[jyl]

One of my friends has a black soap stone kitchen counter with a big apron-front sink built up from soap stone slabs. It looks great. She uses her kitchen a lot, and wants it to get a patina, to look used and comfortable.

Some people I've talked to about kitchens lately have been rather negative on granite. These are normal people, not designer types. Their view is that the typical polished granite look is getting too common, too cookie-cutter. I dunno, I still think it looks nice.