Marble

The most expressive of the natural stones. Marble is metamorphosed limestone, and its veining is a record of the pressure and mineral flow that formed it — which is why no two slabs repeat and why bookmatching works at all. Soft enough to carve and polish to a deep lustre, and reactive to acid, meaning lemon, vinegar and many cleaning products will etch it. That behaviour is not a defect; it is the trade-off for a material nothing else imitates convincingly. Best used on feature walls, living-area floors, powder rooms, tables and any surface valued more for character than for chemical resistance.