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.

Thanks ardcp. We do have cherry Shenandoah cabinets from Lowes and are happy with them. Our granite is called white diamond but it is a twin for bianco antico. Granite here in WNY is priced by the SF, as you don't buy the slab. We have about 55 SF and the bill was $3995???? Something just under 4k. We got the granite at Buffalo Granite and Marble in Tonawanda NY. I priced laminate and granite at HD/Lowes and found them to be pricy because of extra charges. We considered lots of options for our kitchen counters. Granite tiles, granite slab, porcelain tile, laminate, corian, and quartz. After putting in a remnant granite slab in our bathroom, DH was hooked on a granite slab instead of tiles. I went to eight different granite places to get estimates. Big price range and Big difference in customer service for the same granites. Get lots of big samples and test them. Get lots of prices noting extra charges. Let me know if I can help any more!

This is GORGEOUS!! I know this is an old thread but I just stumbled on it and have to comment. :) we too live in an old house and are mid-Kitchen Reno. It’s not fun but Oxford Cabinetry just installed my beautiful white cabinets and I am thrilled. I have such a random question for you - there are lingering fumes from the paint finish and I wonder if you recall how you dealt with them. For now we’ve been told to put out coffee grounds to absorb it. Any thoughts?

How did you find an actual fireback to insert? I did a image search for firebacks and picked one that was shot straight on and square (easier to copy and paste squares or rectangles than ovals and other shapes). I played with the image in Paint to get it to the right size for your image. I learned this all by trial and error when I worked on my kitchen design. ...that's more gray, so I guess if I chose a gray one, then Carrara marble would probably look better that calacutta? I personally prefer the marble tile over the white subways and prefer calacatta over carrara for your kitchen. You've got a lot of white and black going on already; the gold veins bring in the warmth from your lovely wood floors (and possibly your walls, can't quite tell what color they are). I don't think you have to have everything match exactly. As long as the tones compliment each other - no cool grays with warm grays - I think you can blend a grayish fireback with near black counters and calacatta marble tile. Personally, I think that also makes for a more interesting mix.