Thats a great question.... I want awesome but not distracting totally. I am also using really large format tile so it won't be as busy. The marble I'm looking at is almost all white and the bar will be Glassos. I'm hoping for clean and modern. It has a bit of competition there. Hmmmmmmm.....

It really is personal preference. I would look in to stones or wood.

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/12371106_1679658162315499_2900563311210535006_o.jpg

I would not do this in a minimalist space they would really distract from that feel keep them as unobtrusive as possible not the other way around.

Patricia, To be honest, I have dreams of minimalism. Truth of the matter is, there is a small recording studio going in the space next to the kitchen with tons of gear. We also have tons of stuff and we use it for projects. Reality is setting in. We still want it clean and modern as possible.

Even more reason not to use marble. Marble has a lot of movement and then all that equipment.....speaks clutter to me.

Yeah....... I'm over it. These ideas come and go. It would be too much. The marble will be used on the kitchen side only. Thanks..

We are in the home stretch. We used white, honed quartz for countertop and to cover remaining pipes. We will refinish the floor black and pretty much be done..... (for now)

It's looking really good.

When I was house shopping I saw a listing that said "marble fireplace", and since the homes in that area are about 100 years old, I thought it would be great. Nope. The 'marble fireplace' was just marble floor tiles applied over the original. And it looked exactly like what it was--floor tiles.

Good choice leaving them off the columns.