Marble is a beautiful stone. You will need to have it sealed regularly (every 12-18 months and unfortunately if you're a keen cook you should be warned that it can stain and acidic things like lemon juice and vinegar need to be wiped up immediately. I say this as if you're anything like me you tend to share a lot of your cooking with your splashback. The alternative would be to look for a caesarstone type material in a marble pattern - Caesarstone and similar products don't need sealing, aren't porous and are more stain resistant. Good luck.

Priya from the link I posted above. Collection: Mother of Pearl Tile Material: Seashell Color: Natural White, majority chips are white, with small percentage of natural yellow and minimun natural grey; overall is white Shape: Penny Round Surface Finish: Glossy,easy for cleaning Size: 12x12 In. (300x300mm) Chip Size:?Appr. 1 In. (23mm) Thickness: 8mm Detailed Description: Each sheet of this tile is approximately 1 sq ft per sheet and is mesh mounted on high quality fiber glass for easy installation of your mosaic tile projects. Application: Mother of Pearl mosaic tiles are impervious to the elements, thus it is great for both interior and exterior use so moisture is not an issue. Mother of Pearl mosaic tiles are great on floors and walls and have been most popular in bathrooms, spas, kitchen backsplash, wall facades as well as a variety of other applications. Characteristics: The mother of pearl mosaic tile has a zero water absorption rate, and this tile exceeds ANSI standards for water absorption for mosaic tile. It is strong, durable, contamination free, and only the best quality tiles are selected as our tiles are inspected for blemishes before shipment. They do look a lot like the marble tiles but these would certainly be pretty. I see that you can have a sample sent to you for a small cost .join www,myus.com which gives you a post box US address if needed to do this. You will certainly need to grout them using a water mould proof grout. If you found them to be a problem just have them covered with clear glass,

Thank you everyone for your responses. I’m still undecided - I have a few weeks to consider what to do. The bench top salesperson showed me some photos of the few people who have added a small amount of benchtop stone to add some height (and it’s always because of a busy 60 x 30 patterned tile that the owners want to keep perfect) and in her words it looks ‘dicky’. Not least because the tile sits flatter against the wall than a 2cm thick slab of benchtop. It leaves a pronounced lip of 1.5cm where tile meets benchtop addition Then there’s the safety concerns mentioned above about flames near stone which I had not considered. Big reader - I love your maths but I’m only 150cm tall. Even with a low bench and oven height of 94cm (my oven’s lowest height setting) plus 70cm of tile between the bench and overheads, the cupboards are already 14cm above my head. This barely makes them usable for me even now! Adding another 15cm instead of the 10cm, while looking lovely and keeping the pattern intact, means my short-arse self will have real difficulty reaching anything safely. Every cm counts when you’re short! But I do appreciate your input!

Your kitchen is small and already quite busy. I would make it as simple and clean as possible. You can't beat ceramic tiles for cost, durability and ease of installation. Have a look at Johnson's Spectrum range to see if you can match the green. https://www.johnsontiles.com.au/product/spectrum/?utm_campaign=1602072422&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=304640004469&utm_term=&adgroupid=61761480198&gclid=CjwKCAjw_YPnBRBREiwAIP6TJ0idAicM8vfEevC-WrwRVNmbtUPHfDAjvNpkaOIo0hzN0dwMw9u1rxoC0VkQAvD_BwE You will get a neater finish with ceramic tiles than you will with trying to work with DIY stainless steel, particularly around the edges. There are lots of online resources to show how easy it is to lay smaller ceramic tiles. Leave the large format porcelain tiles to the professionals. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls