yes to all, we did have the tiles professionally sealed, but sealing is not a cure all in my experience but I'm sure it helps considerable . my wife does buy those hand made goats milk styles soaps etc and I don't imagine there is anything more testing for stone, and yes it does mark. The Grey ( bane of my existence )granite much more so than the beige travertine ) I must admit though, the kids bathroom was almost non existent as one has sensitive skin and uses pump pack. I would also imagine climate, airing/ sunlight, volume of use and the time you have to manage it would also be contributing factors. We are way short on time and they don't get the attention they deserve, so I would suggest asking around, others may manage it better and it not be an issue. If your only doing your bathroom you may consider the risk factor not worth it for the volume, but for me, the advantage of travertine in the rest of the house far out weighs any marking issue in the showers, and wont stop me from using it again. To be honest when we sold the last house I just took to the shower with one of those paint scrapers with the razor in the end and most of it came off and it didn't detract from the look of the house. Sorry i have probably only muddied the waters even more, good luck with it.

Hi nice size kitchen, horizontal lines in your kitchen will make already long kitchen look a bit longer. looking at the pics of your kitchen it looks like u have a lot of horizontal line i would install the tiles lines vertically to bring the balance back. Number of lines will depend on the zones and the kitchen enterance along with dining furniture or vertical wall lights in the room. u may need to take a pic from the enterance of kitchen and draw a few details on the pics then work out the lines. Vertical lines are easy to over do so be careful. good luck

It's the floor colour that's the main problem, neither one thing nor the other, and certainly wrong with the benchtop. Leave the wall tiles if you like that sort of thing and find a way of covering the floor probably with laminate planks on an underlay. We have a European Birch golden coloured timber floor but softer grey splashback and it looks fine. It's not an award winner but the floor and cabinet carcases had been there twenty years and it was affordable. Don't even think about painting the floor or putting down mats but a clear plastic runner in front of the sink works well for us.

Option 3 has a terrazzo-look tile which references the previous and original bathroom. The concrete look tiles will date, and look quite daggy in ten years time. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls