Natural Stone in Kitchen / Master Bath

[lovin2shop]

We're in the midst of building a new house now, and I'm starting to make selections. From looking so far, I am already a total natural stone junkie at this point, but I've never had it in my home. The countertops in both with definitely be granite, but I need to decide on kitchen backsplash and bathroom floor & shower tile. I love, love, love both travertine and marble. From a staining, etching and wear standpoint, is this a terrible idea? I know a lot of people use natural stone for these purposes, but I'm not sure if they have two young boys and two very red wine happy parents? Any BTDT's or other words of advice?

[pinkmomagain]

I have granite in my kitchen and the backsplash is some type of tile (maybe ceramic) that looks stonish. This has worked out really well for us. With marble being so porous I did not want to use it in the kitchen.

We redid two bathrooms last year and they are all marble (one is the kids' bathroom). I love the way it looks and so far it has worn well. We did have troubles with the product and the installation though...not sure how much of this is the manufacturer or contractor's fault. I would say if you go with marble tile, go through the boxes once they are delivered to your house. It is natural stone. There is variation. Often there are veins of color that you did not see in the showroom sample. Make sure you have enough pieces you are happy with. And make sure the installer has experience installing marble tile. (Can you tell we had major headaches with this?)

Very happy with all of my outcomes though.

[stinkyfeet]

I had travertine in my kitchen backsplash and master bath at my old house. I loved it. We aren't red wine drinkers, but we have two small boys. I had no problem with staining at all. I sealed the travertine with stone sealer from the tile store.

I've dropped quite a few things on the master bath travertine floor (like hair appliances, makeup, etc) and we never had any cracks.

Just make sure you use the appropriate cleaners for natural stone.

HTH!