Thank you for your suggestions everyone. I am going to layer it with another solid rug and use it in the living room. My living room neds a bit of colour and I thought this would be perfect. Breaks my heart to think that I may have to put it elsewhere.

Manipalgoyal: I like your basic plan. It is well thought out....What does the top floor look like? The only thing that I would do differently from my very "Western" perspective would be to move the rear right bedroom upstairs and open up the back courtyard to the kitchen area. I would create a "great room / kitchen area with doors that open both to the front courtyard and to the back. This allows for good cross ventilation to help keep the house cool and comfortable on a hot day. It also provides easy access to the rear yard area without having to walk through a bedroom. Now all of the precious outdoor space is easy to use. The other element that I would introduce would be an atrium (or an opening in the floor) all the way up to the second floor with openable windows high up on the second floor to allow hot air to escape to the top of the house and out (since hot air rises) This is called the "chimney effect" and is another way to keep the house well ventilated. Of course this is how it has been done in hot climate countries for years, so you might be familiar with this technique already. Even if you don't change it, your floor plan is very nicely laid out. I would be happy to help you answer any additional questions that you might have. I do have a few questions for you: 1. Where is the laundry room? Is it in the storage space? This does seem a little narrow. How wide is it? You might want to work on how this space actually lays out. Is there a sink in this space too? 2. Why do you have such small openings to the outside from the drawing room and the rear bedrooms? Are they doors or windows? Wouldn't you wnat a door with an openable window with a screen adjacent so that you could have ventilation at night without having the door open? 3. How will you lay out the kitchen? Who is doing the cooking in your household? Is cooking a family event or is it done by a helper? You either want a bigger more open kitchen (Western design) or a more private kitchen (Asian design) Or a combination of both.......To me this is the most important part of the house where the family gathers and hangs out..... I would love to hear back from you. Christine Lampert

I think the marble naysayers have jumped on the bandwagon without really living with the stone. I have statuary in my bathrooms and love it. Most stains can be removed with a simple baking soda and water poultice. Acid etching is harder to deal with since it removes the polished surface, but its part of having a living stone in your home. If it becomes too bad, you can have it repolished. With a darker stone, you won't have as many issues as a white marble. In order to really know if you can live with it, I suggest you get a small sample of the stone and do some tests. Here is an example. http://www.dohiy.com/2013/04/21/marble-countertops-the-post-acid-test/ Please note that she used bleach and oxyclean to clean the stone after her test. Stay away from both since they can etch the stone just as much as an acidic food. Instead, clean with a ph neutral cleaner like isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), and for heavy stains, the baking soda poultice mentioned above. You have to remember that marble has been used for centuries as flooring, table tops, countertops, etc. throughout the world and most of these installations are still here and aren't stained and etched to the point that it has been ripped out and replaced. Just think about all of he luxury hotels in Europe and how many times they have been exposed to Hangover type guests without any damage.

A soft, warm grey shade would look lovely, and can be as dark or light as you want. A warmer shade will work with the brown stained wood floor, and the grey will complement the black granite. You could have an undertone of green, blue or tan if you didn't want a pure grey. And it would look nice with any silver metal hardware, either polished or satin/brushed, so you could choose pewter, chrome or nickel. It would still work with white trim too.