Soapstone Sealing in the Kitchen

Having a farmhouse style kitchen was just a dream for a long time

and these past few months since it's been finished we have sure been enjoying our new space!

Early on I knew my choice for countertops would be marble and soapstone, but I can't tell you how many times I was told not to do it.  While visiting showrooms for fixtures and other items for the kitchen, suppliers and salespeople would time and time again discourage me from using these materials for countertops.  It happened so often that it really started getting on my nerves.

Through all the persuasion I am so glad that I stuck to my guns!

  

I think soapstone is beautiful.

Having finished the kitchen just before Thanksgiving and with all the parties and Christmas close behind, things got so busy around here that I never got around to sealing it.

I liked it so much as it was that I even began wondering if I should seal it at all?

That all changed at Christmas when we got a couple of wood cutting boards as presents.

They needed to be sealed and once I started on those, shared here, I decided to go ahead and seal the soapstone countertops too.  I did a lot of online searching about which product to use and decided on this one by the Real Milkpaint Company.

I worked in sections starting with the center of the countertop just behind the sink area.

I began applying the sealer with a dry cloth and then continued moving to the left.

Here is an area at the front window before any sealer was applied.

Here is the same area after one coat was applied,

left for about 30 minutes,

and then buffed off with a clean dry cloth.

Notice the difference?

This area is between the rangetop and the fridge,

the left is natural and I added the first coat of sealer on the right side.

This is pretty much the way it will look after a couple of coats of sealer are applied and buffed off.

Unsealed soapstone has a smokey, matte finish, and the veining blends in.

After two coats of the sealer the countertops have a dark appearance, a silky luster, and the veining is more defined.  It's a bright day so a little hard to tell in these next pictures.

Sealed or not, I'm loving the soapstone and I am so glad I stuck with my decision!

Ta-da...all done!

Everything was taken out to do the sealing, now I have to move everything back in.

I've been asked a lot of questions about renovating the kitchen

and the one thing I find myself saying over and over is:

When making big decisions, if you have your heart set on something, a certain look in mind, don't let anyone persuade you otherwise whether the design or materials.  The last thing you want to say when all is said and done is, "I wish I _____."

Can you relate?

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