You'll see different types of wear depending on the finish. A polished finish will probably show more wear because the polish can dull in concentrated areas. A honed marble will not show as much wear and if kept sealed, shouldn't stain very easily either. Sealed marble, honed or polished will etch when in contact with acidic substances. The etching is more noticeable in a polished finish than a honed. Also, a basketweave pattern is a small scale pattern and it shouldn't show wear as easily as a large expanse of marble would. Another good thing about it is that it will be very slip resistant from all the grout. Sealing is easy, get something like Miracle Brand 511 Porous Plus sealer and wipe on, wipe off. Voila, marble AND grout sealed in one shot. I've slipped and fell on the wet linoleum floor in my old house and now I have one fall under my belt on the marble floor. I don't think I fell any faster or harder on the marble, lol. Hope this helps!

Actually marble is a pretty durable stone, it does not crack very easily. But the huge problem with it is that it is very high maintenance. Marble is very porous, therefor it stains too easily, absorbs moisture like a sponge if not taken very good care of. In order to keep marble tiles shiny and clean, you need to regularly polish them. You should only use special cleaners and polishers which were designed for marble, any other cleaners will definitely destroy it. In addition to the right maintenance routine you have to have a professional reseal your marble flooring every 9 to 12 moths, which can be costly. So considering marble flooring you have to decide if you really can afford the professional care and maintenance. If you do - then just go for it! One more thing to remember - if have a wine or juice, or any other colorful spill on your marble, there is a huge chance you will have to have your tile replaced (although in your case with dark color it may not be as big of an issue as with light colors). Good luck!

Sumod- The medicine cabinets are simple wood frames with a cabinet-grade plywood back that just sit in the stud cavity. Because of the dimensions, the front of the frame projects about 1"+ beyond the finished wall. The medicine cabinet doors are also plywood with veneered edges and they are attached to the frame with standard cabinet hinges (Euro hinges). The mirrors are just 1/4" plate glass ordered to size from a glass shop and held in place with mirror mastic and a metal strip at the bottom that you don't really see. The guy who did the cabinets just made the medicine cabinets as part of the job. I don't know about the door brand...we live in a large metro area that has lots of door shops and the doors are just solid core maple doors with the center cut out and a maple panel held in with molding. They're not stained; they simply have a couple coats of clear spray lacquer.

While it can depend on the overall style of the room, as a generic statement I'd say that I wouldn't have one tile pattern meet another pattern straight on with no transition between the two. That's for most people and most installations. I think what you have to do is look at a lot of online photos. Or do mock up with your materials on hand. You may not be able to verbalize what you like, but when your eye sees it, your brain will give a "yea" or "nay" vote, and that'll help you define your style. Stye-wise...if you were going for a minimalist design? Simple? Clean lines? Minimal visual distractions? Then having one pattern butt right up to the other can look just fine. But the two tiles should relate to one another in some manner: Pattern, shape, size, color, texture, material, etc, etc. Some folk find pattern-abutting-pattern pleasing. But it depends on the tile, the pattern, etc. Others find it jarring. For a more traditional design, having a border or transition of some sort between them may be the better way to go. For a border or transition? If your shower wall was, say a marble subway. I'd terminate that pattern at the edge of the tub with a vertical run of tile. For a less busy look the tile for the vertical border could be the same used in the shower. If you want to blend details, it could be a darker tile, or something for example you used as an accent elsewhere in the shower, perhaps the same tile you used on the back walls of the niche. Easiest and safest is to use the same material as the shower tile. The vertical of the border will act as a transition between the marble in the shower and the backsplash pattern on the sink wall. In the end, trust your eyes and your gut. If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong. For you. Good luck.