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.

there is many types of support to be used for counter top for long lasting work... as ... 1) brick wall which takes 2" , 4" or 6" thickness space which is not good for below space as we will waste space for storage under counter... this is used where heavy material is used on top of counter for cutting any food items... 2) marble support... which will take 35mm thk space double support... 3) furniture base if the kitchen working person is using the sink properly for washing purpose and the gaps between the sink and counter top has to be sealed properly for leakage free to avoid any damages for below storage, as i will not prefer this in other area... this can be used only in foreign countries...

Your choices don't flow well to me. The flooring in your photo is pretty (very dark...are you okay with it showing every footprint, smudge, and dust bunny? If so, that's fine). From all of your options there I would do white cabinets with the Himalaya White granite. But you said ignore the granite. :) I would go for the gray cabinets with white quartz everywhere in that case, but personally I'd worry about gray cabinets being very dated in a few years. Is there another quartz option that you could pair with the white cabinets that is light in color and maybe has some movement, like LG Bianco Drift?

Thanks. I am aware of potential materials (e.g. quartz). I was looking more at what color combination works well with ash oak cabinet colors? Would a softer tone mimicking wooden countertop (e.g. brown/beige colors) work better or would a darker tone such as black/dark brown go well?