I will suggest not to use any natural stone in your showers as they are very hard to get clean (soap scum) with out chemicals that will not harm it, no a days you can find porcelain tiles that look and feel like natural stones possibly even cheaper than the real thing.
Make sure that you use small tile in the shower floor no larger than 2" x 2" unless the texture of the tile is rough that will not be slippery when wet

Here is a link that might be useful: tile murals

Kate - I have the same questions. There are a few threads discussing marble tile if you search. Some people love it and either don't notice the etching or don't let it bother them. A few people have noticed some orange staining that might be rust. I think this might happen if you have hard water that reacts with the marble. We do not have hard water so I am hopeful that won't happen to us.

I used to live in an apartment building and the bathroom had Carrara around the sink. It was beautiful even where it was etched.

I absolutely love marble, and I can't get over it when I see it used in public settings, commercial kitchens, etc. Here in Vancouver, I've even seen it used on roadways in front of Hotels!

But, I AM one of those people who would be bothered too much by etching and staining and all the potential problems of using real marble particularly in a shower. I would strongly suggest you do a Google search, (It actually works better than the GW search feature) and read all the troubles previous GW'ers have had with marble in their BR's. I didn't even realize that oxidation (that's what Lotteryticket was referring to) was a possibility until a GW'er posted her problems with orange stains all over her marble. It can happen even if you don't have hard water, as it is the iron in the stone reacting to the water it is exposed to. I gather some marbles have more iron in them than others.

Ideally, it would be best if you could see in person, marble in BR's that has been there awhile, and see if you like how it has worn. For the same reason, I wouldn't do soapstone in a kitchen, cuz I know myself, and I know all the rings, marks would bother me, and I wouldn't want the upkeep of oiling, etc.

To get you started on your research here is an article:

Here is a link that might be useful: Why white marble turns yellow

thank you. I have done lots of research. To clarify the tile would be on the floor, and then I have a shower/tub combo so it wouldn't be the shower floor just the walls around it. I would be really disappointed to have it turn orange though! Esp, because we don't know if we may have to sell this house at some point not too far down the road. not sure about that.

I am down to the wire with this decision- building ahouse is really stressful and I am SLOW at decisions plus I live rurally and even to get to a tile shop has been hard for me- I have a toddler- lots of things going on right now in my life that makes everything harder than it hsuold be . . . . suffice to say I need to choose soon. I may be able to get tot a tile shop next week.

So---what about carrarra tile for the floor of the bathroom- then if I went with a ceramic tile for the walls, would that deal with the etching and iscomoration issues? If I go with something on the walls (bathtub/shower walls) what goes well with cararra floor?