That is a tough one. I am a big fan of symmetry so I would want the same thing on both sides of the window. I would be tempted to tile the entire window wall (including behind the fridge and above the window)

What about tiling the window wall with a solid color from the same line; the light background color? I think the small chopped up space around the window is too small to handle the great pattern.

I agree that if you do tile, don't go busy. I can see you are daring when it comes to design choices based on your faucet, lighting fixture, and tile. Let these elements do the speaking in your kitchen and let the exterior wall bask in all its glory of a big window with beautiful casing. The most tiling I'd consider is bringing the same tile out on the exterior wall 12 inches or so to where the upper cabinet ends depth wise. But the little strip to the left of the coffee outlet that runs all the way up and the rest of the wall - just let it be naked and paint it a neutral color that would go with your back splash and counters. Also trim out the bottom of the window with a water resistant material if you are messy dish doer like me.

I know that this isn't answering the question you asked, but have you considered adding a cabinet above the fridge and running a panel nect to the fridge, separating it from the counter space on the sink wall? Not only woulkd it give you additional storage, it would give you a neat place to stop the backsplash. It will require a bit of tricky finish carpentry work when blending the mouldings (window moulding might have to be cut back and will have to "turn" to meet the panel and cabinet -- or the whole window moulding simplified), but I think it would be a good solution for you.

I would leave that beautiful window to speak for itself...It's THE showstopper on that wall as well as that wonderful view of all that green out that window! You are so lucky!

Personally I would bring it to the corner where the mixer/coffeemaker are and then stop. I think the great tile design would be better kept on that wall and would be chopped up on the window wall. As Annsch said, I'd leave that window to be the star of that wall!

Color match the dark color in the tile and just paint the wall space if you can't locate a tile in that color. You can always put a coat of poly over it for additional durability behind the sink. Going dark with no pattern there will let all of the white window and trim stand out and be the star of that wall.

I'm less conservative, and would personally tile all the way across the sink counter over to the doorway, going to the floor, using the height you mocked up to the left of the window. I love the look of a tiled 'wainscot' and did this myself, but! I do have plain yellow tile, so your mileage may vary. But I think it's grand to have full tile like that, and succeeds in unifying a room like nothing else.

This is an ancient pic of my kitchen, forgive me oldtimers for the repetition, conveying the idea. Does your tile line have a plain-colored picture rail tile? That would be ideal to top it off.

I would be tempted to do what momtofour suggests and stop the tile at the corner. The window wall is great as is and I'm afraid tile of any sort will detract from the great window and view. Go for extra-protection paint/poly behind the sink and call it done.

Skylight dormer: isn't it the same color as the ceiling? That makes sense to me.

Laughing at your 'fridge! When we cleaned ours off (it was much more cluttered than yours), we discovered coupons that expired 5 years ago. We also had a soccer photo of a then-8 year old nephew who recently graduated from high school, and a middle school photo of a niece who's now 20-something and expecting her first child next month. Refrigerators - the historical depositories of the 21st century!

Also, just as a wild idea, if you don't do tile all the way over, what about doing a row of it along the bottom of the skylight shaft?

a la:

I might even go for tiling the whole inner skylight shaft, in a Swedish winter kitchen kind of way.

ooooooooh. Kinda like that idea of tiling inside of skylight shaft. But, again, leave the window wall to it's own beautiful devices. I also like the idea of painting that window wall a color to compliment the tile color and make that window and gorgeous trim to pop out even more. Just a thought. :)

Curious, how much room do you have between the dishwasher and the cabinet to the left of it?

Thanks

oldbat2be,
How do you like the stainless steel countertop next to the range? I can't help but noticing it.
Thanks,
Ying

Thanks all so much for all the feedback and suggestion! I am mulling over and playing with your ideas.

Fridge is definitely an issue. It will be replaced at some point, possibly with a counter depth. I have a little over 36" here. The wall to the right of the fridge is not structural, but we do have a light switch (for the kitchen table area) here, as well as an outlet on it. jakebedy great call out on your part. I don't think I want to build the cabinet until I have the fridge I want but maybe it's time to start designing this area.

Another issue is the color introduced by the green/blue in the breakfast nook.

Here are your suggestions, mocked up:

hags00 - continue same tile (this will probably break the bank)
{{!gwi}}

enduring - use light background color (wrong color but the idea is there)

{{!gwi}}

dmsohio, momtofour - I take the point about only bringing the tile out a little. Upper cabinets on that wall are 18" deep; I might bring the tile out less or not at all.

hollysprings - dark with no pattern (again, not the right color). DH loves the idea of paint.
{{!gwi}}

circuspeanut - always love seeing your kitchen, thanks for the tiled skylight :)

tiled wainscot, light upper - the right side just fades into the fridge. With a cabinet here, effect would be very different.

tiled wainscot, dark upper:
{{!gwi}}

suzannes1: skylight dormer is same color as ceiling. So much white..... Yes, my pictures and notes are pretty old, but they have meaning. I should just take a picture of them and then clean up.

annsch - I haven't put any thought into this area yet. While I love the window, it just doesn't look 'right' yet. Keep those ideas coming please. I just love how your kitchen is coming along!

aries61 - a nanometer or two. :) We measured this VERY carefully. With cabinet drawers open, it's 4.5 inches from the cabinet opening to the corner.

{{!gwi}}

yingnj - we like the SS countertop very much, thanks for noticing. It's great to extend the space we have around the cooktop. Plenty of room to put hot things down.

I like your last option best.

I would not turn the corner with the patterned tile but if you really want to I think it should not be brought up that high next to the window. I think it would look better at the same height as the tile under the upper cabinets. I do like the option with a darker color on the window wall.

No I take my tile idea back:) I think what hollysprings suggested is probably the best. Just paint. If you go light or dark with the paint it would look good. I think the one wall of your tile would be enough. I don't like the skylight tiled. The photoshop of the tile all the way to the fridge isn't bad though. Its pretty powerful and may be too much. I'd skip the wainscot idea in this case, too fussy.

Re: ending tile in a corner. This is sort of an extreme example of a side splash but what the point of the linked picture is that you can curve down the tile to under the light switch. I have seen it done with other back splash material such as tile or stone and it looks pretty neat. I do love the creativity of this back splash! Link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: