"Should I be nervous about this?"

Yes.

" Will the dark marble have the same drawbacks as the white marbles, such as etching, scratching and staining?"

Yes.

A serious cook with two small children. I can't think of a person barreling down the highway of disappointment faster than you.

There are so many other beautiful and practical choices available. Keep looking, please.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deep Sea

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 12:58

Thank you for talking me down from the cliff. What about Virginia Mist honed granite?

You know, it's not about whether you're a serious cook or not. A lot of serious chefs use marble, and it can be a great surface for if you want a "living" surface (meaning one that will change over time and show wear). If you want your counters to look exactly the same twenty years from now as they do the day you install them, well, good luck. Every surface has it's drawbacks.

So, you haven't used the search feature on the site yet. It's pretty good. Look for the counter top geology posts by karin_mt. They are very informative. Good luck. Pick something you'll love.

I would suggest using google to find posts on this site. Just type gardenweb and what ever you are looking for.

Virginia Mist honed is a great choice and ought to be much more trouble-free than marble.

Agreed with above posters, dark marble will etch just the same as any other color, although I'm not sure how noticeable it is on a dark stone vs a light one. You could certainly try this out by bringing home a sample and doing some tests.

Hey karin! I keep pointing people in your direction. I love those posts. I've learned so much from you!

I love it and am going to try to find it in my area!

Thanks EAM, I noticed that and I appreciate it! Glad to be helpful - it's fun to see how savvy GWers are now about the nuances of marble.

Thank you Karin_MT. I had hoped your response would be included among the other wonderful contributors. I became a fan of your post after being pointed there by EAM44. Although I love the marble, I think the VM is a better choice for my needs. MDLN: the FORT STONE marble pictured above was from a slab distributor called Ele Mar in Chantilly, VA. Thank you all again for your time.

Aww, thanks Gnocci! Good call on the stone too. We'll look forward to updates and a reveal at some point!

Just Chiming in here.
Virginia mist is a good choice-it is quite porous however and will need to be properly sealed.
Make sure to get a sample and bring it home.

If you like it get it and don't worry about it. Everything has something about it and once it's in your kitchen you get over it and live your life and don't worry about it that much. If I had it to do over again, I'd get exactly what I loved and not worry about anything. I think people worry about it too much to the point they get something they don't really like all that much. If it's white porous soft marble that could be different but that doesn't look like it's a problem. It's really pretty too : ) Good luck.

I was considering a honed limestone for our master bath. This is etching on a darker surface. I think on a white stone where there's only a difference in texture, not color, it's not as noticeable. I decided I couldn't live with it. YMMV.