Do you have an inspiration photo of the kind of tile you have in mind?

The garnet/burgundy/wine color seems like it might make the kitchen feel darker and smaller, especially if taken all the way up to the ceiling. You do have a big window though, so maybe not a problem.

Is there some dark red in your counters?

IMHO...I would not tile above the cabinets. If there was anywhere along that wall that had an opening to the ceiling then I might consider it but having a tile backsplash in the backsplash area, then solid wall of cabinets and then tile on top of the cabinets just doesn't seem right....like there is no reason for the tile to be up there. The purpose of a backsplash is to protect the walls from something, water, grease, etc. It would just seem odd to me. I will say without hesitation though that I am no KD...maybe I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, lol.

I can't get the red that I think garnet/wine might be, but maybe this image will help you visualize anyway. I am sure you were envisioning a warmer red than this, but probably about this darkness?

{{gwi:2141866}}
I agree with llucy that a wine/garnet red would darken the kitchen. There is no sparkle here--just muted brown, red, and blue colors of similar intensity.

Personally I would go with a lighter paint on the top, a lighter backsplash, and add bright color with a few accessories on the countertop.

My vote would be no for all the reasons dcward89 stated. I think putting tile up there would have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve and would make it look more 'put there' rather than 'belong there'. Paint in a similar colour to the back splash could be an option though.

I love tile to the ceiling in areas without cabinets, but would not put it above cabinets.

I have seen tile installed as you're describing -- above and below the uppers -- and I thought it looked awesome, actually. However, I don't think it is right for your space. The kitchen I'm referring to was very modern, so unusual tile installations didn't look out of place, and the tile was THE focal point. It was chartreuse, and the cabinets were a lighter neutral so as not to compete.

In your kitchen, the window wall is the clear focal point. You don't need or want another focal point in the form of a dramatic tile installation on a different wall because competing focal points make things look frenetic. Moreover, your kitchen is so traditional that installing tile in a creative way will look totally out of place, and it would be really odd to install tile on a wall that isn't the sink while not tiling the sink wall. Plus I agree with everybody else that the color you have in mind will just muddy already muddy waters. Everything in your kitchen is already mid-tone, and you'd be adding one more. It would be vastly better to add something light or something dark for contrast. Preferably something light because it's already a bit dark in there.

But I think what your kitchen needs most is to break up some of the wood. Not only do you have a LOT of cabinets that are all identical, but the cabinet wood is the same color as the entire ceiling and the window trim.

I think your ceiling is very cool as-is, so I would probably opt to paint these cabinets a light color, but I assume you don't want to paint them, else you would have mentioned that you were planning to.

So instead of that, I would:

1) Alter the upper corner cabinet so it dies into the wall like this (just reuse the same door and adjust the cabinet box). It's a much more natural finish to that cabinet run and won't crowd the window so much.

{{gwi:2141867}}

2) Have a carpenter alter a couple upper cabinet doors to be glass doors instead. (They can take an existing door and cut out the center so a piece of glass can be put in instead.) This will bounce light around and break up some of the wood.

3) Paint the shelves/interior of the glass cabinets white or the same color as the walls to subtly help lighten the kitchen up.

4) If at all possible, switch out the black appliances for something either white or stainless -- whichever goes better with the rest of the room. The current fridge is like a big black hole of doom sucking all the focus and light.

5) Paint walls a light neutral that goes well with the granite/wood. The kitchen is dark, and this is a crazy cheap to lighten it up big time. Maybe a shade like here:
{{gwi:2141868}}

{{gwi:2141869}}

6) Paint the window frame a contrasting color. This would remove some of that ubiquitous shade of wood, and it would add interest and fun to your kitchen while keeping the kitchen focal point where it is (at the window).

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Here is a rough (ROUGH) mock-up of what all that would look like.

Before:

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After:

{{gwi:2141876}}

I think that is a lot brighter and more cheery.

Jillius - love your inspiration pictures but don't like the white appliances (plus,OP says the black ones are new). The other concern I'd have is the cabinet you're changing will now be hard to reach and use (ask me how I know this!).

Kay___h - here are a few mockups. I'm not crazy about the garnet color here; my personal preference would be to use a blue, green, gray or brown tile (and possibly white). Good luck!

Row 1:
Backsplash, upper, window all burgundy.
Window black, neutral upper.

Row 2:
Backsplash, upper - burgundy. Window trim unchanged.
Backsplash, upper - burgundy. Window trim - black.

Row 3:
White backsplash, neutral upper. Window trim - black. White backsplash, neutral upper. Window trim - unchanged.

I like Jillius's ideas too. But the OP did say they are new appliances, so I'm thinking she probably doesn't want to replace them so soon. They do make the room seem darker to me, which is why I think a dark backsplash would just make the whole kitchen a bit too dark. I think a light backsplash and paint above the cabinets and walls would brighten it up a lot. Glass doors on some of the uppers will help too. Your cabinets are pretty, I don't think I'd paint them, to me, the natural wood just seems right for a rustic log home, as is the beautiful wood ceiling. It is a lot of wood, which is why I think the light backsplash and wall color would break it up,and brighten it too.

Thanks! Painting any wood is really not an option right now. That was actually what I originally wanted to do, but hubs was really against it: resale value, let the next home owner ruin the wood, blah blah, blah. Clearly it was more important to him than it was to me. It had white appliances, which I felt contributed to the whole grandmotherly feel, and I just plain don't like stainless. Yes, I know I am mostly alone in that opinion.

I do like the last row of photos from oldbat2be. The current paint color is a slate gray that runs through the house on all the interior walls, I probably won't change that, just add some trim where it meets the ceiling. No it doesnt darken the place and it has a much lighter feel than the the nuetral beigy colour that was here - which combined with all this wood just made the place feel warm to the point of sufocation. We tried a lighter gray but it picked up the wood and looked pink. Ug. Total repaint.

I wonder how it would look with a few random tiles of color to break it up? I might like that now and hate it in 3 years.

Thanks for all your words...I really do appreciate them and the altered photos.

Kay.

I am in the minority with you, I don't love SS appliances. Not that they don't look nice, just the spotting/fingerprint/cleaning issues. Right now, I have the old bisque color, which although its considered dated, I really still love. It goes with my natural/light cabinets, easy to keep clean, warmer than white or stainless. But as they die, I realize I will have to change to black, white or SS. I think the SS is the only choice that will work with my cabinets, so I'll probably have to go that route. If I had espresso or other dark cabinets, I'd choose black over SS though.

I also like the black appliances for your kitchen :)

So the wall paint can't change, anything that is wood can't change, and the appliances can't change? I am assuming the counters can't change either?

So the only change that could be made is adding a backsplash, but the backsplash can only be installed on the fridge wall and nowhere else because the sink wall is an exterior log wall?

If that is all the case, I'd do nothing. I do not think any backsplash installed on that wall specifically would be an improvement because it's weird to have a backsplash that doesn't include the sink wall.

But even if you absolutely must have a backsplash on that one wall, I definitely don't think adding another warm mid-tone (like the garnet you're considering) to a kitchen already teeming with warm mid-tones would be a good choice. You need some contrast somewhere, either lighter or darker. I would go lighter, but I can also see staining the cabinets a darker color and painting the walls a lighter color so the ceiling, counter, and trim stand out as the only mid-tones working better than the current kitchen does.

But it kind of kills me to suggest doing nothing because you have such amazing features in this kitchen, particularly the ceiling, and they are just getting drowned out by the cabinets you don't love. If this were my kitchen, I would really want the awesome ceiling and the window to sing.

In a perfect world with lots of money, I would:

1) immediately swap out the counter. That shiny polished granite with a lot of movement and speckling is so modern -- it doesn't really say "cute cabin with awesome wood detailing" to me. I'd want something softer and quieter, like these:

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(That's a bathroom, but the vanity counter color in there could work in a kitchen like yours.)

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2) paint the cabinets (at the very least, the uppers) something pastel and/or remove the uppers. With uppers either gone or a different color, the ceiling will finally stand out and just sing. (Some of these pictures are repeats from above, but they also illustrate the how the ceiling shines when the upper cabinets are a different color or missing.)

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3) lighten the wall color to better contrast with the wood

4) add color with art or rugs

This post was edited by Jillius on Fri, Dec 26, 14 at 19:23

By the way, I also found this picture, which has a rosy color on the wall similar to the backsplash you're considering. You can see that everything in the room ends up basically the same color and just sort of bland. You don't even really notice the ceiling.

{{gwi:2141883}}

I really like the suggestions that Jillius made, specifically about adding some glass to the cabinets and straightening up the corner cabinet at the end of the run.

But, I will dissent with the previous comments and say that I like the idea of the tile running up to the ceiling. I don't see the problem with this. I find the space above cabinets to be rather unattractive (that's what I have myself) and I think tile could look pretty. And it's just visually interesting. Here's an example:

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PS. Your kitchen window is really lovely!

I am planning to do a backsplash to the ceiling, but it's a very different kitchen that will have cabs to the ceiling nearly everywhere, otherwise open shelves - sort of like this example:

[{{gwi:2141885}}[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/toronto-contemporary-home-contemporary-kitchen-toronto-phvw-vp~6548890)

[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Toronto Architects & Building Designers Drawing Room Architect Inc.

In your case, I would do a neutral backsplash (marble would look great!), and paint a fun color above the cabinets. Then, you can change the paint color if you ever convince your husband to stain the cabs, for resale, or just for fun. But the more expensive backsplash will be timeless.

Here is an example:

[{{gwi:2141886}}[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-los-angeles-phvw-vp~10481)

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107)

I agree you need contrast and also it would brighten the kitchen. Perhaps a light colored backsplash where there is none now. Not sure it needs to go to the ceiling. I would definitely choose a very light colored tile or stone.