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!

The main points have been hit already: 1) your tiles are set with alternating pattern instead of with a consistent pattern. That adds to the jitteriness when you look at it. 2) The dark grout lines emphasize horizontal and vertical. If you want both, fine, if you want to let the pattern in the tile be the main direction, then not so fine. 3) lighting. You have none. Another point, it looks like the inspiration photo is a bit washed out. The contrast or saturation looks knocked down, or the brightness bumped up a bit. That makes the pattern in the inspiration photo less prominent.

" light grout that is impossible to keep clean " A bath used by males is best with epoxy grout. The Pro tiler needs to have experience using this type of grout. I have it in my baths...it is impervious to any stain / dirt.

Patterns are a little limited, but I love the eco friendly cotton rugs at Hook and Loom. I have this one in taupe/white in my master bathroom. So easy. Washer/dryer - perfect. I lay back down very slightly damp so its always totally flat. It's certainly solved the issue of spray products buildup on the floor ;0)