Mrs D-- I know I already answered you by email, but for the benefit of those searching the thread-- I'm not familiar with power grout. Not because it's not a good product (TEC has a terrific reputation), but because there are no distributors up here, unless you have a show room. That said, if your installer says he can do the installation without scratching the stone, I'd take him at his word. As for the sealer, personally, I'd prefer to seal it once-- when everything is done. Whichever way your installer wants to do it, I'd go with his recommendation. Some would rather seal twice, others all at one time.

I know what you mean. I actually picked out a totally different tile for the shower floor. It is a hexagon with triangle inserts mosaic on a mesh. so lots of grout for traction and a real shower floor tile. But for the rest of the bath floor outside the shower I was considering the Impronta Italgraniti floor tile. Did you try out the floor tile or wall tile as a slip test? Or maybe they never told you there was a difference. Cathy

For your countertops I suggest a contrasting color. I like something dark such as green marble like Verde Antique or soapstone as a contrast. Maybe green marble is too busy and a calming soapstone with few veins will complement all the movement of your beautiful marble. We did our master bath with honed Imperial Danby marble floors with green verde antique accents and they look great together. I used medium gray grout on the floor - TEC silverado on my Calacatta floor in the guest bath and TEC dove gray on the Danby floor. Both are nice but the silverado is less likely to show dirt as it ages. I'll post a photo (as soon as I learn how to).

Hey, barncatz: Every word of consolation and support helps. I'm trying not to rush the BS decision, but I know I'll feel much better about the countertop experience once I'm not staring at these sliver add-ons. One of my very early inspirations was Majra's kitchen. She, just like pipdog, used the mosaics for a lovely effect. And this is why I spent so much time last year looking at mosaics. But the mosaics seem a bit too busy (for me) up close. The rest of my kitchen is a work in progress. Lotsa 9-1/2' walls that will need to be painted again (probably a cool white -- the next challenge!), and a ton of natural light coming in. Baseboards, pantry door and trim are all semi-gloss white, and ceiling is white. Kitchen is open to the family room: taupe walls with a white fireplace/mantel -- white trim throughout the entire house. pippiep: Matching grout it is, then! One decision down. :) I've marked out the areas that will require BS tile. As you can see, it's not very expansive, and each one not very large. So, I need to find the correct scale/dimension tile that will look right in these spaces. I think using larger (3x6) tiles in a herringbone pattern will leave me with a bunch of chopped up squares in the bartop and cutout window areas. At least with the newest elongated hex pattern, most of the hexes will be retained.