I like the crackle too. There is something so beautiful and soft about your kitchen. I bet a pillowed subway would look fantastic too.

I like the crema marfil. I have delicatus granite with creamy white cabs and my backsplash tile is on the cream side...I think that a whiter tile would pull more white out of the delicatus. However, if the marfil has a lot of grey veining, you may want to look for a whiter subway. (Sometimes I wish I had.)

I'm not very good with backsplash decisions... so I'll leave that to the experts here. You kitchen is lovely though!

Question: I am planning almost the same kitchen design cream/white perimeter, dark island, delicatus (or similar) granite....What brand are you cabinets and what color is your island (it's hard to see in the picture)?

I love the mosaic mother of pearl. I have a similar backsplash (without the stainless steel in the mosaic) and it is the star of my kitchen. I was reluctant to go that way because 1) it was WAY over my budget and 2) I had envisioned going with very safe white crackle subway tile, like the ones you are considering. A designer talked me into it and I can't tell you how happy I am I went with the MOP.

Pipdog - that is gorgeous!

chitown - I like the crackle subway best and think the other two compete with your beautiful granite. But I do love the MOP so I can understand if you want to add a row or two of that to spice it up a bit, and perhaps not have "yet another backsplash with white subway tile" (does that sound like Marcolo or what?)

Thanks everyone. The mother of pearl does not go with the crackle so if I go that route the MOP is out.

For some reason this lot of crema marfil is whiter than most I have seen. I am worried that if I buy a box of it the tiles will look different.

mercymygft the cabinets are Homecrest. The perimeter is ivory and the island is java (it is a dark chocolate brown color)

pipdog that backsplash is so stunning it makes me not want to go with the crackle subway!! Your kitchen is amazing!

I agree with enduring. Crackle. The marble will be too white and if you get a lot with the grey veins, I think it will compete.
The reason why pip's backsplash looks so good is because her counter is more subdued than yours.
Maybe you can find a way of working in the MOP, but than yes, you have to make sure it blends with whatever tile you do.

With the color of your cabs I think crackle bianco blends beautifully.

chitown...Thanks for the info, and good luck with your decision!

pipdog... Wow!! that backsplash is gorgeous! I don't know how much it set you back, but it is definitely the star of the show! What is your countertop??

I can't seem to find my post! I had told Chitown that I liked the crackle bianco the best and I loved her kitchen.

I had told pipdog that her backsplash was gorgeous.

Let us know what you decide.

thanks lynn, mercy, newsouthernbelle and chitown. My counters are Madre Perla/Mother of Pearl. It's a pretty mellow stone with not much movement. The backsplash is onyx.

I like the bianco crackle better than your other samples. It looks beautiful so far. Remodelfla used my word--soft. And thanks for getting Pip to post her kitchen again! :)

Pipdogs, what brand cabinets do you have, the hardware name and the finish color because I am in love! Again, looking at your kitchen, that backsplash is so perfect!

Pipdog, I just noticed, I think your cabinets are inset and I love that look! Please tell me more about them.

Chitown, I was drawn to the crackle, too... until I saw the MoP and Pipdog led me down the garden path. lol

Too bad the MoP is not coordinating well, it's lovely!

Would you mind if I asked the dimensions for your island and kitchen as shown in the 2 walls on the picture? I'm driving myself crazy with measurements...and get a sense of how inches are translating in pictures. Big old dilemma about islands versus peninsulas going on over here I won't bore you with.

Your kitchen is coming together beautifully. Congratulations!

thanks, lynn, they are custom cabinets built by a Los Angeles cabinet maker. They are inset but I don't have much info on the cabinets - during the building/reno process I had a newborn and an 17 month old so I just pointed to the ones I liked in a showroom. The entire remodel was a big sleep-deprived blur to me. :)

The cabinet hardware is from the Great Indoors. Here's the link.

(sorry to hijack the thread - now back to Chitown's backsplash!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Indoor pull

I like the subway tile farthest to the right.

The center marble is too grey, and the other stuff is too yellow.

Thanks for your help everyone. We are going with the crackle bianco. I am still debating putting 3 rows of that mother of pearl mosaic above the first row of subway tiles because I can't get it out of my mind!

Thanks, too, for the compliments. It has been a roller coaster ride of a remodel but it has been fun too!

Steph2000 my island is 5ft 7 inches by 6 feet. It was supposed to be 6ft by 6ft but I wanted the granite to be a single piece so I made it smaller. I also have 48 inches on every side.

The L shaped part is 11.5ft by 12.5ft. (there's a pantry to the right of the refrigerator)

I would not do an accent a row of accent tile. It will date your gorgeous kitchen. The subway is classic.Pipdog's look is classic also, b/c h/she did the entire backsplash in the mosaic. It's all or nothing! Rows of accent tile are best left for the bathroom.

I would go with the whole wall of mother of pearl too. I am biased because I am going to do it that way for my kitchen too:)
OP, Sorry to hijack your thread but I wanted to comment on Pipdog's beautiful kitchen and ask her a question too.
PipDog, I have said it before but just want to tell you how much I love your kitchen. Also, is your cabinets a warm white? I have a creamy white cabinets in the perimeter with espresso in the island. And a black granite in the perimeter with kashmir white in the island. Marble seems to gray for my cabinets and I don't want to do off white for the backsplash. So, I was wondering if the Mother of pearl may be the one to pull in the cream and grays together?

Chitown:

I LOOOVE your granite. It is the exact granite I am looking for. SO and I have been going head to head over the granite for months now and can seem to come to no agreement on the granites that we have seen, but yours is exactly what we would both love. I assume you are in, well, Chitown... so it'd be a long haul for me to check out your granite yard as I'm in Florida.

Anything else you could tell me about the granite? Maybe I can call around to some places down here in the South...

It really is absolutely beautiful!

Pipdog, I love your backsplash!!

Ladoladi Thank you so much! Yes, I am in Chicago and our granite was bought in a North suburb.

The label on our slabs said delicatus white but they are far creamier and have A LOT less black in them than the other 6 slabs of delicatus white they had there that day(much whiter and busier). I'm sorry to say that most of the delicatus in kitchens on this forum don't really look like mine.

I wish there was more I could tell you! Maybe my slabs should have had a different name? I know they are from Brazil and they had a mesh backing on them......

Good luck to you!

Chitown_remodel, I agree with your that your Delicatus Granite counters are less gray and less black and creamier than others I saw in person at stores and on this site but they are nice. So glad you chose the crackle bianco for your backsplash!

Pipdog, thanks for letting me know that your cabinets are inset door style and giving me the link of your hardware.

Wondering what you chose and if you have installed? Could you tell me the name of the bianco tile -- I'm trying to find something similar. Your kitchen looks so nice - cann't wait to see the backsplash.