I have an electric kettle and a french press for my coffee, and non-staining quartz, but what i do anyway is keep a pretty rice plate to use as a spoon rest there at my coffee station anyway. I put coca, sugar and cream in my coffee every morning and having a spoon rest there keeps my counters much cleaner.

There is a poster here (romy?) who uses inexpensive stainless steel cutting mats/pads to protect her counters. I am pretty sure she stores and removes them as needed, though.

You've come to the right place. I have Danby & love these Range Kleen Silverwave Countermats. I've ordered mine online from Home Depot & the Kitchen Company. Home Depot didn't have one of the 3 sizes available. They can be damaged in shipping - lots of complaints on Amazon, so I like the option to return to the local HD & reorder.
They are lightweight, heat resistant & padded on the back. Great for a coffee pot, next to your range, etc. I store them in my vertical storage, where you would store cookie sheets & cutting boards.
I didn't do a farmhouse sink but it is a great idea to do with marble. You wouldn't have the worry about chipping the marble surrounding the sink, like you do with an undermount.
I have a large deep undermount. I get some water, but just wipe it up.

This is my favorite cutting board, an Epicurean with a well to catch fluids. I also have a beautiful walnut cutting board, which looks pretty sitting on the Danby.
Greenhaven is correct, the Countermats are so light, I store them when not in use. They are attractive enough to leave out (under your coffee pot).

For my coffee pot and cannisters, I put felt furniture pads on the bottoms. Cuts down on the noise of sliding the cannisters across the counters, and scratches.

Another vote for Epicurean cutting boards. Mine is the hardest working item in my kitchen.

I've got quartzite, not marble, but I keep a good sized wooden cutting board next to my cooktop. It's way handier and more effective than just a spoon rest.

Thanks romy, I have been looking for something like that, could you also tell me who makes your tea kettle, it's really beautiful.

Kitchenlover1, my tea kettle is the BergHOFF Harmony 11 cup Whistling Tea Kettle. I got it at Macy's during a close out. They no longer carry it but it is available at Bed Bath & Beyond (20% off coupon) or Amazon.
When I was planning my kitchen reno & looking at inspiration pics, I always noticed the tea kettle. I also love the colored ones (turquoise) but this was the
one for me.

Sorry to hijack, but romy, can you tell me the brand, color and source of your backsplash tile? Beautiful!

Thanks so much everyone! Love those metal boards. Do you put hot things directly on them (since they are heat resistant?).

I don't cook a lot but I promised myself that with a new kitchen, I will expand our menu beyond spaghetti & meatballs and chicken.

Famcook-my backsplash is Encore Silver Crackle Tile. In the pic above it looks very silvery but the tile also has some rosy taupe tiles.

Viennamommy- heat resistant to 350F which is prompting me to order a couple of Big HotSpot Counter Mats, around 11x11, in frost, blue or red.
Heat resistant to 675F. I wish they came bigger.

We just moved in our house. Seeing the pics of danby in Romy's kitchen led me to search it out. I've put felt pads on the bottom of my big dough bowl and my coffee pot. I'm also on the lookout for a medium sized wood cutting board for beside my cooktop, to hold oil, spoon rest, salt and pepper. I did buy new placemats for the island, which we pull out for meals there.

Other than that I'm going to TRY to just live in my kitchen. I don't find myself babying the counter more than any of the other new surfaces, like floors, shower doors, etc.

Romy, thanks so much for the tea kettle information, I've been looking for a long time, and as soon as I saw it I fell in love it with it. I guess BBB doesn't carry it in store, just online, but with 20% off that's a great deal, thanks so much!

I don't have any of my old pictures, but I have some of our current kitchen before it was gutted last week. Please ignore the '90's cabs,counters, light fixture, and the lovely awning over the window :)

I bought this cutting board via Amazon. It's a Blanco in red alder, but also comes in walnut:

The pepper mill and small bowl next to it are actually sitting in a small clear acrylic perfume tray. I keep olive oil bottles in it as well. I'm about 98% sure I'm going to buy another for our sink area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perfume Tray

We have marble, and I've found the long, metal-rod trivets from Ikea to be invaluable. We keep one sitting next to the stove most of the time, and I find it to be much less intrusive looking than the silver heat pads.

Another necessity is a giant cutting board. If you don't want to leave it out all the time, you may not want a really thick one. We have a nice Boos block one that we rarely use because it's so heavy, and I hate pulling it out of the cupboard. Instead, we actually end up using our giant one that was originally an under-counter pullout in our old kitchen. We do a lot of prep on it, and its size makes it useful for keeping potentially acidic juices from running over the edge.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea trivet