How many cuts will you need? Figure those as full tiles, plus one for breakage. You will have leftovers probably, and those are not returnable in most cases. But it's better to have a few extra than to hold up the job waiting on a single piece.

Thanks live_wire_oak. I think I have already done what you are stating as I was told to not measure total linear foot, but actual measure for each section of the wall and calculate how many pieces each section is.

So for example we have a vent pipe we need to tile around that is 9" on one side and 9.5" on the other side. I have assumed 1 piece for each of these sections. In other words I am rounding up to the next full piece for each wall even though in some areas I assume the contractor may be able to use the smaller cut pieces.

Using the round-up to the next full piece approach I am looking at between 19 or 24 tiles (19 if we go with a linen cabinet or 24 if we have a closet built and tile the wall of the closet).

So you think I only need 1 extra piece for breakage? One tile store mentioned 1-2 pieces but my husband thinks we should get more. I assume this number does not factor in any culling (since it is natural stone).