As a design professional, the tile design is lovely and perfectly proportioned IMO. You'll think so too when all the pieces come together.

Are you really asking, "Is my new baby ugly?". Or are you asking, "My baby isn't ugly, is he?" There's a difference. One wants honesty. One wants reassurance.

^^ ??? I guess hollysprings thinks it should be bigger?

OP, I think you have the proportions just right. Remember that when your rangetop goes in the grates will be higher than the counters beside it, so you dont want to start the design too low. It looks like your tilesetter took that into consideration so it should look well proportioned when your rangetop goes in.

Btw, I think your design is beautiful.

As I really don't coo over babies of any kind, I'll give you honesty. No, I don't think the scale of the square panel behind the range is too small. And I think the tile itself is gorgeous. It's a wonderful choice! It would look better as the entire backsplash than as a panel though. The scale of the design encased in the square is off. It needs a smaller pattern scale for the size of the panel. Or the pattern needs to occupy the entire space so as to appreciate it's scale.

thanks for the honest input so far..on a side note..do you guys think i should use a white grout for the marble subway tiles or a gray grout?

It really seams that you are past the point of no return without incurring a significant expense and delay in getting your kitchen done. I think it looks fine. Stop second guessing yourself.

There is already a thread that will list all the reasons to use either white or grey. This is a repaste of lt grey grout and dark grey grout.

You'll have to make this choice yourself.

Here is a link that might be useful: White versus Grey Grout for White Subway Tile

I'm all for honesty. I think the pattern should have filled the entire area and allowed the sweeping pattern to act like it continues on and disappears. My eyes and mind are trying to follow the sweeping lines and can't - it's a little disturbing.

I don't like the fact the borders stop the sweeping pattern so abruptly. can you remove the borders and continue the sweeping pattern with more tile?

It's kind of like looking at a holiday picture and only seeing half a castle - where is the rest of it?

@blfenton - It looks to me like they stopped to let the panel above the range set up before completing the rest of the tile.

But don't they have those fancy framing tiles already installed and set? Maybe I'm not seeing this thing properly and I could be confused. Won't be the first or last time. :)

Blfenton .. You r correct. They are not set but that's where the design stops. They will finish with the subway marble tile around. I found out its already set in so I guess it's a mute point now. Thanks again everyone for all the input.