Hmm... I think maybe you have hit on two things bothering me - 1) that the Cambria goes better in the master and 2) trying to constrain myself to doing both countertops in the same material. Maybe that's what I need to change. Although the opinions I've gotten on here like my choices and the Cambria - my designer and the builder's rep think I should go Carrara. And, the accent tile in the master will show much more Carrara than my samples do so I think I'll do that in the master. But, I'm sad about the Cambria. :( It has really grown on me. And, in the back of my mind, the Carrara is about 1/2 the price so if I really don't like it in a few years I can replace it. It's not like having to tear the floor up. =) Throughout this process of picking everything out when something keeps nagging at me I know I've got something wrong. Once I find the "right" answer it feels comfortable. Not to say I don't continue to see beautiful things, but I feel content with my choice. And I haven't quite felt that contentedness with the bathroom selections yet. I'm content with the tiles and accent glass, not so much the countertops. I'll check out the Crema Marfil. Thanks for the suggestion. If you or anyone else has an additional suggestion for the guest countertop please let me know! Thanks!

Rachel, I got the accent pieces from a local stone warehouse, and the carrara pencil liner on top from a different internet source. (TilePost I'm thinking? On sale for $6.99 per foot). Found it, here is the link. It is still on sale. http://tilepost.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=26&zenid=t405qf0cgqefervb87etj1gn10 I was a little concerned about bringing the carrara together from 3 different sources but there is enough variety in the carrara that it all works. The accent pieces were on 1' square sheets and I just cut it into strips for the accent band. The challenge was that these pieces are a bit thicker than the subway field tile, so the tile setter had to butter the adjacent edges a little thicker to make them all flush. My floor is honed. The carrara on the wall is also honed, but the black marble dot is polished. Good luck! Anita

Sheesh, Casey - that is stunning! Do you have a master post with more pix and descriptions? Soapy, your idea sounds great too. If you go to houzz and search subway basketweave, you will see some beautiful examples.

Oh I didn't think about cleaning the carrara... is it really that difficult? Ugh... I love the hex border idea. I thought about an area rug, but I'm nervous about getting the spacing wrong without the tub in place. Or having real rugs overlap with the tile one. I'm also nervous about putting them around the tub in case the tub goes in place and they are off centered or something. I have OCD fears ;) Thank you for showing me photos of your lovely bathroom shanghaimom! Any suggestions for a backspash? I'm thinking about a blue-ish wall color too. This bathroom is so pretty: