GORGEOUS! It's absolutely beautiful. Your layout is almost identical to mine, but yours is almost finished while mine is still in pieces. Make sure to come back and show us your bs and final reveal!

Such a wonderful story - it's so nice to hear happy endings for a change. You have found wonderful craftsman and you have worked diligently to educate yourself, make the right decisions, and be prepared for your vision. Your kitchen is a beautiful success. It's a bright, happy space and looks like a joy to work in. I love the expanse of counter and of course your sink! Can't wait to hear how you like our Stages. I love all the details, the mirrored doors, the undercabinet shelves, the clever drawers and customized use of space, the window, the cabs on the outside of the peninsula...I love it all as you reveal.

So happy you've had such a wonderful experience and are enjoying your new kitchen in time for the holidays!

I love it! The soapstone, sink, your story, and all of the informative details and photos. Thanks for sharing.

It is really beautiful!

Beautiful. So nice to read a positive experience.

Love your renovation story, keep it coming! Your cabinets and soapstone are just so, so gorgeous.

Absolutely beautiful! You made a perfect choice!

I love your cabinets, sink and soapstone. I also had company over for Thanksgiving and worried about my newly installed soapstone. I did not have any scratches, plates were slid across my peninsula and nothing happen. I also used wax on it.

So happy for you! You did your homework & it really paid off. Your soapstone & cabinets are both gorgeous. Can't wait to see your mosaic green Ming marble backsplash - one of my favorites on GW.

Absolutely awesome!

Scrappy, it's really helpful and encouraging to hear your step-by-step, concerns, successes, whys and why nots. Please continue your excellent narrative, although you're almost done.

I wonder if they install down here in Upper Marlboro -- although I love my Granite Grannies down here around the corner!

Oh - I forgot to say how much I love your soapstone. It's my dream.

My mouth is literally hanging open at the beauty of your Julia soapstone. Congrats!

Scp, your kitchen is lovely too, and it think the bs is very pretty. Whatever your issues (scratches due to high grit polishing?) you've clearly resolved it. I can't see a single "mistake in that image.

Scrappy, are those refrigerator drawers on the right? The full overlay look fine next to the inset cabs. I can't stop looking at your kitchen :)

Beautiful, and thanks for posting something positive! Usually it's the problems that get so much of the attention and dialog...

scpalmetto, your stone is gorgeous as well, and looks a lot like our Mariana. I'm truly a soapie, I only wish I had known about it 30 years ago :) Chris

scrappy can you provide information about your cabinet pulls? Thanks!

Absolutely stunning! Everything you selected is completely beautiful.

Out of curiosity - What kind of corner cabinets did you choose?

wow, thanks for all the nice comments!

bbtrix, you are one of my many inspirations and have been so much help with my inquiries about the Stages sink (one of my most favorite details)- thank you!

It'sintheDetails, your kitchen is fabulous and I am glad to hear that your soapstone is behaving itself also!

CFFreeman, you may be a little far from Stonemasters, but you never know! The travel charge (for both templating and installation) was $300 for being outside their usual radius by a certain range but the total was still less than any soapstone that I found in Baltimore, and I really felt comfortable that they "knew" their soapstones.

scpalmetto, what a gorgeous kitchen you have! I LOVE that classic soapstone veining and the texture on your glass subways. Happy that your soapstone is now everything you wanted. Don' t you love to run your hand over it?

EAM44, you are so observant! Yes those are refrigerator drawers on the outside right of the peninsula.That area is intended to be my "coffee center". I have my coffee/tea in the middle drawer of the drawer bank next to it and my coffee maker on the counter above it (with an instant hot close by on the sink). I think that Dutchwood would have faked inset drawers for those for an additional $75. I did go for the fake inset on the dishwasher panel but not on the refrigerator drawers.

marita40, those are Belwith Studio Pulls from Amerock. On the drawers I have the P3012-SN (satin nickel, 6 inches long). I have an engineering background so I like linear things that look solid.

PAZC, on the left corner of the U, I have a 36 inch lazy susan with a hinged door, two pie-shaped levels accommodating items up to 13 inches tall. Great for my appliances and largestl pots. On the right corner of the U I have a 41 inch blind corner cabinet with the biggest Lemans unit (picture is in my Part 1 thread). There is a top cutlery drawer in that blind cabinet as well. At first I was really annoyed with the 5-6 inch functional height of the top Lemans shelf since it really couldn't hold much in the way of pots and pans or baking dishes, but I have since realized that it is a perfect shelf to put those pyrex bowls and heavy ceramic bowls that used to threaten accidents when I pulled them down from the upper cabinets. So this "disappointment" forced me into much better functional storage. My 84 year old mom is really happy since she no longer has to call me to get the those heavy bowls from the middle shelf of the upper cabinets.

What a great, informative post. We are in the process of new cabinets and soapstone counters. Our local cabinet builder really has pushed us to go with Stone Dynamics in Martinsville VA because they use that laser measuring for the accuracy etc. Your kitchen looks great! Can you post all the dimensions of you drainboard? I will purchase a sink with a dxf file for the template - thanks

scrappy, funny you mentioned running my hand over the counters, I do "pet" my countertops every time I pass. LOL It is such a velvety surface.

archie, I like the idea of laser measuring. I don't know of anyone around here that does that but I would have gone that route in a minute if they did.

Scrappy your kitchen is great and enjoying the journey. Your Julia is just gorgeous. And that sink...wow! (I'm flashing, it's soo hot!)

Love your kitchen!

Thank you for sharing your gorgeous kitchen and explaining the process it has taken to get there. Your posts are very helpful and encouraging to me as I anticipate our reno starting in February.

I love your soapstone with that lovely edge! You are fortunate to be close enough to have worked with Stonemasters.

What are your plans for the shelves under your upper cabs? They could be so useful besides being attractive. How deep and wide are they?

Keep your posts coming. They are a delight.

archie123, my drainboard is 16 inches long. The standard for Stonemasters is 18 inches but I wanted to preserve some flat countertop next under the corbel shelves and they were quite flexible. It is about 16 inches front to back but I did not specify that, I think they decide that depending on the sink measurement. Many people get the runnels which are prettier but I wanted the smooth drainboard of ease of cleaning. I thought I would mostly use the Stages sink shelf for drying things but that shelf does not slope down at all and there is always a ittle water on it unless I wipe it off , so this integral drainboard in the soapstone is my most used drying area. Also, that sink including the raised shelf has become my most often used prep area so the integral drainboard adds even more functional real estate.
I use this very low profile drying rack from Ikea which easily stores in the sink out of view if needed.
BTW the templater mentioned that Kohler dxf files were very accurate and they trusted them.

Mags438, the sink is I think my favorite thing! You are too funny.

tea4all, the corbel shelves are already holding our most used bowls and mugs. The bottom edge of my cabinets are 19 inches from the countertop with an integral 1 inch hollow area underneath for undercounter lights etc. I designed the shelves to have the bottom 7 inches below that bottom edge of the cabinets (12 inches above the countertop) and 7 inches front to back. I drew the corbels poorly but asked Dutchwood to make the top part 13 inches front to back. tapering down to the 7 inches front to back for the shelves. The shelf thickness is 3/4 inch thick, the thinnest that the cabinetmaker was comfortable with. My upper cabinets are 15 inches deep so the 7 inch corbel shelf depth still allows the undercounter lights (mounted towards the front under the cabinets) to not be blocked by the shelves.
I designed the shelves i because I wanted to have easy access to my most used items yet get things off the countertop. The height was determined by the location of my preexisting outlets and switches which also happened to be the right height that my coffeemaker could fit under (just) when not in use. I do pull the coffeemaker and rice cooker out from under the cabinets when in use because of the steam that they generate. I will eventually post a picture of the corbel shelves in use.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Boholmen dish drainer

Really beautiful! I'm envious of that sink!

Part 3, Kitchen Cockpit (Kohler Stages 45 Sink) posted

Here is a link that might be useful: Part 3, Kitchen Cockpit (Kohler Stages 45 Sink)

This is an old post but the most informative about the installation process I've come across in months searching for soapstone information. For anyone finding this thread later, I will mention that the general recommendation I've seen for finishing soapstone is 80 grit. The much finer finish applied here makes me wonder how it held up over time, as some people find that scratches show more easily with surfaces finished with finer than 80 grit.

Also, I'm confused as to why scrappy25 was concerned about scratches and didn't choose the harder "Amazon" soapstone. Julia is rumored to be quite hard, but it seems to me that by choosing the harder soapstone that is naturally harder to sand, that you'd have fewer scratches to repair over time. Also, sanding a surface all the time can introduce unevenness, though I doubt Julia as a second choice needed much sanding.

For anyone searching for the famed Julia (also seen spelled as Julya) soapstone that is one of the hardest varieties, I have read that by 2019 it's difficult to find anymore, perhaps having already been quarried out. As a general rule, darker soapstones have less talc and tend to be harder. I've seen general reference to Brazilian soapstone slabs being among the hardest currently available. One's local slab supplier should be able to provide information about hardness of slabs available regionally, and of course, doing your own testing is important, though not foolproof as soapstone slabs can have varying hardness across the same slab.

Thanks for this series of posts, scrappy25. Your dishwasher/sink/LeMans design is precisely what I'm considering for my small kitchen, and it's nice to see someone else who has already done it.

thanks Inspo Inspo

I am sad to hear that the Julia soap stone is hard to get now. It has been the perfect choice for us. I have only oiled it twice? in the 4 plus years since installation and it stays beautifully dark. There is a tiny chip and a thin scratch that both disappeared visually after adding a tiny drop of oil. No sanding needed. The roundover edges are still pristine.

As to the choice of the Julia over the Amazon-

Having had both engineering and medical training, I am very practical and tend to follow a “least regrets” model (my own term) for choices when other factors are equal. Assuming that something wrong will happen, which choice allows me a fix so that I can have the least regret?

The layout works really well! I wrote in one of the other posts about having a removable baseboard in the corner to satisfy code requirements that the water lines between the sink and the dishwasher, running under the lemans cabinet, are accessible.

HTH

Thanks for the advice about accessible water lines. I also want to add to my previous comment that I have seen other recommendations for finishing soapstone to between 220 to 360 grit, so I am not sure which is best, that range versus 80 grit I have seen elsewhere.