enduring: Atlas Concorde makes a great tile. Our tile guy loved working with it. I was going to do the Atlas Concorde Seastone, which is a black tile with white little "fossils" in it. I sent my DH to take a look at it and bring home a sample and he actually swiped the idea for his bathroom remodel (his remodel had to go first because his shower was falling apart!). So now I can't use Seastone, but I thought the Marvel was interesting because it looks like Black Emperador marble and I thought it would look nice with white subway and carrara marble. Here is a picture of part of the floor. It's very reflective so even though it's black it seems lighter than the previous floor which was medium gray.

We have a 1916 home; just a few remarks re our own experience: 1) Are you sure the entire floor is concrete? We have a concrete slab just where the stove was. It is visible from the (unfinished) basement. (The rest is wood subfloor.) 2) When we moved in, the kitchen floor was green linoleum and the small countertop was the same, held in place with metal edging. Don't know how long that it been there, but long. (I think it was real linoleum, but not sure. But it wasn't pretty!) 3) We very much respect our house's character and try to maintain it. But we don't live in a museum. When we expanded/remodeled we matched the mouldings, windows, etc, but felt no compulsion to match every kitchen detail. We put down a "standard" oak floor similar to that in the rest of the house, and used a medium-light, marble-like, greenish granite (with white cabs). It seems completely in sync with the house, even though it is not period. Unless you plan on getting 1919 appliances, you're not going to have a 1919 kitchen no matter what you do. Don't feel compelled to do anything you don't really like, just to be "authentic." P.S. Don't get too hung up on the home's specific style. Fact is, most houses from that period -- like ours -- are a mishmosh of styles, and simply reflect what was currently popular. (As remains the case with most new homes today, though I would say to less pleasing effect!)

@Beth H. - thank you for your comments. I don't think we want to have dark counter tops. The kitchen is open to our family room. The minimal wall space in the kitchen will be painted a light blue color, as will the walls in the family room. We were thinking about: a) white cabinets and island b) the Calacatta gold marble 3" x 6" tiles for the back splash c) light(ish) counter tops on the perimeter and island (perhaps with some grey coming through d) medium brown hardwood floors We thought about using walnut for the island surface, but decided against it due to maintenance issues. If we didn't want to have dark counter tops, are there any other options? Thanks!

The cabinets look good, the countertop and splash work well together. The floor looks cheap and out of place with what you have and what you want. The floor should go first, then make changes as you can afford them. If it were me, no way would I spend the money and effort to paint those cabinets and switch to fake marble at the tail end of the trend. And if you go ahead with your plan, as a rule, unless the stone matches the counter, then you do not use two stones, much the less fake marble and real marble. So counter is Caesarstone xyz, you get the same for backsplash. With natural stone you can match with slabs or tiles made of the stone. For maximum impact with minimal spend, Glacier White Corian married with Carrara subway works wonderfully well. Google images and you will see. I can't post pics when I am on mobile device, sorry. Good luck.