i think i got the photos in here:

up close:

{{!gwi}}From 2009.04.questionable backsplash
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{{!gwi}}From 2009.04.questionable backsplash
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farther away:

{{!gwi}}From 2009.04.questionable backsplash
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The tile looks more almond on my computer, but it doesn't look bad. Remember it will look different when it is grouted as well. What color grout are you using?

i just tried to reply, but my message vanished...

I have a bag of white Durabong sanded grout, but I'm open to suggestions.

I like both the tile and the beadboard a lot, but I don't like them together. The contrast in colors (too little contrast), texture (too much contrast), direction (lines every which way)...is just too much. I would either go with all tile or pick something completely different to go with the beadboard.

The problem with having two whites side by side is that one will always look dull (and muddy) compared to the other. Here the stove is really white which makes the tile look dull.

Also i would tile the entire backsplash, not just behind the stove. An expanse of the same material looks better.

Check with the experts, but I think you use unsanded grout for vertical surfaces.

Yes you do like it, but can the beadboard be the green instead of the white? And if it is white, will it be the same white as the tile?

Well, I like it anyway, but I agree more would be better, or less contrast with the beadboard (or more).

thanks, all!

The tile shop people told me I have to use sanded because of the glass accent tiles. I know nothing, so I just nodded and bought it.

I *could* keep going and extend the backsplash along that whole wall...I would need more tile than the extra I currently have, and I'd still probably have to rip out because I doubt I set this correctly to line up with the rest of the wall. I thought I was just doing this little square so I didn't take anything else into account.

I don't think it would work to paint the beadboard green because it is all over the other half of this room but painted white. It's not yet mounted in this photo, but it ended up on the lower 1/3 of all the walls. I could just paint the walls green but they're in rather bad shape and are kind of begging to be covered up!

Ahhh I see. I do like it, but the beadboard seems a little stark in contrast. Were you planning on some sort of frame for the tiled area, either wood or a tile border? That might set it off enough.

Might not though. I'm not much help.

fori, you're funny!
Yes, i was planning a little strip of molding along the edge.

In the meantime, DH came in and actually gave me his blessing to rip it out! I think he's worried that it will bother me for the next umpteen years...

So if I do get ambitious and rip it out...can I get away with pressed "tin", the kind you'd see in an old house on the ceiling?

For me, the vertical lines of the beadboard and the horizontal lines of the tile are too much. I think you're making that stove area look like and afterthought, because of the choppiness of the look. You can get a much better look by trying to unify the elements. As far as the tile goes, I think it's nice, but I don't like the off-white with the white of the stove.
By now, you're probably too busy rubbing grout into the spaces, to have time to go back to the backsplash gallery, but if I were you that's what I'd be doing. If you pay attention to the ones that appeal to you, you should be able to determine how much ornamentation you find appealing. I like simplicity, but many others like to go for the full-gusto with accents, colors, textures or whatever.

Desban, I agree with you more and more as I keep making trips into the kitchen. There's no unity. I'm thinking the pressed metal would continue the stainless "theme" of the range hood, the vertical lines of the beadboard, and the "old" vibe of the house and the room.

I don't know photoshop, but I gave Microsoft Paint a whirl to try and come up with some kind of visual on "Plan B".

Opinions and/or complaints welcome!

No expert but I do like the stainless look a lot better. Otherwise, go with either all beadboard or all tile. The tile won't look bad at all once you get a nice stainless range in there.
What are you doing with the counters?

Go with all the same of something. I don't like the tin with the beadboard either.

Go with all beadboard. Definately. When it's painted it will completely wipeable.

I think all beadboard or all tile.

If you do beadboard, you can hang a decorative element over the range...possibly even a tin ceiling tile!

Thanks, all! I love getting opinions here!

I took the tile off after dinner. I just couldn't keep wondering about it!

Is beadboard behind the stove safe? How flammable is masonite, anyway?

I actually have beautiful beadboard plastic-y wallpaper from GW's own farmhousebound to use on the rest of the backsplash. I suppose it can continue behind the stove.

Fori, do you mean have all beadboard and then hang one tin tile in the middle as an accent? If you do, that's a really cool/cheap idea I never thought of.

I actually like the tin tiles, but what about something like this...this is one of my 'inspiration backsplash' pics. I probably got it from here or the FKB, but I can't remember whose it was (sorry, whoever you are!)

Ooh, donak I saw those in the same catalog as the tin pieces. Cool! Must think about that one!

Southernstitcher, As far as counters go we are waiting for the Money Fairy to come so we can get granite or soapstone. She's awfully late...
Unfortunately, we are going to be stuck with our lovely formica for years to come. they're in really good shape considering the beating they take, so that is a blessing.

I agree with all tile or all beadboard, and I don't like that busy tin you photoshopped in. It's too much. The simpler design painted white to match the bead board gives some interest without being too much competition. If you want the look of metal, I would keep it simple -- a brushed stainless sheet that goes to at least counter height so that it will fit behind whatever range you might chose as a replacement.

When the money fairy comes, would you mention my name? I've got some hardwood floors that want to come to my house to live, I just know it. ;-)

I think (fwiw) that the stove style kinda messes up that space (with it being a free standing vs a drop in) not that you can change that necessarily. But I have to agree that one uniform surface would look best. I do like the contrast with donka's tile, but again, it's a different stove, and there's more consistancy in the space, whereas yours is kinda chopped up with the upright part of your stove against the wall.

You could put up beadboard all the way and piece it so that the part behind the range can come down and be changed out when you do change it out -- another way to tie into the range and make sure it fits the space, goes far enough down the wall, etc.

It sounds like there are a lot of opinions in favor of going with all beadboard. I think it will give your kitchen a better look. However, using tin tiles as an accent on a solid background would give you the look you want, without so much busy-ness. If you decide to use tin as an accent there are so many options. You could blow the budget on a single antique tile, or you could use several small ones hung on the diagonal against your beadboard. You could even try using a single row of the ones you photoshopped as a line running under the cabinets.

The tile shop was right. Sanded grout for the glass. Normally, for the ceramic, the tile is butted tightly together so that you'd end up using unsanded grout as well, but your installer spaced them so you can used the sanded grout for everything.

As for the aesthetics of the whole thing, it's a little unorthodox, which may be why you're getting alot of the responses you are, but it doesn't look bad, to me! As for the comments about how it all looks sort of dull, the way I see it is it gives you a chance to dress it up with things on the counter however you like-- sort of an "Ethan Allan" look.

Well, I finally settled on a plain 'ol sheet of brushed stainless from my local IKEA!

I did like how the tin helped the new stainless range hood look less out of place, and I liked the contrast of having something different behind the stove - there is A LOT of beadboard in the rest of the room.

But after you all pointed out the "busy-ness" of the pressed tin and the tile, I needed some kind of compromise. For $15, I'm happy and will have no regrets about ripping it out if I change my mind any time in the near future.

When the range finally dies I will almost certainly replace it with one that does not have that "lip" with the dials running 6" up the back, but one that is just counter height. At that point I can tile, and since I have an indefinite amount of time to prepare I can start gathering ideas and photos.

I can't believe I did my first DIY tile install and my first DIY tile tear-out in the same afternoon! Duh! Live and learn. Bill V., I'm glad to know I got the grout right (well, my local tile supplier got the grout right!).

From now on every decorating decision in this house gets run through Photoshop mock-ups first!

Thanks all for your help! Your input really helped me clarify things and make a decision.
Pics to follow when I get to it. :)

look at it as practice for the future tile jobs you'll do - you'll be like a pro then!

the single piece of stainless sounds like a good deal.

post a pic when you get it put up!

I liked your tile and would even like more of it, but with all your beadboard and the need for something you might change later, I think you found a great fix -- probably what I would have done except that I would have gone to a sheet metal shop since IKEA is an hour drive(each way) and I could get sheet metal cut to specs much closer to the house. Enjoy!