Marble Countertop and Floor

by Donna Morabito
(Yorktown, NY)

QUESTION: I am installing a marble countertop for my vanity in my powder room. Do I also use marble on the floor, or could I mix it up with ceramic tile?

ANSWER: You can mix it up with a marble vanity and ceramic tile floors or travertine or slate whatever works well together.

There's no set rule about combining stones. You just want to make sure that the colors and patterns compliment each other.

What you want to avoid most is competing patterns or colors. In a small space like a powder bath, that could get cluttered real quick and look too busy.

Using the same marble on your floors as your countertop can achieve a bold, coordinated and possibly dramatic look (depending on the color and pattern of the marble).

Personally, I like the idea of using the same marble on countertops and floors in bathrooms.

Here's the rub though... in a bathroom (or any room really) you typically don't want polished floors. Repeated foot traffic will wear down that polish. Also, polished floors are slippery when wet.

Now being a powder bath, the above points may not be much an issue if the bath doesn't get much use.

But you most certainly will want a polished countertop and if you use the same marble on the floors except honed, it will look different. Polishing brings out the color more.

Just some angles to consider.

If you prefer to mix it up, then I'd make your marble vanity top as the center piece and choose your floor tile color to simply blend well without having too much pattern or a very subtle pattern on it's own.

Hope this helps. Send in a picture when you are done!

Have Fun,
Ryan