This topic couldn't be more timely! I am in the process of selling my NYC condo and buying a Loudoun County new construction home. To start with, the condo had marble baths - vanities, floors, shower tiles, wall tiles - the whole thing. I hated it! Looking back, I now know why I hated it. I hated it because I always knew that condo was not my forever home. I was always trying to keep it looking fresh and clean and pristine for "when we sell". That meant that I was always wiping up water from the vanities. If we had guests, I would take every opportunity to go into the second bathroom to wipe up whatever water was sitting on the vanity. This was a constant issue and stress for me and my poor husband who was an innocent bystander to my obsession. One day my cat peed on the bath mat on the floor and the etching in front of the tub freaked me out and I couldn't look at it without worrying about a potential buyer's complaints. One night I put my contact case on the vanity without drying it off and to this day there is an outline of a contact case on that vanity. All this being said, the first person who looked at my condo made me a full price offer with no mention of the barthroom marble! Now that we are building our dream home, I have decided to put in 150 feet of Carrara marble kitchen counters and am plotting for that day In the future when I can afford to redo the builder 4x4 ceramic tiles in the master bathroom our budget requires we get now with Carrara marble tiles and vanities. Long story short, now that I know that this is "my" house and whatever I do with it only has to please me and not some future buyer, I am doing exactly what I want. The thing is that I am a relaxed person who enjoys things that feel warm and homey and used but have an underlying elegance. Marble is perfect for me! I can't wait to have it and enjoy it and appreciate it's characteristics rather than fighting them. Marble boils down to this, if you are going to fight every mark and indication of use - DON'T GET IT it is not for you. Stick with granite or something else that will look brand new in 20 years. If you appreciate a patina and signs of use, then get it and love it.

We live in Richardson, TX. Those brick pavers - those D*** things are EVERYWHERE here! The builders must have gotten them for a penny a ton back in the day. I hate them, hate them, hate them. They tear up your mops, shred sponges, and happily grab onto the tiniest speck of dust and turn it into a basketball- sizes hairball. We are happily ridding ourselves of these pesky pains in the A**, by having them ground (because they were stained and sealed - YUCK) and having beautiful new porcelain tile put down. The grinding is like living on Mars for a day, (the dust is EVERYWHERE), but anything to get rid of the pavers. thumbs down on pavers. Oh, and they REALLY hurt your feet. I would spend a whole weekend sweeping, mopping and waxing- never again! BOO to brick pavers!

didn't have one installed on granite installation. wished i had. I am disabled, (wheelchair, arthritis, fatigue issues), so going under the sink for the bottle is more work for me, and with a modern kitchen design, don't want clutter of bottle on counter. Did have moen auto detection (senses when you put your hands in front of it. One can also disable feature, so win win). Godsend. Aides like it too. Figure is next buyer doesn't like it, they can get their own. Will be installing soap dispensers in kitchen and bathrooms myself soon, though I doo like the bathroom auto dispenser , yet it takes up space.

I really dislike the one in our house. This house was definitely designed by an architect who was showing off instead of thinking how spaces are used. In our 5-level house, one level has the two "kids" bedrooms with a landing/hallway between them. The J&J parallels the hallway. Each bedroom has its own sink and toilet, with the shower in between. So yeah, just two shower curtains between them. It's so bizarre, and I can't imagine what the kids who lived in this house initially managed. Walking through the shower to close the other door? Just don't do it.