I think it's a matter of personal taste. I prefer to end aligned with the end of the cabinets, especially if the counter extends only a bit.

When the counter extends a fair amount, I've seen people extend the tile past the cabinets; I think this style looks best when some trim pieces are used to cap the edges.

Just my opinion, but I don't think tile should extend past the upper cabs - even if the countertop splash does.

I think in this case it is dictated by the partial backsplash.

That isn't giving you much of a consensus is it? Three answers and three opinions.

Mock it up with some paper or something and see what you think 'real-time'.

I just started a backsplash for a good friend of mine yesterday, and he also already has the granite 4" splash in place. I stopped the tumbled stone flush with the end of the cabinets, even though his countertop goes about another 2 feet. I don't have pics yet, but once it's finished (waiting for another day above freezing to set my wet saw up outside.... next to the 4 feet of snow!) you can bet I'll get pics. This'll definitely be another one for the website!

(I'll see if I can sneak a pic of what I've done so far tomorrow)

It depends on so many things. Look for the logical visual breakpoint . That will be different depending on the style of cabinetry you are using and the overall ambience you are aiming for. If you want a new millenium modern look I'd say do the whole backsplash wall above and around cabinetry too) in glass mosaic.

Art Deco or mid-century mode then you would want to end it in line with the cabinets...

FWIW, we already have the small countertop backsplash, and it DOES end with the counter and base cabinets. Should the tile backsplash go with that?

Since the counter extends only a bit (assuming 'a bit' is an inch or two?), yah, I think I would end the tile BS with the end of the counter. To me, that seems the logical stopping place. Stopping short of the counter end by an inch or three would look just weird, IMO. Kinda' like you ran out of tile or something. Esp. since you have that short counter return/ BS in place. It's a vertical element that says, to me, 'Stop Here.'

If the counters extend on 2 or 3 feet beyond the upper cabs, that's a whole different situation &, in that case, I think you can end the BS with the upper cabs. Or not. In that situ, you would have two different logical stopping places so it comes down to which you like the best.

We had the same debate & decided to keep the backsplash going:

and then we couldn't decide where to end the backsplash under the window... with help from the GWers, we ended up tiling a 'dogsplash'

Ha! Jtalb, I love your dogsplash. We did the same thing, except ours is a catsplash:

The dogsplash (and catsplash) is a great idea! jtalb - I noticed you went down to baseboard and over to casing - what would you do if you just had sheetrock there (outside corner) and no door jamb/casing?

Jtalb and Circuspeanut, your solutions make both good visual and good functional sense. Nice!

Except when it just feels wrong visually, my thought would be to at least continue the backsplash the length of a counter--it is meant as a splash protection behind a work surface, after all. Another thought would be if the counter doesn't suggest a proper stopping point, look for another, as Jtalb and Circuspeanut did.

I personally really like tile as a wall finish instead of just a strip added onto a wall. Tile simply stopping in the middle of a wall, artitrarily at the end of this or that, even if that's cabinets and counter ending at one point, always strikes me as rather awkward, like an unfinished thought.

Thanks re: our 'dogspash' 'catspashes' are great too!

If there wasn't a casing / door jamb, I guess there must be some tiling product to finish the edge, similar to the strip that is run at the top of the tile?

I felt like the backsplash should extend to the edge of the counter (working surface) & since the door jamb is so close, it made sense to keep the tile going just a bit further.

I remember someone else had the same issue & ended up staggering the tile & creating a diagonal line from the cabinet to the counter's edge.

Thank you all so much! I LOVE the dog splash, and sooooo need it, I have 2 great danes and a shepard mix.

My DH wouldn't let me wait for more opinions, so I took a chance and had him extend it, and I'm happy the way it turned out. Please note, the grout has not been applied here, we did NOT choose these cabinets or counters or wall color (all came with the house) I'm just trying to make it a little more "us". Oh, and we will change the outlets to black, but it was late Saturday night and we needed daylight for that. And it was still a mess here.

Oh well done! Very very lovely. What an amazing tile color, too, so rich and delicious.

I don't think it looks awkward at all to end the tile at the outer corner; it makes a natural visual stopping point.

Brava! :)