What a lovely space to work with. I love your slab of calcutta. Amazing with movement. You must be excited to get started. Here are some ideas to help. And I tossed in a few non subway. Could not help myself. I have a curiosity about some of the clever tile shapes out there. I used to think only subway was the way to go with marble but notice a few other ideas below and see for yourself the options are endless. ~boxerpups My first instinct when looking at your slabs is to get more and do a backsplash of solid marble like this.... Of course that could be outrageously expensive so perhaps something a little less dramatic but as gorgeous like this... Maybe green is not your thing, how about this.... Back to soft green subways....

Your link did not capture a single picture, but if you meant this one, it is 3x6. These are 2x4. When you are wanting info on a picture, if you look to the upper right of it, under the title of the pic, "ususally" (but not every time) it will say Questions with a little tab next to it. Click on that and scroll down the page just a bit and you will see where other people asked questions about the pic and the answers. Often the tile is brought up in question on what size, color, where to buy, etc. This can be really helpful when searching for particulars. HTH :) p.s. I agree, you can use any size you want!

We have an historic house and I can relate to your considerations. It's one thing to use a ubiquitous material, but not sure if you want it all over your house? And I can understand for resale value you wouldn't want it to look like you got a volume discount on the same exact type of tile. What we ended up doing was premium 3x6 white subway tiles in the tub and chair height walls in the main floor bath. In the secondary (finished basement) we did basic 6x6 white tiles in the shower, and beadboard wainscot on those walls. I feel the bathrooms compliment each other well and fit the period of our house without being exactly the same. We haven't done the kitchen (I've been scared off of renovating ever again ;) but if we do, I am considering either doing a sheet soapstone backsplash, or some green fireclay-type tiles. I would suggest you browse some local real estate listings and see if you can find any houses that match your level of renovation and sensitivity to historical materials. See what materials they've used coordinating throughout the houses. A lot of it is going to be region-specific. I love to attend open houses of 'time capsule' homes and see what they used. Around here in the 1920's era homes, there's generally a white bath on the main floor and a colored tile bath elsewhere. Kitchens have white subway tiles, but they have a bit of a different look, definitely more utilitarian. GL!

I think marble is probably too fancy for your 1940s cape cod, too. Not that you asked. But a modest house like that would never had marble in the bathroom originally.