Hi Beth, thank you for taking the time to answer and for the photos. The biggest thing I dislike about porcelain tiles are the rectified edges that have a super straight edging. My current tiles actually have non-rectified edges which make them look a lot more like natural stone. It’s very hard to find non-rectified porcelain tile these days! I really don’t care for the uniformity of the square tiles with perfectly straight edges - I like a softer, natural look. The last photo you posted -the chevron pattern - is very interesting and I will take that to one of my local tile companies to see if I can find something similar because I could really dig that! Photo of my current tile:

Go to my comments on another thread : ) I'm lighting exhausted lol. You need to provide your ceiling height, and the dining table dimensions, before anyone can advise. Check it out ........you'll need a bit of scrolling but will help you. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6036423/recommendations-on-kitchen-backsplash-w-tajal-mahal-quartzite-counter#26320988

its called mechanical damage ... is it always outside... any windstorms in the last month ... cats.. dogs.. children .. you when you move it around.. shipping from grower to seller to you ... bottom line.. its nbd ... if its putting out new leaves.. take off the ugliest ... and if its mechanical ... then you sprayed form nothing.. its is preferred you actually find something to treat.. before you start applying any kind of goos... water when a plant needs water ... insert finger and find out ... whether or not every 5 days is reasonable.. is left to you to figure out .. its not really about what the media surface looks like ... humidity is rarely an issue ... but this doesnt look like that ... id think it would be more brown all over. .and rather crispy ... and just for the heck of it ... how about a pic of the whole ... did you just show us a few damaged leaves.. and the rest looks good??? ken ps: wait a minute.. down under ... you are just leaving summer... right... was it outside all summer long.. how bad was summer ... how windy ... etc ... but do keep in mind.. all plants shed a few of the oldest leaves.. and this often happens in winter ... the whole plant pic might help ....

Cool tile! We have this size on our floors and no issues. It’s been there for 3 years. We are having the same guys install 48” x 48” on our bathroom floor and walls in a few weeks. They are very meticulous and have experience with all kinds of tile, including larger format ones. We did a lot of research before calling for quotes. When deciding on the installer, we asked for references and asked them questions on how they planned to install, what material they were using etc. That helped us get a good installer. Best of luck with your project!