Hello marti8a! Well that still depends on your interior design & choice of course. But I would go for all tile. Looks neat and perfect for the kitchen. :)

With the busy lines of your cupboard doors I would go with less lines than more in a back splash. I am not sure either of these suggestions is right here. Perhaps larger tiles with little to no visible grout lines?

I also think the tile is too dark and busy.

Too busy. Too dark. Too too. Back painted glass or 18''x18'' tile so there are minimal grout lines.

Among your suggestions I think that I would almost go with all bead board and glass over the bead board behind the stove

If you add more geometry with the backsplash, the eye will not have any place to rest and the room won't feel grounded. You can use a smaller tile but will need to match the grout color and tile color.

I think a glass subway in a cream color will add light and be a good backdrop for showing off the your cabinet doors. I think the color in the picture below is too stark for your room but the total look is very close to what I am imagining.

Edited to add - To answer your question, I would use all tile but I think you need to pick one that isn't so busy.

This post was edited by deee on Fri, Nov 7, 14 at 8:29

I'm with the others...too dark and busy and not in keeping with the texture of your cabinets.

I'd go with a simple crema marfil...still light, but with a little color variation for interest. You can do the brick pattern or even squares or mosaic.

I like all tile but not that particular tile.

Dee, is that your kitchen? I love the look of it. I also thought a cream subway but couldn't find one.

Annie, I brought home a crema marfil but we didn't think it looked good either.

For all who said the tile is too dark, I think that is just a difference in the two photos. I'll go take a photo of it on the counter and post that in a little while.

I would also prefer something "quiet" like a white w/disappearing grout lines. The cabinets doors have a lot going on, so a simple but practical backsplash - all the same through the kitchen - would be what I'd like to see every day :-)

Get more of your counter material and take it all the way up?

I would def go all tile, but agree that the one you show is too dark, esp with the white appliances--

I started taking pictures of all the tile I bought yesterday and my P&S camera died. I got another camera and think I see part of the problem. I think the P&S is getting cataracts like me. Colors seem much more vibrant on the other camera. I did do color correct on the photos I posted last night, but these are better.

The problem with a lot of creamy colors is that they lean toward other colors as well. All the ones I brought home from HD had a pink color to them, and my counter definitely has a yellow in it.

Counter
{{gwi:1854492}}

Tile 1
{{gwi:1854493}}

Tile 2

Tile 3

Tile 4
{{gwi:1854496}}

Tile 5

Tile 6
{{gwi:1854498}}

Tile 7
{{gwi:1854499}}

Tile 8
{{gwi:1854500}}

Tile 9

Tile 10

Tile 11

If you want to lean yellow, how about marissa crema marfil from HD. I think a simple natural stone would be your best bet.

Hi marti - the kitchen I posted is a random one I found on the internets.

I like the simpler tiles - 1,2,4,6 and 8. The undertones from tans and cream colors are so hard to really see on a monitor. Do all the tile colors work with your cabinets as well?

Marti,

If you love the look Deee posted (and I would agree), but can't find creamy subway at Lowe's, try Daltile Rittenhouse Subway (they have a lot of whites; see below). I don't think the price will be much more than Lowe.s; $3.21 sq ft?

I have actually purchased in the past from South Cypress (seller linked) for our old house, but you may get a better deal finding Daltile local, depending on where you are and shipping costs.

I think the other choices that you showed are mixing stone with stone, which can look busy, especially w a busy cabinet front. IMHO the even coloring of a ceramic (vs the variegated coloring of the stone choices) will be better and make the cabinets "pop". I also think that choosing a backsplash closer to the color of the appliances makes it less busy because it is one less color in the mix.

HTH.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lots of off whites in subways; ignore the grays

Ditto the other posters that suggest you go with a solid color cream subway tile. While I love travertine/marble, with your countertops it's just two conflicting patterns.

Using a simple backsplash will allow your countertops to be the bling in your kitchen vs. two competing patterns with a travertine or complex pattern backsplash.

I'd also steer away from skinny glass tiles - they will be so dated looking in a few years and they're equally busy.

I love the picture Deee posted. That should be your inspiration, just in a cream color vs. white.

Just in case you aren't completely overwhelmed yet, I was thinking that a white backsplash might be worth a look. You have nice heavy white trim and white appliances so you aren't introducing a new color. To me, the color of the white beadboard looks good, it's the pattern that doesn't work.

Your amazing cabinets are so unique. The cabinets are the star and you can't compete with them or you will get dizzy. I think a very plain large tile with same color grout. It's hard to suggest color because monitors read differently. For me, this is the hardest part of the job.

WOW, your cabinet doors are SO cool, LOVE them. Were they custom made?

Would keep your BS as plain and simple as possible, to not compete with icab doors. A busy backsplash, with your CT and cabs will be ''too'' much.

Agree with Oaktown, try photoshopping your CT material on to the backsplash, to see how that would look.

Would you consider just painting the backsplash wall and putting a piece of glass behind the cooktop? Unfortunately, I don't have any paint color suggestions but someone else will.

You've looked for a year and haven't found anything. Maybe there's nothing to find because what you have is enough?

Your cabinets are so unusual and interesting and the countertop is so attractive. I don't think you need anything else competing with those things.

I was thinking on the same lines as HHireno. Your unique door fronts, added to the difficulty in matching up the counter, makes a choice of backsplash even more difficult.

I would not do any of the ones you just posted. They will clash with your counter and you will not be happy.

I agree with Mtn and Melle, if you want to do tiles. I think it will be very difficult matching up that counter, but maybe not impossible.

I like the mini crema mosaic subway tile that AnnieD suggested. From a distance it will have an optical mix of shades and won't compete size-wise with the cabinet detail.

Aww, I had the post almost finished and then pressed the wrong button and poof.

To all those who said no to beadboard, I think you are right. Dh didn't like it either.

To those who said the tile in the first picture was too dark and too busy, I don't think it is really. But as I said there, it's hard to tell when the photos aren't taken at the same time and in the same place. And since it was a sample, with no grout, the shadows there make it appear even darker. Here is a photo of the same tile. But on this one I took a photo of the tile next to the counter and then edited both of them onto my photo and I filled the grout lines with a lighter color from the tile. The dark areas are shadow so try to look past that.

{{gwi:1854506}}

This one is #8 which is a very light gray, also with grout lines filled.
{{gwi:1854507}}

This one is supposed to be crema marfil though it's hard to tell on houzz if it really is or if someone just makes a guess.
{{gwi:1854508}}

A white
{{gwi:1854509}}

deee, I think you are right that a solid cream would look good. That's what I wanted and when I couldn't find it at big box stores, I got all these to look at. Yes, all these have the same color tones as the counter with either the yellow gold or grays.

Annie, I thought I bought a crema marfil, but I guess I put it back because it was marble. I'd rather have a ceramic than a natural stone that has to be sealed and shows food stains the way marble can. The one I keep editing into my kitchen looks like stone more than any I've seen, but it is ceramic.

Tile #4 has the best colors for my counter, but I don't like that the pattern looks like a screenprint.

Oaktown, when I found this counter, I got the last 3 pieces of this particular color, and after that I couldn't find enough even for a small cabinet. I don't know if it is easier to find now. Maybe they found another pocket or whatever they do - I haven't looked again. But when we did the counters, we briefly considered putting it on the backsplash, but it was just going to be too thick and the edge would show on each end.

mtnrdredux, thanks for the link. There is one bisque color on there that I think would look good. There is a DalTile in Dallas but I'd rather not drive that far if I can find it locally. I'll look on their website and see if there are any local stores that carry it. You'd think that would be common everywhere.

Sixtyohno, you're right, and every monitor probably shows color differently. And as I found this morning, even cameras don't show colors the same. Even with the good camera I have to look at it twice to see why it looks more yellow in photos than it does in person and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that in person, the eye picks up on all the colors where a camera merges them all together into a single image.

mdln, yes the cabinets are custom; they were here when we bought the house. Several of our neighbors have the same cabinets and even a friend in Dallas has them. Maybe that style was popular around here in the early 80s. We added cabinets last year and had a hard time finding someone with the right bits and willingness to make more doors. Evidently putting them together is a little tricky. I wouldn't choose them if I were building, but I like them. They are one of those things that belong in that thread about things everyone used to have but couldn't afford it now.

hhireno, what I have no is not enough - it's still bare sheetrock that hasn't even been painted. lol I need something that can take some scrubbing. I thought about glass behind the stove, but it's just too modern looking for my house.

Do the above pictures appeal to anyone or should I keep searching?

Are you in Benicia? Surely there is another tile supplier within an hour or two drive.

Any back splash with texture or color variation needs to be avoided.

I'm about an hour from DalTile, with good driving conditions. But the last time I went, all the exits I needed were closed with construction and the construction delays added another 30 to the trip. There are a lot of small flooring stores in towns around me, so surely one of them has something.

I agree Emmarene, that's why I vote for a ceramic!

Marti,

That's so cool you got someone to copy the doors!

consider penny round. lines do not work visually with that cabinet style. it is just too busy and hard on the eyes.