I probably would leave the backsplash tiles plain and dress them up with some pretty plates hanging on them to give them a cottage feel. Backsplashes are pretty permanent features and you may get tired of it over time (at least that's the way I operate).

That's a great idea, Terriks, and a cost-effective one too!

Simple cream subway tile or even the cheaper 4" square tiles, would provide a charming backdrop for all sorts of cottage style accessories perched on your counters. Your lovely pitchers, an antique plate on a stand, pretty wood bowls, vintage tea towels, would play a starring role against simple tile. Even a dried flower wreath attatched to the wall with a suction cup could work on a simple tile splash.

I like those, LL. Better than bunnies! (Are you using the bunnies?) Love the colors, especially in the yellow batch. I say stick them in your backsplash and if you get tired of them, THEN stick a plate over them. =P

I think you need to sketch out your wall on graph paper and fiddle with little flower cutouts as well as overall tile layout.

If you do decide to not use them in your 'splash, they would perfect framed and hung anywhere, yes, even in front of your backsplash. Forgive me for being so presumptuous, but those tiles are so you. :)

Fori- Thank you! Plates are always an option :)

I love the bunnies, but the artist passed away and my friend is no longer painting tile. So, I have to come up with something else. I saw these and knew they would be perfect. I'm glad you think so, too.

This is one idea I found online. I think it's a little too busy, but I like the spacing of the tile. What do you think? {{!gwi}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

Any ideas for countertops? I still like the blue, I'm open to suggestions. Butcher block would be pretty...but what about the island? Would marble on the island be too much? It is supposed to be a farmhouse type of kitchen, but maybe the French influence will work with the marble?

The tile artist got back to me (she seems really nice!) and she said I can combine the different tile. Now I need to figure out those countertops :)

The tiles are charming. Though I am a flower person, I'm not an accent-tile person, so please ignore if this isn't helpful. My concern is that with such highly visible tiles (as opposed to something that blends or is more subtle), the placement in the photo above may not look cohesive, for lack of a better word. It might look like you slapped one tile here, another one there, etc. If using these tiles, I'd be tempted to assemble them in a single group, probably two rows of three (three rows of three would be even better). You could use neutral smaller square tiles (1- or 2-inch) the same color as your field tile between them if you wanted a little space, and outline your rectangle with them as well. Call it the bouquet plan, as opposed to single stems :) Just my two cents!

My mother had cream tile as a blacksplash when she redid her kitchen. She also had tiles with flowers on them scattered on the blacksplash. She didn't have many, just a few randomly placed. I always thought it looked charming and she always loved it. As Fori said, if you tire of them, then you can cover them with a plate!

Sorry to hear about the bunny artist. They were pretty nice for bunnies, but I like these more.

I agree that layout and location is going to be important. I think you'd want to match the background color pretty well for the rest of the tile (If you're sticking with a single background color). The bouquet plan is definitely an option and could work out really well with these.

I have a feeling this is going to be a fairly bright kitchen and these specks of color won't stick out as much as they might if they were inserted into the above photo. Am I wrong? =)

Counters? Butcherblock is great, no reason you can't have marble in a French kitchen OR a US farmhouse kitchen (or a French farmhouse kitchen). Arctic blueberry Corian maybe?

LL, does this mean you've started the farmhouse renovation?

Lazydaisy- Thank you for the idea. It's a nice option, but for now, I want to try the accent tiles.

Cyn- Do you have any pictures of your mom's kitchen? Sounds pretty :)

Fori- You're right...since the kitchen is open to the dining area/keeping room, there will be a lot of color. I'm trying to come up with a cross between english cottage and french farmhouse. Not sure how successful this is going to be, but so far I'm optimistic!

Lav, when I was doing my backsplash and didn't know how many accent tiles I wanted, I took the time to cut out and tape paper squares (I used double side tape) representing all the tiles I was going to need for the backsplash to include different colored cut outs for those which were going to be the accent tiles. This helped me place them where there was less edge cutting and to avoid outlets. It also showed me I needed less accent tiles than I originally thought I needed plus I changed the orientation of the tiles too. Good luck~

Lazy river- That's a great idea! I don't want to have too many, but enough that it doesn't look like I ran out of tile, before I ran out of backsplash :)

Natal- Hi! Not starting renovation yet, but starting demolition soon...so maybe that's kind of the same thing. This is going to be a long term project, done in stages. However, I am going to be looking at some used marble soon and if I'm just doing one of the smaller countertops (and maybe a bathroom sink vanity) I'm hoping to find a great deal on them and set them aside. Same thing with the tile. Unfortunately, I've found out that if you wait...what you really like isn't always available.

I'll look for pictures. LL. It was so long ago that if I find any, I'll have to scan them in order to post. :) My mother really didn't do a whole redo. She had her very old, but very good cabinets painted to match the new plain tiles in the backsplash. The painted tiles had the same off-white/cream/beige background color. I think she wanted to try to make it a prettier kichen without spending too much. She did have one of the double wall ovens replaced with the original RadarRange. That should tell you how long ago it was!