Marcy96, Love your space. Beautiful! ~boxer Hi Maryb2010, When I first started thinking about my reno. I had a few specific ideas, after 4 months those ideas changed. The more I am around kitchens, looking for my own planning, helping others, ides on GW... the more I see things I love and those ideas I had when I started have faded or changed. One way to start is to figure out your "Do or Die" list. What do you love? And it does not matter who else loves it but you and your DH of course. And from there plan your space. The Sweeby test is a great tool to help you figure out what your "Do or Die" is. It sounds like you love white, cottagey and that is a super start. And a search through FKB (Finished Kitchens Blog) on GW will help with seeing what others have done. FKB can give you ideas and help those creative juices spark. Here are a few white cottage kitchens with pale counters. And tumble stone marble bs are great. Get what you love! ~boxer

Granite is a Magmatic rock, formed deep under earth's crust where molten magma mixes with many elements & minerals. Travertine is a Sedimetary Rock (as is slate and limestone), formed from ancient mud. Marble is is a Metamorphic rock, which is formed from magmatic and sedentary rocks whose structure and mineral components have been transformed by external forces such as pressure and temperature. So now that the geology lesson is completed, what does this mean? It means that Marble and travertine are not the same. They have similar characteristics, but they are different. Most of the time if you see someone who has a "tumbled marble" backsplash and it is tan colored, it's really not marble but travertine. Since both are similar in care, get whatever you like. I have tumbled travertine and find it to be very easy to keep clean and gorgeous. It wipes right off.

All of these kitchens are amazing.. Yes now to enhance or not to enhance. It's so hard to make all of these choices! And before my hubbie was going to install but now I think I'm hiring a tile guy to save time (not money) but I picked a complicated design to do so I think my hubbie is a little thankful.. Does $10-$12 for labor per sq foot seem normal for tile setting a backsplash, not including materials.

If your choice were only between to 2 you originally posted, I'd choose the one on the right--the cream one. From the photos it looks like it works very well with your quartzite. The gray one is "off" just enough not to look pleasing. However, as many have noted, either one is more difficult to clean than a smooth surface. What sort of cook are you--very neat or more devil-may-care? If you are very neat and do not splash much when you cook, then you may get away with the split-faced marble, but if you are a more exuberant cook, you may find it a challenge to clean. The mother of pearl is very formal and quite busy, so it's going to compete with the counter tops as well. Personally, I would use a smooth crackle tile in a tan/beige tone to work with your quartzite. Simple is always good.