Angie DIY has the most famous travertine floor on this site. Definitely check it out. Her kitchen has a vintage feel to it, that doesn't mean travertine is outdated.

However, travertine is a really tricky stone to work with, as evidenced by the (seemingly) hundreds of posts of regret re: choosing it as a backsplash stone. Even in the most beautiful applications it makes color choice - something you are already concerned with - a bi%^#. And it can look, well, how do I put this - like dark green marble flooring was to the '80s, travertine flooring is to the suburban Tuscan look popularized in the '90's.

If you love it then use it, but I would choose a much simpler, more contemporary layout than the one in your image - perhaps large format squares installed on the diagonal, or rectangles in an offset brick.

And don't pick a countertop until you have your own stone in hand to take with you to the stone yard. Good luck with your choices!

I have travertine floors and wall trim in the master bath. FWIW, a visitor from California saw my house seven years ago and said, "Oh, you used travertine. I would never use travertine. Absolutely everyone uses travertine." Well, we are very pleased with our master bath anyway. Perhaps it's a regional thing. LOL.

A calm quartz perhaps? We used a greige quartz counter with very little movement with travertine/limestone look porcelain tiles. It took us months to coordinate the floor and counter and held up the remodel, so I feel your pain. We chose floor tiles with some movement after realizing that if both were calm, it would look like large expanses of solid color in counter, floor, and cabinets, especially since we used a large format floor tile. So create some interest in either the floor or the counter.

kitchendetective - Some people..how rude!

may_flowers - What quartz did you use?

EAM44 - Color is a concern. I felt tied to warm colors with my current tile and the travertine I posted would have the same issue. The thing is everything in my house is currently a warm tone because of my current tile, so if I switch to cooler colors, everything will have to change. Why does this have to be so hard! I thought about wood floors, but I've never had wood, so I'm a little scared of it. I want something that does not show dirt or dust hence the travertine floors. I'm afraid wood wouldn't be as forgiving.

We had Caesarstone Buttermilk, then Pental Botticino--long story and can't really recommend either company, but I love the look. Cambria has several colors that would have worked too, but it was $1000 more.

We have the same restriction where everything else in the house is warm. You can't go white or gray, but the greige color does work.

I just picked up the Cambria magazine and they have an article on gray neutrals. The decorator picked BM Bar Harbor Beige as his favorite beigey-gray with warm undertones. You could get a chip of that.

Your travertine looks much golder than my tile, and I would be afraid of the gold dominating. I think that chipped edge might be a little too Tuscan. Have you looked at porcelain tile? There's so many to chose from and it's bullet-proof.

Thanks you may_flowers! I was just looking at my paint samples. I've always loved BM Edgecomb Gray when I see in in someone's house online. My sample looks gray and I'm worried about it not having enough of the beige in it, but it does look good with the granite samples I have. I'll have to see if I have one of Bar Harbor Beige.

I've only been to stone places so far, but I do want to look at some tile next. I'm just not sure what color of tile if I'm trying to avoid something that's too warm, but yet I don't want to move to gray. I guess I'll just have to look and see what's out there.

Well, that was sweet of you EAM. Here is a picture of my floor and countertop:

The floor is all travertine, with two different shades, the usual tan and a more coral/salmon/ruby tile. They are filled and honed (tan) and filled and polished (red), so it does not look all that rustic.

The countertop is gray-blue soapstone with black inclusions. We have not (intentionally) oiled it, but it is definitely darkening with time and use. Here is a close-up. Most of the counter now looks closer to the dark parts of this picture:

I am always drawn to warmer tones, so having to use warm surfaces wouldn't present a drawbwack. However, I have seen very attractive rooms where warm and cool tones are mixed.

Thanks, Angie! What a cool kitchen! I wouldn't have guessed that was travertine.

kitchendetective - I wish I could figure out how to do the warm/cool mixture and have it look right.

My concern with travertine is always that it contains a lot of filler which is not stone and will stain and wear differently than the stone. So I never even considered using it as a flooring and doubtful I'd even look at it for a backsplash.

If you want a hard and easy to clean surface, they make such gorgeous porcelain tiles, many of which look like stone and travertine, but have much better cleanability and durability properties, that you might reconsider.

Angie - I love that floor, and the copper and the soapstone! But I do think it's the gorgeous travertine that makes color choice complicated, hence ABB...

msrose - there are other limestones than travertine. Perhaps you should expand your search? But if you're happy with your choice, go with it. Best of luck.

msrose: Thanks!

Annie: I had concerns, too. What set my mind at ease was knowing that travertine has been used as a flooring material in high-use areas for a long time. I have seen some beautiful old hotel lobbies and bank lobbies, for example. And the Getty Center. Not to mention the Colosseum! (Yes, that is one correct way to spell it!) But I agree that its looks could change with time. I decided to accept that possibility.

EAM: (But I do think it's the gorgeous travertine that makes color choice complicated, hence ABB...) Agreed, EAM, ruefully agreed!! :-)