I had picked out this gorgeous water jet cut marble for behind my stove and my tile guy said I was nuts - every grease splash would mark it and it would be a nightmare keeping it nice, given that it's in such a prominent place there's nowhere to hide marks. But I still dream of it - it was truly gorgeous. I've attached a pic as I just love looking at it, lol. We are going to do stainless 2/3 of the way up - to the shelf, then glass mosaic above. I would consider the marble there as it wouldn't get as dirty.

I know there are sealed marbles that maybe wouldn't have as many issues, but I'm not such a great cleaner and I'm a professional procrastinator, so it wasn't a good fit for me.

I love your idea of the blue pearl with the Carrera backsplash under the cabinets, though. Sounds beautiful.