CRAP!

After many delays, the tile installer's here - but he's mainly a brick layer he's telling me (his "partner" - the guy I originally hired, who does subway backsplash all the time - sent him in his place - yeah) so he wants ME to decide on the design and where to start and whether or not it should wrap around the corner in that optical illusion way or what. He says he promises he's a great tile layer and it will look great and that I don't have to worry about the quality of the job other than deciding on that. I'd been asking you guys such questions originally but when a few of you said that a pro will know what to do, I finally decided to release my death grip and trust that they'll know what to do! hahaha! (she laughs, maniacally!)

The long countertop turns the corner on each side - so the countertop's essentially shaped like this: [ There will most likely be a TV or toaster in the corner, hiding the tile in that location, though I certainly don't want it to look bad just because it will usually be hidden. That means that the far end perpendicular wall will be what's seen more when you walk in the room - not the actual corner itself.

QUESTIONS!:

1. If we start tile at that far end, by the doorway, and start tiling in toward the corner before turning the corner to cover the long rear wall behind the countertop, SHOULD THE TILES ALWAYS DO THAT CONTINUATION THING where - if there's a smaller strip on the small end-wall, the piece as it wraps around the corner should be bigger, etc.?? Is that just standard procedure no matter what?

Another factor worth sharing is that since it's honed white calacatta marble tile, it aesthetically "needs" to have as small a grout line as possible - so 1/16".

2. Is that appropriate even if on one of the walls, the piece is more of a strip as opposed to something bigger like 1/3 or 1/2 a piece? e.g. our tiles are 2x6" and by 6" I really mean a little less than 6" (they were cut from 12" x 12" tiles, originally). In some cases the tile could/most likely will leave only about 1.5-2" of a strip. Is that unacceptable, even if it's wrapping around a corner to continue on the other side? We can't fudge much just because of not wanting the grout line to be thicker.

3. My choices appear to be to start at the very very end, meaning the side wall closest to the door; or to start in the corner (which could mean the area by the door would have awkwardly thin strips) or to start behind the faucet in the center of the long countertop which would leave thin strips at the end.

NOT SURE WHAT TO DO! I hate this pressure. Are there any rules of thumb when one has such hard decisions? Lesser of evils and such?

Thank you thank you thank you.