a lot of people do the white subways, but with cream cabs i really like marble or cream colored crackle/glazed tiles. they come in other colors too that i think are very pretty.

this is charlie123's kitchen. i hope she doesn't mind my posting:
{{!gwi}}

and a close up of the tile. i think it's carrera marble, 2x4s:
{{!gwi}}

these are a more cream colored and look like that might even match the cabinets:
{{!gwi}}

i also like the way polished marble subways look. thinking about getting them myself. as for the best prices, i'm going through my fabricator. he seems to be able to give me the best prices, since there's no showroom/salesman (except him) involved. good luck!

sippy south, I posted about the same thing a while back (it was one of those dreaded "which white with my off white cabinets" posts - lol) But I actually got a lot of great suggestions for tile companies that carry a variety of whites, off whites, bisques, almonds, etc. I found two that will work perfectly with my off white cabinets. If you do a search on white cabinets and subway tile you should find it. Good luck~

We're having the exact same problem - 1 year later, cream cabinets, AB countertops, what subway tile? How funny! I like marble or some kind of tumbled stone subways, but we just can't commit... Good luck - I'll be very interested to hear what you do!

We used cream coloured subways to go with our cream cabs with a glaze. I tried white ones, but it looked off - made the cabs look dirty.

I actually had a hard time finding cream subways that weren't yellow or tan. Make sure you hold the tile up to your cabs to make sure the colours don't compete with each other.

I purchased my marble subway tile from
www.stonelocator.com

I ordered several samples and all were within the price range you mentioned. I just sealed mine over the weekend.

Try Horus Art Subway tiles - they have a linen white color that may work and they were inexpensive and can be bought on line - just do a google search.

i have read a few bad comments about the tile shop.....but 'm pretty sure they carry a carrera subway tile for under the price you wanted to spend.....

Thanks for the pics of these gorgeous kitchens and suggestions. I will look into those sites.
I special ordered some tumbled 6x6 carrerra marble from Lowes. When I picked it up and got it home it was way too white with my cabs. It didn't look like the sample they had in the store. I was really bummed out.
My cabinet maker will be here in the morning to tear out bottom cabs and then the floor guy to take up existing tile. I'm really excited but I feel so overwhelmed!!!
My poor kids will be eating Lean pockets and easy mac for awhile. :)

I was originally going to get carrera but the samples I got were nearly all white. I ended up buying arabescato marble. Here is a photo of the tile (no grout yet...) It has the gray & variation I hoped for.

i would buy somewhere where you can get samples. i have white cabinets and was planning to do white subway, but ended up going with bisque/cream, because it pulled together my cabinets and counters better. plain white was too stark; most people here who've done white/white have darker counters than i do, creating more contrast.
bringing home the samples - and dragging in whatever neighbors i could find - was very helpful!

Here is a link that might be useful:

I also really like the idea of a slightly contrasting tone done in a crackle glaze. Someone on here has the subways in a celadon green that looks stunning with white cabs.

(VictoriaJane, did you decide to go with the Avalon white, or something else?)

Here is a link that might be useful: great source of off-white and other color subways

I have eggshell cabinets, soapstone counters and travertine floors. I spent a lot of time picking out 2 backsplash options: an off-white subway tile that was a perfect match to my cabinets & a slate blue crackle subway tile. My husband hated both options & said he wanted honed carrara (which we have on our island). Virginia Tile (where I got my floors & backsplash samples) didn't have any honed carrara subways, so I found some at Ann Sacks for about $12. When I went to return samples to Virgina Tile, I found out they just started carrying a 3x6 honed carrara tile for about $10, so I ordered it sight unseen since they didn't have samples in yet. I was really happy with the color & quality of the tiles when they arrived. Also, I used an enhancing sealer on my backsplash to bring out the color a little more.

Here is a pic of my new kitchen:

My backsplash went up today - it's arabasceta (sp?) honed marble. I liked that it had beigy undertones and was less grey. Although, now that the tile is up, there is a definite grey tone to them. I think it ties in the s/s of the appliances, but I'll definitely need to pick a wall color that ties everything together.

Annekendo - talk to me about the enhancing sealer . . . my tile place didn't mention that as an option. Do you think it would bring out the beige undertones better? Thanks (pics below)

I used an enhancing sealer from Miracle Sealants on my travertine floors, honed carrara countertops & backsplash. An enhancing sealer will make the surface look the same as when it is wet. It won't have the sheen of being wet, but the darker color like when it is wet. You have to be careful though, because once something is enhanced, you can't undo it. I had to twist my tile guy's arm to use it since he had a customer once who hated the results and there was nothing he could do about it. I think you may be able to buy the product at Home Depot, but I bought it from a tile store.

Here is a link that might be useful: 511 Seal & Enhance

Hi circuspeanut, yes, we are going with the avalon from Subway Ceramics. I ordered a sample and couldn't believe how well it went with my cabinet color. You may recall I had been considering doing the "victorian tile" backsplash behind the range - that was Irongate by Meredith tile in a color called porcelain crackle which was also a good match, but now I'm going for something much plainer with no pattern or focal point at all. The tile is so nice I'm hoping it will just speak for itself!

I love looking at everyone's kitchens. I think I found the tile I want. I found a pillowed subway tile in honed marble. It's a little more than I wanted to spend but my tile guy is getting it for me discounted.