We had some challanges with this as well. We went with a cream subway tile that was cut a bit uneven with a mocha crushed glass strip 2/3 the way up. My husband thought the crackle looked too busy so we went with a glossy finis.
I am not sure how to post here.sorry

We went with a simple creamy crackle and are very happy with it. Good luck with your decision! (Sorry for the blurry photo!)
{{!gwi}}

hollister.... beautiful! can i ask the make of the tile.

crystalheart that crushed mocha border sounds really pretty; do u have any pics?thanks

Thanks Rsslp! The tile is Sonoma Star in Butter Crackle (around $12 sq. ft, I think).

Thanks Rsslp! The tile is Sonoma Star in Butter Crackle (around $12 sq. ft, I think).

Hollister, that color is perfect! How did I miss it? Somehow I was looking at the Sonoma Stellar series and never saw the Star series! (slightly different colors in each). I was looking for something light.

Rsslp, some of the tiles, like those above, have a lot of depth. You said you were looking at a gray tile. I was looking at Stellar "smoke", which is a bit darker than the butter (and more greenish than gray). It might be something you'd like. It goes really well with the Typhoon Bordeaux.

Sonoma Tilemakers Stellar Crackle in "Smoke":

The edges are a little darker

I ended up going with a light travertine which was tumbled (but smooth...not so rustic). The sample board was just what I wanted. Unfortunately, when sealed, it came out with a lot of variation and a different tone. Not what I was after. BUT, it's been a few months and now it's fine. I do think something like Typhoon needs a quieter backsplash (like the crackle tiles) to show it off.

Carmel Stone Imports "Time Worn" Series Light Travertine (very uniform color on the sample board!)

And installed.

Grrrr. It actually looks good, just not what I was expecting, so it was quite a shock. Natural stone is beautiful, but defintely not uniform :-)

HTH! Sorry about the big pics. Enjoy your Typhoon Bordeaux!

We used Tilevera 2x8 Honed Marble Tile in Canvas. Below are a couple of pictures.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

thank you all for your input! it is so awesome to be able to look at all your amazing kitchens for inspiration.

hollister... i just looked at the sonoma tile in butter crackle and I absolutely love it!

very exciting :)

Glad I'm not the only one having a problem deciding !!! Crystalheart - would love to see your pics. I too am considering a mostly monochromatic backsplash with some glass tile strips to break it up. Would love to see what you did !

dkitchenreno - your kitchen is really lovely. The travertine backsplash looks super!

I mean honed marble. Whatever it is, looks great. ;-)

Thanks Rsslp! Beautiful kitchens posted here!

I used Sonoma tile Stellar collection in Vanilla. My cabinets have a hint of gold in the glaze, so I chose to compliment that color in the granite. Also, I used bronze accent tiles for interest. The handmade tiles are beautiful because the color of each tile is a little different. The tile requires larger grout lines (1/4", sanded) than I expected which I did not learn until installaton day. Overall, I am very pleased with the result.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Our granite is typhoon bordeaux. We went with something darker in our backsplash:

hollister and dkitchenreno.... i see you both decided to go with just a subway tile and no decorative focal point behind the range. I am struggling with this decision myself. DId you decide against it to allow the granite to be the focal point? TIA for your input :)

We're also considering Typhoon Bordeaux and if so, planning on going with glass tile by Kate-Lo in a "wheat" color. It matches the background of the granite perfectly...

heather_kitchen....it has been a year so this may not find you. Did you go with the glass tile? Any pics? I've recently had TB installed. I could not find Kate-Lo "wheat" in a google search so maybe it has been discontinued or is called something else now? Also, anyone out there use TB with light maple cabinets? If so, would be curious to know what color backsplash you went with. The creamy whites look awesome with the white cabinets. Wish I could change mine to white! Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Remodel 2011