@designsaavy, I love my marble, but to be honest, I am pretty careful with it - probably more so than I have to be! My main concern is etching; if you have a really good sealer and pick up spills fairly quickly, staining shouldn't be a huge issue. My daughter sits and eats at our island sometimes, and we haven't had any issues. We do have a few etch spots, but I can't even see them unless I lean down and look from a particular angle. I would definitely recommend getting honed marble over polished, which helps hide any "patina." :)

I think design is changing faster than it ever has and it's hard to keep up with it. Just because I bought something only a few years ago doesn't mean that it's not already dated. My house was built in 1999 and the finishes that were used caught the tail end of the 90s trends so it was already dated when it was built. When we remodeled our guest bath four years ago, we bought Giallo Ornamamental Light granite for the small vanity because it was the only cream-colored remnant we could find and we had guests coming. Shortly afterwards, someone here referred to speckled granites as "dog vomit granite". I thought to myself "Yep, that's my GO." I can try to convince myself that it's a popular granite but the truth is, it's not used much anymore. I wish I'd had more choices at the time but I did not. I just took a peek at Cambria and they call their speckled quartz the Classic collection and they have not added new colors since I looked at kitchen countertops six years ago.

"More subtle" will need to be a perfectly PLAIN white or soft gray quartz. Take a sample of the Nuvo and head to a shop with all the samples. Take the backsplash sample with you. In any other circumstance I would say simply repeat the Nuvo on perimeter, but your perimeter turn dimension at 5" 9" will not allow a seam at center sink. The best place for a seam with this material, and strong vein.. Go shopping with samples in hand. Your selection process is already out of order, cabinetry color/stain first, counter tops, and backsplash, last. Pantry is quite a distance from the rest and hope you consider counter depth fridge. We aren't seeing the entire plan.........

Thanks, I’ll give it a look!