Background: My house is a 1929/1930 Mediterranean revival. I am going for a vintage vibe, but not a reproduction of an old kitchen. As I will show later, my floor is travertine, but with a checkerboard of salmon/coral and tan tiles, the cabs are light brown maple shaker, and the countertops are a grey-blue soapstone with black flecking. The walls are a fairly bright yellow. (I was aiming for butter yellow and missed; I have grown to like them, however.) The fridge and DW will be covered in patinaed copper, and I am planning to use copper cabinet hardware. There is still plenty of stainless steel, however, as I did not get the copper sink or range hood I coveted.

I was influenced by the succession of "timeless" threads; I do not delude myself to think my kitchen will not age, but I'd like it to age gracefully. With no offense intended to others, I also happen genuinely not to like most of the current BS trends. So, all in all, I am looking for something that is a little offbeat and memorable, but tasteful. Frankly, I also do not want to spend $30/sq. ft. or even a fraction of that.

With all of this in mind, I think an interesting design in simple ceramic tile may fill the bill. I think such a thing would make the BS hard to date. I have two contenders to suggest, but would really love to hear ideas from others. I need help both on the pattern and on the colors.

The first pattern contender is to blatantly rip off, err, I mean pay deep compliments to, Melisstar's lovely kit. This would employ subway tiles set in a herringbone. However, the orientation of the herringbone would be not the usual angled one, but rather running vertically:

Note that my house has original subway tiles in the upstairs bath, and many other vintage ceramic tiles and designs throughout, so I think it could "support" subways in the kitchen.

The other contender is a hopscotch pattern. Here is a schematic of that pattern:

I would probably use larger tiles (maybe 6") in a sage green color, and smaller tiles (maybe 2") in a lighter yellow than the walls, but hopefully something that matches.

Here is a mood board that incorporates that backsplash (although my range is really a black BS that does not have brass trim):

And here is a closeup of some of the relevant elements. The cabinet color is visible above as well as on the wooden square on the left. Next is a tile in Daltile "Cypress" and then a small one in Daltile "Cornsilk," and another small Cypress. The red and tan squares represent the floor, and the copper pipe represents the patinaed copper panels on fridge and DW, as well as the eventual pulls. The countertop is Python soapstone, and you can see a bit of the yellow in our stained glass panel. (The brass pull was there to see if antiqued brass was tenable; we don't think it is.)

So, can the backsplash geniuses at GW suggest patterns and colors that they think would work?

As always, you have my lasting gratitude for getting me this far!! (But that and $4 will get you a latte!)

As much as I like the notion of the two colored pattern; I think it'll be way too competing with the patterned floor. I prefer the first idea in a single color (and I'm not one to typically go safe)

I wish to say, my 1940 bathrooms have well preserved hopscotch porcelain tile which is very nice. That said, it does require a labor of love on my part to clean those small grout regions as well as the tile itself from active dirt brought in by family members. I may be applying a sealer after I research the matter.

Good luck.

Good luck! It sounds like your kitchen will look great whatever you decide.

- Size/shape considerations: Are the travertine floor tiles the same size as in the photos, or larger? If the floor tiles are 12x12, I think you could get away with the smaller BS tile in the same shape. But in the photo, the floor tile and BS tile are the same shape, but not the same size, which could look odd.

- Shape/Pattern: Likewise, having the checkerboard on the floor and a different pattern of squares on the wall sounds a bit on the busy side. To me, having a square BS tile of similar size but in a different layout pattern would be distracting, so if going with the same shape, I'd prefer a difference in tile size and then use a similar pattern.

- Color: The blue (while lovely on its own) isn't working for me in the mood board or in the photo. I either want it to blend in more (such as the yellow on the wall or the yellow in the stained glass), or stand out more (the red in the stained glass, or black from the counter and range). I think if you go with a colored glazed ceramic, do just one color and not two, because again it would either mirror or compete with the floor.

- Finish: I think the glazed ceramic would go very well with the other rooms of your home. However, the tumbled travertine floor is a bit more rustic. Again, for this reason I would not do a similar shape and size in a glazed material. So far you have a rustic stone finish on the floor, a more refined but still "natural" stone finish on the counters, and the glaze would be one more hard element in a new material.

- Option 1 idea: What about a glazed yellow or black ceramic penny tile? It's small enough that the difference in size and shape wouldn't be too close to the checkerboard pattern on the floor. While a third time of finish material, again the small size could help it blend in.

- Option 2 idea: What about a smooth sheet material that won't compete with the tile color/shape/pattern/finish material of the floor? It sounds like you like copper. How would a natural, patina-ed, or hammered copper look to you? Stainless steel is an option. So are copper, black-painted or stainless tin ceiling tiles, which are easy to install as a BS. The "living" finish of copper could compliment the rustic nature of the floor.

OK, that's it for my non-expert ideas! Can't wait to see what you come up with. Lovely kitchen.

We have penny tiles in a bath that was added in the 1930s, so I think they're the right vintage.

Melissastar's backsplash is lovely...copy-worthy for sure.

The hopscotch is awesome but the similarity of not only shape but scale with the floor would probably be discordant. Check out that Granada site, it's fun.

It's like getting dressed to look your best.....put on everything you want to wear today, then take one thing off and you'll look just right. Didn't Coco Chanel say something like this?

OT, we are so alike. Gungho with the DIY soapstone, though you blow me out of the water with your gorgeous runnels. Lighter stained cabs. Wanting a different backsplash than what is currently trending. And I even painted my kitchen what I thought was a buttery yellow that turned out to be a need my sunglasses yellow. I ended up going back and begging the paint guy to help me. My walls are now a buttery yellow.

You can probably recite old soapstone threads in your sleep by now, ;) but here are a couple:

DIY soapstone/GW/don_chuwish

I like the hopscotch pattern in general but it creates a bit of an optical illusion effect that I think I would find annoying and distracting in a kitchen. The herringbone is very nice.

Thanks!

Here are a couple of shots of the floor:

The busy pattern at the top is a powder room near the kitchen, and is original to the house.

More responses/info later as time allows. More ideas cheerfully accepted!

RemodelFla: I am old enough, too. Thought I would update the expression for the Starbucks generation. ;-) I was really hoping to use more than one color to tie various color elements in the kitchen together. Perhaps that can be done with one color+decos...

Wolfgang: What a great site! I could spend (more!) hours there.

Sparkling: thanks for the note! I am pleased to hear that hopscotch was authentically used in pre-War houses. I used epoxy grout on my floor, and I think I may do that again on the walls, assuming I do tile. If not, sealer is a must, I agree.

Quirky: Interesting! I had never even HEARD of anaglypta before. (Neither, evidently, had my spellchecker, as it just flagged it.) Will look into it.

Mizinfo: Wow, thanks for the careful analysis. I think you make a number of excellent points that were there, but hard to see until you articulated them.
I noted some answers to your questions earlier, but again, the floor tiles are filled and honed/polished 6x6. In my hopscotch plans, I was going to use 6x6 large tiles, and 2x2 small tiles. That was mostly to get the balance of colors between the two correct. It amazed me that, when using standard 4.25x4.25 tiles + 2x2 tiles, the area of the small ones looks far more than the 22% that it actually is.
I definitely see your points about the interrelationship between size/shape/pattern.
Color: Umm, not sure what looked blue on your monitor. The large tiles in my mood board were supposed to be olive/cypress/gray green. (I actually took the image from the Daltile site.)
Finish: do you think matte tiles would be better, in light of my comments about the counters and floors?

We thought about a copper backsplash. Still thinking, I guess. I worry because I am using them already for fridge and DW. Here are my eventual panels getting a much-needed sunbath:

Might be too much copper. Personally, not nuts about stainless.

All for now! A.

I really like the choices you've made! Can't wait to see what BS you choose!

Marcolo, I like that idea, too. That is what is in my bath (with celadon subways, black cap, and B/W stenciled listel). In the kitchen, almost all of the backsplash ends under a cabinet, up under the light rail. Hence, not a lot of space for classic bullnose to top it off. Do you think that having the top course tile (not bullnose, since it butts up to bottom of cabinet) be in a contrasting color makes sense?

1929: Thank you for your thoughts. You know, I am coming to your way of looking at things (i.e., simple is better). I bet Coco wasn't going to the beach the day she said that! ;-)

Lax: Thanks. I think I can avoid small slivers by judicious choice of large/small ratio. I think that if I choose 6x6 and 2x2, depending on exact size and grout size, I can keep the pattern "locked" such that you always get either 1/3, 2/3, or a full tile showing. But definitely something to bear in mind with hopscotch.
We do have a lot of commonality going on! (I think the runnels comment goes too far, though.) I assure you, however, that I do not have stick-wielding kiddos running around my house! Too funny about the yellow.

I should explain that those striped drawers will not be visible in the final product. They are the "mixed hardwood" option from Scherr's. I absolutely love 'em, but they will be covered up by the drawer fronts. (I am waiting to get the cabinet pulls in hand before installing the drawer fronts.)

cawaps: Excellent idea! Seriously, this is a really promising idea! It is simple, cheap, interesting, unusual. It could be used with 1, 2, 3 or more colors. Funny, I did see it and like it in the DAT thread, but it never crossed my cranium to use it in my kitchen. Humans are funny, no?
This idea reminds me of a floor I saw in a cafe in Amsterdam. I was so taken with it that I took a million pictures. All of the tiles were the same size, but they did a really neat effect with 6 or so colors:

These tiles we not even set on the diagonal! They paralleled the wall. They just made this feeling of being diagonal solely through color choice.
In my (and Pal's) case, what do you reckon for sizing? Do you think he used 1x2's?

It needs 5 courses of tile to work (you might be able to shorten the top or bottom row), so you'd have to work backwards for your tile dimension. Pal's board showed about 16 tiles in the width of what I think was a 36 inch range, so appx 2 inches wide. Maybe a 2x4 tile?

For offbeat tile ideas, I've always liked the tile in the Barney's NY ladies room. Not your colors, but the patterns are fun.

Angie, I'm the one who once started a thread on disquieting backsplashes. The hopscotch pattern is one of those, at least for me. Intellectually you can rationalize it but visually, it will never sit still. Your eyes will tell your brain to figure out why it seems to have movement and you will lose your train of thought. Every time I'm in The Tile Store or a similar place and I see one of these, it just stops my thinking and takes me on a birdwalk elsewhere. Can't think straight.

I veto the pennyrounds. Knowing that they are historically accurate is not a sufficient reason for them.

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The rest of this is a presumptuous personal commentary and you can stop reading before venturing below.

I am assuming that you are interested in a somewhat-historical, happily colorful and playful yet working kitchen. Nevertheless, there needs to be a peacefulness, especially if there is not a large space. Am I correct?

You already have a number of geometric rectangles and diamonds. They are dominant, despite the small amount of rounded floral items within the stained glass. The sink edge is another minor area of roundedness but it is very different from the flowers.

You're thinking very well; those tiles in the photo are good ones that compliment everything. But your question is how to assemble them so that they play well with the whimsical kitchen and with the historicity. Try to rephrase that, though, and ask yourself "what is my reason for having this backsplash."

One thing I always consider when I make a design is "where are the clowns?" meaning what are the items that demand us to look at them. You can only have a couple up to a handful before they begin to compete and make a circus. Your range window and your floor are two "clowns." The copper itself will be a major design factor and whether it will retreat to secondary status or be a "look at me"" is not clear yet. The light fixtures in the mood board are not subtle either and the countertop has diagonal movement. Your cabs have a lot of rectangularity. And your windows have non-diagonal rectangular grids in them. The floor has naturalness but some of the tiles you've seen here are very artificial and unnatural. The usual "wait until it's all in before you add a backsplash" might be good advice here. Believe it or not, you might do well with a wallpaper that adds only texture and no definable design. In fact, will you really need a backsplash?

If you crave color, you still have fabric and objects to add and much can be done with them.

I very much like that multicolor tile floor from your vacation--I can see why you photographed it. But it has the luxury of covering a very large space and can take its time being quirky. My need for peace would say go for restrained quirkiness, at best, because the room is too tight for a battle.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Somertile-12x12-inch-Cuivre-1-inc h-Happy-Translucent-Glass-Mosaic-Tiles-Case-of-13/6065444/product.html

To get the ball rolling, though, first I will post the money-no-object solution. (It's not that bad, at $35/sq. ft. Still too rich for my blood.) If I didn't care about the money, I think I would put this in. The curves would go nicely with my arches and curved stain glass window and range hood, I think.

I adore this! It is completely custom, so for $35/sq. ft. you get to choose the glaze, the height, and the focus point of the vortex!

The link below has several examples, the first one is similar to your darker floor color. Scroll down and take a look at the lighter colored ones around the cooktop which is also noce travertine, same as the floor.

Your kitchen would look stunning if your carried it all the way to the ceiling around your range hood and definitely keep it in one color as the natural variations in the stone will create enough of a pattern.

These tiles were purchased in 2009 for a cost of around $4.50 sq foot plus installation. Because the granite is so busy and it's got a lot of green and gold in it we didn't use it on the backsplash but used Venetian plaster instead.

Venetian plaster is gorgeous and insanely cheap if you do it yourself. While you're on the link below, use the search box and type in Venetian plaster to see several examples.

You could do a beautiful terra cotta color plaster and seal it with Bri Wax for a rustic finish or an acrylic gloss if you want to add some sparkle.

Cateskitchen: I really like that Daltile Cypress color, too. We kept (keep) vacillating whether to go full-on Tuscamerican coloration. Sitting in Panera bread will do that to you (yes, pull you in both directs!)

Flwrs: Isn't Melissastars backsplash (posted in first picture) just lovely in the vertical herringbone/pale yellow? This is still a contender.

Jessica: Boy, that first diagonal red/white backsplash appeals to me (no surprise!). I, too, was hoping someone with more refined taste than I would weigh in on whether this is too much of a good thing. My head says that it is.

Lax: thanks for the actual penny link. Learning how long it took those folks to accomplish that officially ends that idea for me!! The floor that I put in took soooooo much longer than I planned -- never again!

Marcolo: Thanks for the details. You'll see your suggestion show up in my schematic pictures later. I really like some of those MTW combos. I am inspired indeed!

Second: "But where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns. Quick, send in the clowns." I think your analysis is spot on; you nailed it. Yes, your assumptions about my desires are correct. And I think you have correctly identified the clowns I already have sent in. You have influenced me. I think I will back off and relegate this element to "rodeo clown" status: this clown will work in the background and merely support the major players. Thank you so much for putting it that way!

Bmore: sounds tasty!

Deedles (and everybody): On my thread where I was discussing picking my floor, it was pointed out that in the 20s/30s, floors were more wild (like mine) but backslashes were either nonexistent or austere.

Athomeinva: I love that backsplash! My girlfriend's boyfriend (if you can still say "boyfriend" at our age) has a counter and backsplash like that that well match his 1925 home. Another contender.

Thrauli: Those mosaics certainly do look happy. Thanks for pointing it out.

First, the simplest design. Here is a rendering of plain ol' 4.25"x4.25" tiles with a pencil liner. My antediluvian CAD program is not great at colors. I am trying to convey either a creamy, off-white tile or perhaps a pale yellow. Liner and accents are intended to be sage green, although I am (alternately) interested in a darker tone (i.e., artichoke or Daltile cypress):

Now, let's jazz that up a little. (Not too much, see clowns discussion above.) 4.25"x4.25" in a brick pattern:

As another option in this vein, let's try 3x6 subway in a brick pattern, but set vertically:

I know which one I like best. Do you like any of these?

Your kitchen rocks, btw.

Ok, found pic in my oodles of saved "stuff"

Marcolo: I agree, that tile is the bee's knees. (Hey, it is a 1920's kitchen!)

pawa, dseng, Baltra, jessica, and deedles: thank you so much. You made my day with your nice comments. As far as designs go, I like #2 the best so far, too!

home4all6: That is a nice pencil liner!

I am about to post a couple more ideas inspired by athomeinva.

(I just now see that I made a mistake with the window. The top course of tile needs to drop down under the window. Ooops.)

Angie's research unearthed an old thread from when my DH and I remodeled, about 4 years ago now, and I was planning a running bond backsplash with 4x4 glazed ceramic tiles.

I'm excited that she's considering something like this :-) Here are pics she asked me to add to her thread:

I'll have to google and check out the rest of your lovely kitchen, now, melle!

Although I, of course, love the herringboned subway idea, my choice for your kitchen would be more along the lines of Marcolo's suggestion...contrasting pencil liner and 4X4s. I particularly liked the second graphic you did, with the running bond under the pencil liner. I could also really see the Pal 3 colored tile thing. Sounds like you've got multiple good options and aren't likely to go wrong with anyone of them, though!

Deedles: I continue to like #2, too. Boy, I thought almost everything that mattered in the kitchen was already in! The copper appliance covers are the big unsettled element, I guess.

Jessica: I like the diamonds, too. (My problem: I like everything!) The difference between the two patterns is very small -- the diamonds are offset from each other in the second one, but stacked in the first.)

jmcgowan: I appreciate your support! (I was going to say "your constancy and support," meaning that I appreciate how you are continuing to help, but I guess I had to remove the "constancy" part to allow you to flip-flop! But seriously, the "anti-clown" argument continues to have merit.

Melle_Sacto: Oooh, thank you so much for posting your running-bond 4x4s. I appreciate your effort. They really look classy. Examples of this are a bit hard to come by, so it is really nice to see it in a photo. Thanks.

gregincal: Thanks, I like these directions, too. I am kinda torn between KISS (with the running bond) and incorporating diamonds to tie in the floor. Hey, maybe your idea of using fewer diamonds may be the right compromise for my situation.

Sweeby: Thank you for the positive feedback. I appreciate your comments on the colors, because I am really weak in that department. Happily, I think all my schemes have the cypress downplayed to small doses now.

Melissa: What can I say? You are welcome, and Thank you for giving me the inspiration. Also, thank you for the feedback on the alternate designs. On my long list of things to do is to draw up your idea on the same scale as the others. At first I thought I did not need to do that, because I had your picture to go by, but I think I will do it to give a fairer comparison.

As well as my imitation of Melissastar's vertical herringbone:

Finally, I couldn't resist throwing in the ringer:

Any takers?

Of the other designs you've posted, the ones with the diamonds look like they fit better to me. Since your diamonds are so small, it looks like you've put just the right amount in.

I have not yet decided. I am "sleeping on it" for a while. I keep gravitating back to 4.25x4.25 in a running bond (i.e., a brick pattern), what we were calling #2 above. (I should learn to label things as I post them!) And yes, I agree with you, a jogging pencil liner seems likely to make the final cut!

I think one of the deciding factors will be exactly what tile (color, shading, sheen, $) I can find. My "plan of inaction" now involves languorously shopping for the right tile. I am actually away from my home (for work) for a few more weeks, so I am just looking at national sources and big-box stores. I intend to look at smaller tile stores when I get back.

Thanks so much for that inspiration picture. You may have sealed the deal! ;-)

It's not everyone's cup of tea but the patterns in our kitchen work pretty good.

Floor - Caboose Red/Tan/Crossville Tile

Backsplash: White subway w/trim, and ruby red glass diamond inserts.

Behind the stove and sink I used light yellow glass diamond inserts.

The yellow diamonds don't show up well in this picture.