitchen, so I am coming from a pro-mixed-materials point of view.) In yours I see 2 countertops (pretty typical and not too many) with a stone sink that I bet everyone will think is the same as the granite, and if not, it's a sink, so it doesn't need to match anyway. I think it will be nice, and the stone sink will give a homey touch...Your inspiration is one of my favorite kitchens, too.

These suggestions are just my opinion, and things I consider minor: Looking at your rendering, the one thing I would do differently is a stainless or Silgranite in the dark gray or silver gray color for the corner sink, so that it blends more with the counter and is more similar to the soapstone sink. I would also do a single basin sink there...I have found that since I have 2 sinks, I no longer feel the need for 2 basins in the cleanup sink and would rather have the room a big single offers.

Thank you rhome and sabjitmata for your replies. These are very helpful. It was a mistake to have the corner sink in there as white. We were intending to do stainless, and were uncertain as to whether it should be double or a split/single. I like your input Rhome, about not needing the double. But, I'm still wondering about a place for my hand washed items and thought the split would be a good place to have a drainer in one side. The graphic only shows two countertop areas, but there are actually three; there is a hutch type area which parallels the stove where I was thinking of putting in the same granite (or soapstone if I go that route). I'm glad you think the soapstone sink would give a homey touch and not conflict if I do decide to do the honed granite. Also a good point about seams; the inspiration picture drops the sink a bit and I think if that is doable, that it would look nice. I appreciate both of your feedback so much; it is so helpful.

My kitchen is very similar to lucretzia's in size and layout and I'm also planning to do a mixed surface island. The current plan is white cabinets and stainless for the perimeter counters with integrated sinks. The island will have an L shaped cherry section against a rectangle of some sort of dark, durable material, maybe granite or a quartz composite.

Can anyone provide any more information or tips regarding joining the two sections of the island to minimize problems/issues with the seam? I'm also thinking of having a dishwasher in the island and wondered if there were any concerns about a d/w in an island with a wood countertop.

Also, opinions about island color -- would painting it a contrasting color, like a light black, be too much?

Here's another example of a mixed wood island.

Here is a link that might be useful: mixed wood island

Have you seen a soapstone sink in person? I like the look don't get me wrong. But my girlfriend has one and the water doesn't really drain well because the bottom stone slab isn't sloped. Many soapstone sinks are made by joining 4 slabs of stone (for the walls) with another slab for the bottom. Where the walls meet each other, and where the walls and bottom meet creates 90 degree angles, which in my opinion holds yuk more than a bowl that is rounded with no seams along the bottom and corners. I also think soapstone sinks look, well, dirty in general compared to other materials.

I have seen some soapstone sinks carved out of a single slab of stone. When they carve the sinks there are no seams and the bowl is sloped.

For those of you that have soapstone sinks I don't mean to offend you. I considered one long and hard because I like the overall look, but decided for ME I couldn't handle the way the interior of the sink looks compared to a pristine white bowl. I also was afraid of chipping. I have Julia, which has proven so far to be hard. But just yesterday I banged a bottle of wine on the edge and did make a small chip. It doesn't look bad and will sand out. But I definitely didn't want to set myself up for chips around my sink. That's why I went with a DROP IN sink. Gasp, you say? No chance of chipping my soapstone counter edge . . . makes me happy . . . and a drop in looks fine IMHO.

Judydel, do you think you would have the same issues if the sink was made out of granite, rather than soapstone?

Everyone, the following is a slightly different idea with a undermount stainless sink, inset granite counter (to match the perimeter), and the removing the extended sides of the island box. Is this a better option?

Dolls house view  (Click on picture for larger view)

Floor level view  (Click on picture for larger view)

I like your first option better. I like both the darker stone with the cherry and the continuity of the stone sink set into the cherry. That's a bit of a wow factor if done well -- the other is just choppy. The one thing I would question is whether the two stones are different enough to make sense as two different surfaces rather than just using one for all of it. (I haven't followed to the other threads to see if you expressed a reason for using the two rather than one.)

BTW, your kitchen is larger than mine (but lower ceilings) and I have a mix of 2 counters plus a wood table in the adjoining breakfast room and 3 cabinet finishes.

judydel--my soapstone sink was like you said...with the 90 degree angles. i did scrub the corners with a toothbrush about every 6 months, but the sink was so big (36") that i didn't find gunk to be a prob for me. mine was graded towards the drain like a regular sink. i guess who fabricates it and their experience, etc. might play into what you end up with.

kitchen angst--i couldn't imagine how a dw would be a prob w/wood counters. wood cabs and floors manage just fine :)

the pics you linked looked like the island is big enough that the people probably don't get anywhere near the seams!

i guess i would look into epoxy for the seams but then the big question would be what color to go with.

To me this latest rendering doesn't work. The soapstone around the soapstone sink looked like one unit (sink with attached drainboard), not like you had contrived a stone surround for the sink. I'm not trying to sound harsh, but I tried to come up with something similar for my kitchen and could never manage a look that I thought looked 'natural.' --Like it should be that way. So I ended up just putting the sink in the wood top.

Have you seen Elizpiz's island? She has wood and stone on the island very nicely so that the sink is surrounded by stone. She also has a soapstone main sink in soapstone counter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Elizpiz's kitchen in the FKB...See the link to her photos

lascatx, I decided if I go this route I would use the honed dark green granite, that looks like soapstone, for both surfaces.
I still like the look and feel of soapstone better but I have been scared off by the comments on GW.

Friends of mine have expressed concerns about using wood at all on the island as it is heavily used and could end up damaged quickly.

lucretzia my concern is keeping the 90 degree angles clean. I could see myself feeling like I have to clean them all the time. Also the pitch of the sink to the drain is a consideration. But sabjimata claims neither is a concern with her sink. Maybe others that have either granite or soapstone sinks built this way could share their experiences.

Thank you all for your honest responses - don't worry about sounding harsh! I think judydel has talked me out of the one piece sink idea, with the gunk etc. Plus, it is expensive and might not be so easy to achieve fitting it into the wood top. Rhome, you said you just put your sink into the wood. Did you varnish it and is it holding up? It will be heavily used in my house and I am not a neat cook (though I like things looking new when I clean up). It's a little hard for me to see elizpiz's setup.

Did you go to Elizpiz's album so you could see all of her photos and enlarge them?

I have several coats of Waterlox on my wood island top. It is a wonderful finish and I have no worries about how it will hold up to the water around the sink. (I am always creating a lake around our sink, and we have kids who cook and bake, so aren't the most careful and neat either.) Our sink could be undermount or self-rimming and we did the self-rimming, feeling it was safer with the wood (and to match our main sink, which was self-rimming because of being in a laminate counter.) Many people here, though, have done undermount in a wood counter. If we did that, I would have made sure to also finish the under side of the wood for a good radius around the sink opening.

Thank you Rhome. What sort of wood did you use and where did you buy it? I was thinking of John Boos, and you can buy it varnished. Any opinions on whether I need to use the same type of sink in both main and prep sinks? I was thinking of stainless, but don't know how that would look set in wood, especially if I go self-rimming. I've seen porcelian self-rimming on wood, which looks nice, but would I then have to use porcelain in the main sink?
I will have to see if I can figure out how to better view Elezpiz's album.

Someone here recently posted a stainless sink they undermounted, I believe, in IKEA butcherblock. If I find it, I'll link it below.

We are DIYers and made our own island top out of the Douglas fir that we used throughout the house...It was milled from trees on our lot.

You might do a search on the forum or by using google, for previous discussions about sinks in wood counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shelayne's bb w/ undermount sink

Lucretzia - What is the purpose of your corner sink?

The way your kitchen is laid out, the island seems to be the most natural (and desireable) prep space. So if one person is prepping on the island and also occasionally moving back and forth to the range and fridge, anyone at the corner sink would be very much in the way. And for clean-up, it looks like your DW is in the island as well?

Isn't the dw to the right of the corner sink?

Thank you Rhome. I will check out the undermount sink info. Sweeby, the reason for the corner sink was that seemed to be the best place to do it in our space. We put in the prep sink because I understand it can get crowded at a corner sink. To the right of the corner sink is a pull out trash drawer and to the right of that, the dishwasher. Do others see a problem like Sweeby does?

Possibly...It depends on how much room you have in those aisles/around that corner. The only way around it, I think, might be to switch the fridge and prep sink to the other side of the island from where they are now. Is that possible?

we have four feet counter to counter and five feet from the corner of the island to the corner sink. i'm getting nervous!!!!!!!!!!!