- Small kitchen with small island
- Medium-dark cabinets
- Black appliances
- Fairly small backsplash area: 15 linear ft x 18" high, interrupted by window
- Plenty of natural light, which will make the blue flecks shine: Good-sized window above sink + bank of windows in adjacent eating area
- With my taste in other items leaning towards dark, I'm thinking that I want some glass-front cabinets to "lighten things up".

The above are fairly well set in stone -- fairly well being a vague, uncertain word meaning that I may well change my mind.

I've been kicking around the idea of white recycled glass countertops (I do adore the sparkle), but today I saw my friend's new Volga blue granite countertops, and they are gorgeous! Really, I'm not ga-ga over countertops, but these were incredible. Black at first glance, but they contain flecks of beautiful cobalt blue. I have no doubt that these are the most beautiful countertops I've ever seen.

I've been googling pictures of them, and they look great with dark cabinets . . . but what kind of backsplash? My thoughts:

- Okay, I have no serious thoughts. I'm not even sure whether I like the idea of dark or light overall.
- Although I love the look of glass tile, I am concerned about whether it'll look dated in 5-10 years. I'd like to avoid things along the lines of stacked glass tiles, fearing that they're a flash in the pan. I'd like something that's relatively classic.
- I do not like too modern or too stark; for example, stainless steel tiles are out.
- I do like white or off-white arabesque tiles, but I kind of think that'd "compete" with the countertop.
- I fear that plain subway tile isn't "enough" with such a great granite.
- I think I like the idea of something very basic with a small accent tile of color every so often . . . I could see perhaps a dark blue glass tile as an accent.

Your thoughts?

Also, with so much "dark" in the room, should I keep the floor light?

And I'm thinking of some blue pendants above the sink and island.

I still love those white recycled glass countertops . . . they might have to move to the bathroom.

How about one of these:

I love that second tile. The one with the print.

We wanted just the white/gray marble subways but tile company screwed up order, then we decided we liked the little veins of warmth: gold, red, brown, all very faint, just in every few tiles, rest were white/gray. The gray tied in with the blue counters and the surprise bits of color warmed the space. I was trying to copy Ina Garten's amazing blue counter without the $$$ price tag

It has brilliant blue inclusions that have the same optical properties as the security holograms you see on credit cards such that they are dependent on the angle of viewing and light. very dynamic effect.

regardiing your bscksplash question; a tile treatment that is light colored would be best if your kitchen is smaller or lacks a lot of natural light. if its well lighted using the volga blue for the splash should work fine.

just a suggestion; get a decorative edge like 1/2, demi, or full bullnose. the blue inclusions are spectacular when exposed along the edges!!

Lovely kitchen though. Very much like the layout I'll have.

Yeah, no surprise that it's a "premium granite". However, I'm not splurging on a whole lot of things, so I can have this; and I do want a "good piece". I've read in several places that this is something you want to go pick for yourself because all slabs aren't equal.

Cool that it's the same stuff as security holograms. Nice conversation item.

My kitchen'll be small . . . but will have a fairly large amount of natural light. I do agree that light is going to be the best choice.

Love the suggestion to go with a nice cut edge. I wouldn't have considered that the inclusions would be spectacular in that situation.

Thank you. We really struggled as I wanted something to accent the blues but my wife didn't want too much blue. The accent tiles really work well. There are, I think, 5 colors that make up the accents, but they work really well together with both the tiles and the granite.

I didn't want something too dark, but wasn't sure how the lighter color would work. When I ran across the glass accent tiles, I bought a sheet of that and a pack of travertine (all from Home Depot) and started playing with a design. That is what I came up with. The centerpiece, which doesn't show up very well, is a tile of the Last Supper that my wife and I bought on our honeymoon 8 years ago. We knew we wanted to incorporate that somehow as well. I'll try to dig up a close-up of that.

This is our cabinets