Measure twice, cut once, right? Or in the case of a big slab of marble, measure many times. And use lot of blue tape. Because blue tape brings certainty to all things.
About a week ago I went out to the counter warehouse to approve the cutting plan for our creamy slab of Botticini marble. Botticini — the name alone conjures up visions of italian fountains and rustic yet elegant cuisine. We had purchased a single slab to provide the raw material for our counter, sink backsplash, tub deck, and shower bench in our master bathroom. Mapping out a cutting plan for this slab was a job for some experts.
The cutting plan was rendered on the slab using blue painter’s tape following a site visit to measure the partially completed bathroom. What you see in the below image was pretty much how the slab was cut, with the exception of the backsplash being cut one inch taller. Hey, we had the space and the stone.
A large section to the left will yield four rectangular pieces for the tub deck. The lower right slab is our counter. Above the counter piece is a narrow slice for the backsplash (The counter and backsplash are cut from adjacent sections in order to provide continuity between the surfaces). See where the white order form is taped? That gap is our big leftover chunk. Above this scrap are two pieces that will be fitted together to cap the top and side of the shower bench.
So how did it turn out? Was the backsplash too high? The tub surround too wide? Well?
Stay tuned for the pretty pictures to come!
fixer with a view 
Fascinating! I had no idea how this was done.