SFGate

feeny We had a very similar situation (soapstone counters; large area of wall to cover behind stove, plus lots of space needing a backsplash on two other walls with cabinetry). Because our house is old (1920) and we went with simple ivory Shaker cabinetry, we decided to do a very minimalist backsplash of subway tile in the same color as our cabinetry. We didn't want a backsplash that drew too much attention to itself since it was covering so much wall space. We've been very happy with the effect and the practicality of the glossy subway tiles, and they harmonize with the era of our house as a whole. Others, however, might prefer a backsplash that makes more of a statement.

Kevin Wild - IBB Designer Here are a few examples of soapstone countertops with a nice a light backsplash

carolynnebailey Thank you. Those all look great, but what I forgot to mention was my cabinets are old reclaimed natural wood, so the white will be a bit stark....

carolynnebailey I like the stainless shelf, that will help to break up the large area.

Kevin Wild - IBB Designer My suggestion would be to either paint your cabinets a nice Alabaster color, have no backsplash as well and paint your wall, or do a light tumbled natural stone.

feeny In that case, what about a subway tile in a shade closer to taupe or putty or very pale gray-green, gray or aqua? A few examples (though just of subway tile shades, not with soapstone counters, and whether any would work or not depends entirely on the wood tones of your cabinets, flooring, etc.):

feeny Alternately, you could use a natural stone like these that picks up some of the tones in your wood cabinets:

Ironwood Builders Might you post a picture of your cabinets and counter tops? It is easier to figure out what looks good when we see what we are starting from.

zenhome Soapstone is a beautiful material for countertops and will go with almost anything. My suggestion for above your stove would be either glass mosaic strip tiles with colours to blend in with cabinetry and counters, neutral coloured subway tiles or stainless steel.

Please post photos if you can.

carolynnebailey Here is a photo of the area. Tile counters are being replaced with the soapstone. There is a ledge that runs all along the counters because the house is crooked and we had to do that to make the tiles look straight. So I was going to put the soapstone up to the ledge but have this big area above the stove to contend with. Thanks for you help!

zenhome Thanks for posting the photos Carolyn ! I would be inclined to go stainless steel above range which would blend in with the trim on the range and not stand out too much.

bubblyjock I like feeny's thinking, the coloured subway tiles. And, would you consider setting them in a herringbone pattern? I think that's a little softer than the regular pattern, which to my eyes is a little clinical (although less so when coloured subway tiles are used). There are some examples on Houzz, more on google.