Although it looks intricate as hell, the herringbone is very simply, a brick joint pattern with every other tile turned on its side. Look at the pattern for a minute. You'll see that first the horizontal tiles look like steps, with each step being exactly a 1/2 tile advanced from the last. Then comes the vertical tiles doing the same thing. Then back to the horizontal tiles, and so on. Once you get going with it, it's really not as complicated as it looks. The only disadvantage is that your grout joint is predetermined by the tile size. If you lay two tiles longways side by side right next to a single tile cappling the ends of the two tiles, move the first two so their long edge is flush with either end of the capping tile. Whatever you have for a joint between the two tiles is what you're going to use for a grout joint throughout the floor. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Etching isn't a chip, crack or stain. It's when you get a sort of dull spot on the surface of your marble. That's why many people prefer to use a honed marble, because a dull spot shows much more on a polished surface than a matte one. I think my new honed marble countertop already has some etching on it but I can only see them in bright light when I duck down and look at the countertop from the side at eye level. I've read that light etching can be removed with a little marble polishing powder.

Sewnice: You might be able to get the best of both worlds if you maybe find complimenting tiles...in different materials. Maybe for the majority of the kitchen do the carrera and then for behind the stove you could use a different but complimentary stone that wouldn't have the staining properties that marble does. I know they make soapstone subways at M. Tex (I saw them when I was there). You could maybe put those behind the stove, with the marble everywhere else. Or, you can put a tray behind the stove like I did. I didn't put it there for that reason, but I think if I ever did splash something like tomato sauce or the like, it would be better protected than with nothing there. But again, I did seal mine...which should provide some level of protection. Thanks so much for the compliment...I walk in to our kitchen and smile...I never thought with all the different components involved that it could turn out exactly how I pictured.

Although the tile will be below the white cabinets, it won't have the same lighting (being either in the shadow of the cabinets or being lit with UC lighting, which may have a different effect than the overhead lighting). So trying to match the cabinets without having everying in place is probably an exercise in tilting at windmills. I think all three choices would probably look fine, so you are starting from a good point. The silk matches the counter the best. The pearl is closest to the cabs UNDER THE LIGHTING IN THE PHOTOS. But I don't have a strong preference, and I do think that there's a good chance that lighting would completely change my evaluation.