This topic couldn't be more timely! I am in the process of selling my NYC condo and buying a Loudoun County new construction home. To start with, the condo had marble baths - vanities, floors, shower tiles, wall tiles - the whole thing. I hated it! Looking back, I now know why I hated it. I hated it because I always knew that condo was not my forever home. I was always trying to keep it looking fresh and clean and pristine for "when we sell". That meant that I was always wiping up water from the vanities. If we had guests, I would take every opportunity to go into the second bathroom to wipe up whatever water was sitting on the vanity. This was a constant issue and stress for me and my poor husband who was an innocent bystander to my obsession. One day my cat peed on the bath mat on the floor and the etching in front of the tub freaked me out and I couldn't look at it without worrying about a potential buyer's complaints. One night I put my contact case on the vanity without drying it off and to this day there is an outline of a contact case on that vanity. All this being said, the first person who looked at my condo made me a full price offer with no mention of the barthroom marble! Now that we are building our dream home, I have decided to put in 150 feet of Carrara marble kitchen counters and am plotting for that day In the future when I can afford to redo the builder 4x4 ceramic tiles in the master bathroom our budget requires we get now with Carrara marble tiles and vanities. Long story short, now that I know that this is "my" house and whatever I do with it only has to please me and not some future buyer, I am doing exactly what I want. The thing is that I am a relaxed person who enjoys things that feel warm and homey and used but have an underlying elegance. Marble is perfect for me! I can't wait to have it and enjoy it and appreciate it's characteristics rather than fighting them. Marble boils down to this, if you are going to fight every mark and indication of use - DON'T GET IT it is not for you. Stick with granite or something else that will look brand new in 20 years. If you appreciate a patina and signs of use, then get it and love it.

Hi overlyanxious - yes, I ordered the tile last weekend! I posted in a separate thread "OMG! I ordered the tile!" :-) Ordered the late-breaking Ilva Pietre Travertine in Bianco. Color's a little lighter than I really wanted, but the next shade down was too dark - I really wanted something in the middle! But it's going to look great with the random brick mixed travertine border I ordered. *And* with my cool Asian-influenced light fixture. See the other thread for details! For the completeness of this thread, I'll just mention that my store also had the other Ilva tiles blondelle mentioned: the Crema Marfil, and the Andes Traful. Both are beautiful, but the Andes had too much gray in it for me - I already knew from some of the Daltile samples that I didn't like gray. And the Crema Marfil - I actually don't remember what I thought of it, just that I didn't like it as much as the Pietre Travertine. Don't know much about the upkeep of real travertine, just that it needs to be sealed from time to time, and I had no confidence in my ability to not procrastinate doing it. There are a lot of threads here on that subject - maybe just search for travertine. Sigh about the Daltile. They told me in the Daltile showroom that it was discontinued, not just out of stock; I actually emailed Daltile customer service asking about it and they never got back to me. Maybe it's just as well. My reno is starting on 9/29, so depending when in October the Dal would have been available, it might have been (probably would have been) too late. Here is a link that might be useful: OMG! I ordered the tile!

The OP has everything correct and the answer is Refin Ceramiche out of Italy. They make an outstanding porcelain and you cannot tell it's a print no matter how close you get. We have used this product in our builds time and again. The company is wonderful to deal with, and their product is second to none. Plus, we have their marble look tiles installed all over our office and you would be amazed at how many people walk in and ask where we purchased the marble from so they can get it too. They are always shocked to hear it's actually Italian porcelain and not marble. If you are in the Austin area, we are a Refin dealer and would be glad to assist.

You are correct - probably not best to put a wood look tile in and I agree with your change in paint color - but then I've never been overly fond of gray:) In general there has been a return to warmer colors. I would get several tile samples, bring them home and see how they look. A friend of mine recently did her kitchen and used a large square cream tile. The rectangular large tiles are currently very popular. I lean towards a more cottage style and I would look at a tile that resembles stone and laid it out in a non-grid manor. Cream rectangular: This is in a cottage in France: A stone look laid in a non grid fashion: If the flooring in the dining room is not real hardwood, you could remove it and do what you want in both rooms. That is probably way more than you want to spend.