If you can live with marble funk/"patina", go for it, but we don't wanna hear about how disappointed you are in a year.

.....or even five minutes.

I have a mix of soapstone and honed carrera in my kitchen. The marble is on the lesser used area while the soapstone is on the more heavily used for prep areas. I also have a bathroom vanity in honed marble. Kitchen has been in 7 or 8 years and bathroom about 5. The marble has been fine thus far.

However, just the other day I noticed some funny colored splotches on the bathroom vanity and tried to wash them off. The spots are nearly invisible now and no one but me would be able to see them. My husband had been in the garden working with tomato plants stems and vines. Apparently the messy dye is from him trying to wash this off his hands. I can live with it.

Let me also add in that a few years ago we were visiting Rome and made a day trip to Ostia Antiqua which was Rome's harbor more than two thousand years ago. There was a tavern kitchen in the ruins. Guess what the counter top was? And, it still looked fine to me.

if you get it, just use a large cutting board for the island. have MIL use it w/her spices. you'll have to wipe up spills promptly. Or, have her do her stuff on the black countertop. (like the acid stuff and the spices. ) Honed is better than polished since you won't see the etching as readily. and if it gets really bad, marble can always be 'refinished' by a marble restoration pro. I had my marble shower pan redone after I accidentally sprayed it w/the wrong cleanser. it etched the entire thing. He came out and sanded it, re-honed and sealed. perfect.