I've never had an issue going with 10%, because more times than not the cut offs can be used for other cuts. Even with diagonal herring bone.

A white-ish wood-look herringbone would be so versatile! I haven't found it yet....hopefully it is "out there" somewhere. But for fantasy purposes here is something lovely available in the UK (it's glue down, so I include it just for fun): https://www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/vinyl/17701/karndean_knight_tile_lime_washed_oak_herringbone_sm-kp99_vinyl_flooring

I'm not a huge fan of a stone BS with granite, but that's my personal taste. I agree travertine can look very heavy. Having said that, and without your slab photo, I just suggested someone take a look at this marble: Here's the general marble description (copied from a Houzz photo answer:) Like Bookmark March 11, 2016 at 1:31PM PRO thebuilderdepot It is likely The Athens silver Cream is an Incredible product. It essentially a vein cut marble that gives an almost wood look appearance. If you ever visit the new Four Seasons in Orlando it covers it. Additionally the hotels love it because it is low maintenance it is a hard marble and matches easily from Threshold to Mosaic as you can see from our website. It is a very, very consistent Marble. However as it is new to the market, there is a lot of names for it and with different names comes different prices. Our recommendation as with all products. Order a sample. Order a sample online and compare. Before things ship ask for pictures. Cover yourself. It can also be called a White Oak Marble Limestone also a silver cloud and a variety of other names in the market place. The confusion of the name allows for some seriously unreasonable price fluctuations considering the price per block. It is very similar in appearance or a few other names by other companies, available for $7.45 a Square Foot in Honed and Polished. Live Link to Builders Depot Collection

why would it fail? tony, are you purposely being obtuse or are you just ignorant? Numerous people have written multiple comments about why it would fail throughout this entire post. You making that comment either means you didn't read any of them, don't understand (in which case you should have asked for clarification) or you're just mentally retarded. sorry to be blunt, but your ridiculous mono-sentences and redundant questions have taken me to my tolerance limit. you're a grown adult and yet it's like dealing w/a petulant pre-teen the way you comment. yes, the tile layout looks wonderful (even though I can't see the entire thing, nor can I see how they went around the railing fasteners). enjoy it while you can.