I love the Bali green.

Ok you really can't go wrong with any of these choices. They would all look amazing. I love the Khaki red!
I think for your kitchen, the daltile would look nice but it's the safe choice. If you want a little wow factor, then I would do the bali green or something like the last choice. I'm not sure if the olive would work with your paint color eventhough it would look good with kitchen.
I would do a glass tile so it doesn't look too dark.

I would go with the Bali green. The black is too close to the other materials, without quite "getting there". Any of the other choices that "pop" better suit the overall style of the kitchen.

I like the fallingwater pattern -- best for your contemporary feel -- but I'm not sure whether the colors would go well. I also really like the way you're using the arch detail above the sink, hood, etc.

I love the Bali Green better than the fallingwater and other choices. I think it would go wonderfully with your beautiful kitchen!!! Good luck!

The Bali Green is my choice. They are all great, but that one appeals the most.

Wow, 4/6 definitively for the Bali Green! Thank you all for your opinions.

It sounds like you all think wow factor / popping are okay in this space. That was one of the things I was really nervous about, with the two different counter materials and two fairly bold paint colors.

Bluekitobsessed - I haven't seen a fallingwater pattern in a color better for our space. Thank you for the arch compliment!

Mlraff53 - If there were a way to work in that Khaki Red, I would. Maybe in my next kitchen...

Caligirl_cottage - The Daltile Asian Black is as exact a match as we can get to the Basalt Slate Formica without putting the Basalt Slate on the wall. I took my BSF (large size) sample to HD to match them up, and the similarity was amazing. I understand what you mean about not quite "getting there", though. Like what Mlraff53 said, nice but... safe.

I'm still listening, but it sounds like I need to get ahold of some Bali Green.

Well, I guess I like safe. My first thought was black, and I like the asian black a lot. Whatever way you go, it will look great from the looks of that great space.

First, I love your kitchen! When I first saw it and saw the word backsplash I said "stainless mosaic". After looking at your choices, I LOVE the last one. It is so whimsical and shows so much personality! It goes lovely with your paint. I love all the websites you provided. They are all so unique.

I have the Asian Black in my pool. We were looking for the looks of stone, but had to have 6 inch tiles for our endless spa. We love it, except it does show any calcium buildup. Here's a couple of pictures for you. It usually reads very dark. When the sun hits it, you can see the variation. I think in you kitchen it would be very dark.

Good luck!

Beautiful kitchen! Bali Green, Love it! Love them all, but that made me say WOW.
Good Luck, Crystal

What wonderful choices! I loved looking at them all. You have such beautiful taste.

Given your love and exciting use of color, I'm leaning so far toward the Khaki Red I'm practically supine. I like the Bali Green, too, but it just doesn't seem v. "Cate" to me .... I guess it's that there's already so much green in the space that I don't want you to end up being bored with it (any of the greens). I understand the red is different from your foyer red, but how close are they (spaces)? Will the variation of reds be really noticeable, or do the foyer / kitchen read as different areas?

The slate and the Asian black both seem really wrong to me (for you and your kitchen). I know what you mean about seeing the tumbled slate in others kitchens and it looking great! But it's (and I'll include the Asian black here as well) just not meant for your space. You love color and I think you will be really sad if you don't get a pop of it in your backsplash.

I cannot believe how far you are in your project! I want to see so many more pictures, Cate. You have definitely whetted my appetite for the Cate Kitchen. Did you get to bake your daughter's birthday cake in your new kitchen? So exciting!

Thank you!

Seedsilly - Safe is definitely what I was thinking I needed for a long time. This has been an amazing process of discovery for me. I thought my style was more country-transitional!

Kristenfl - Thank you for the pictures and for the feedback on how the Asian Black performs. You have an stunning set-up there (and an adorable dog)! That area of the kitchen doesn't get much direct sunlight (the sink faces west), so the tile would read dark. On the one hand, I think it'd be striking; on the other hand, it might be depressing. DH and I did look at some stainless, so it's interesting to bring that in. We never found one particular pattern that spoke to us.

*Grin* Since you had fun with the websites, here's one that had me drooling for a while. Also, I still love toodling around this one, (they have great etched glass, stone, and ceramic tiles) but didn't ultimately get a fast pulse from it.

Cll2008 - I just showed my mother the pictures, and that was her reaction to the Bali Green, too. She does some jewelry and has a small kiln and suggested I save any scraps. She might be able to work them into an display piece!

Rmkitchen - Loved the phrase I'm leaning so far toward the Khaki Red I'm practically supine! If I'm honest with myself, though, it's too much for me for the space. I'd love to get it in as an accessory. You've got me pegged, though, that I'll be sad if I don't get some pop in the backsplash.

The flagstone "foyer" is between the island and the white (temporarily) front door that you see to the left and slightly below the range hood. One of the stones in it is the color of a red wine. (Not a merlot. Shiraz or pinot? I just drink 'em.) I think I have a picture on my Photobucket account. (Full access - maybe not wise with the pictures of my kids, but I refuse to live in fear.)

I am a little concerned about having too much green, but look at this picture. The tile behind the sink there is Bali Green. I think the lighting and the paint color behind the backsplash will drastically change how it'll look. I definitely don't want to put it over the green we have on our walls.

I wasn't able to bake DD's cake in the kitchen. It's only truly been functional for the past week. [It's been great to cook again! (Stir-fry shrimp with bok choy in a sesame garlic sauce last night, with Thai carrots, over rice; and next week I'm making macha cupcakes for DS' preschool ice cream social. It'll be interesting to see how THAT goes over!)] The pantry still needs to go in, as does some trim and touch-up. GC's probably talked me into a new kitchen window. I'm feeling nervous about these end-of-project costs, but it does make sense to do many of them now. At one point, I was thinking we'd put the backsplash off; but I just want to get it done. Plus I splash a lot when I wash dishes.

And, do you know, after all this, DH still manages to stand in the exact spot where I need to go when I'm working in the kitchen??? :)

So, early next week I'll drive out to the shop that has Bali Green. They're closed on weekends. Now I have to start thinking about background paint and grout color! Wonder if black grout would work, like the lines in the dish that Kristenfl liked?

Hey Cate! Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad it helped you see it installed somewhere. Also, thanks for the websites. I'll be bugging you all again about my backsplash as soon as school gets out when I can dedicate some more time to this kitchen!

When I typed to you, I was trying to rush to get the pictures in and didn't realize that the last one was a dish! I went to the link that showed the install of the Bali Green. It does look wonderful. It has a lot of flare yet it's rich looking. Please show us if you get a sample for your kitchen.

Good luck! I hope that I typed OK...I'm rushing again...this time to go to bed!

If you just have to do the BS behind the sink, I don't think budget should be your biggest determining factor (I know, easy for me to say, but truly I am very budget conscious, so I don't give that piece of advice very lightly).

Are you having that blue wall stay?

If so, it seems to me that the Bali green would meld the blue and green together and be gorgeous also. The red has green in it, and perhaps would work, but I'd have to see what your decorating- art work looks like in the adjoining rooms. It might limit future choices.

I haven't seen a lot (OK_I haven't seen ANY glass mosaics in real life in any kitchens)- so I can't say from personal experience, but my gut is that it can be overdone if done on 3-4 walls for instance. Yours looks like the perfect application- small enough area not to be too fussy.

Oh, I really like the Bengal Black.

Laurie

Kristen - Np about the dish! I figure inspiration can come from anywhere. I asked DH to call about a sample today (have a sore throat, so I get to offload the phone calls ;P). I'll look for your backsplash posts, when you get to it.

Raehelen - Just the sink and under the cabinet to each side. It's about 11 square feet - not so much in the grand scale of things. The wall that's showing blue is actually gray: "Iron Frost." Definitely staying. Our art work is like our furniture: a mish-mash of old and new. Most of it has personal meaning. We have a print that my in-laws gave is of the town where I grew up (and where we were married). It was in SW Virginia, but the picture has a New England feel. We have a picture that one of DH's students gave him of some finches on a snow-covered branch (blues, silvers, and whites), and some cloth wall hangings, and a Guy Buffet in an orangy frame. Y'know, our pictures have been off the walls for so long, I can't remember them all! It'll be nice to dust them off. There are also lots of smaller frames that we can rearrange, and a glass window-hanging. (Ours has a bit more blue-green and some purple surprisess.) Thank you for the encouragement on the size of the area.

Laurie - The Bengal Black was our first stop before the Daltile. Unfortunately (but honestly), it's a bit more work than I want now. I'm not really sure how they got the pattern shown there, with the iridescent pieces. I called the company; but the person on the phone didn't know, either.

Thank you for your opinions!

You have lovely taste in tile :) ANd the kitchen is wonderful.

I liked the olive falling water. I love the texture and the sheen it provides as an offset to the granite.

As to slate...I had slate with dark granite once many moons ago...It reads very dark and was a factor in selling the house. I personally wouldn't chose it again...and now my more TKO personallity isn't attracted to the sheen of it with granite either. GW has ruined my love for slate I guess.

Oh, my. Your kitchen is beautiful and has a similar contemporary feel to mine. We have not painted the walls a new color yet because paint is cheap and temporary and backsplashes are expensive and permanent.

It has been 99% done for several months while I have gone crazy looking for a backsplash that spoke to me. My kitchen is calm and peaceful and every gray-green backsplash I brought home was just boring, boring, boring. Safe, yes. But to me, deadly. I finally realized that my earth and water were missing fire and I changed what I was looking for.

Today, I ordered this as a counterpoint to all that zen. It makes me smile, and it is totally unexpected! A risk? Yep. But I love it - and will probably pick up a shade of ochre or butter on the walls. We'll see.

Bottom line - Don't buy tile to go with your paint - you can always change the paint. Buy what makes your heart sing and paint the walls to work with the backsplash! If you can't decide, you haven't found it yet. Of course, you know I'd go with the khaki red - LOL.

OMG raynag that is just stunning. Can't wait to see it installed.

As soon as I saw it, I noticed how it just pulls out some wonderful tones in your cabinets.

Dawn - Thank you. "Sheen" is an interesting way to describe it. The backsplashes with which I first fell in love had exactly that. "Luminescence," a bit like yours. See the City and Country" Thanks for the feedback on dark counters with dark backsplash. Too bad you're ruined on slate, though!

Rayna - That's beautiful! I bet you can't wait to get it installed! Okay, here's one of my eccentricities: I read last year that certain colors encourage eating (red, orange), while other colors (blue) discourage it. I would gain so much weight in your kitchen!

And, you have a good point about the paint. I am invested in the color right now and have my near-sighted glasses on (paint was a tough decision).

That red is absolutely stunning! I love the variety in the colos and the finish. And it's wonderfully unique :)

Cate I spent a great deal of time playing with "sheen" when picking my backsplash. I have granite and my often mentioned chicken backsplash to work with. I've had the granite/slate combo and knew I didn't want to go down that road. I wanted a backsplash that sort of blended into the granite...and yet was gorgeous on it's own. For that reason the sheen had to be the same as granite...polised and shiny :) THen the texture had to work as well so I went with crackle finish porceline that is handmade...so it's somewhat irregular.

Backsplashes are tricky beasts and yuou do know when you find the right one...but the hassle of findin it sucks LOL

THen of course you could go my route...have it handmade to exactly match your granite....and then the granite fabricator sells your granite. Now you must go find granite to match chickens and crackle LOL

Paint became the easy part heh heh

Cate - you are so right: I just read a feng shui thing that said don't put red in the kitchen. Ha - too late! I think I can control myself, but it is true that all the fast food places are red/yellow/orange. Nonetheless, I believe the cool tones of the stainless and the soapstone should neutralize the effect of the hot tile.

Igloo - I looked at crackle tile and loved the look but none of it came in the right color. I would have been happy with glass tiles from a nice, inexpensive Internet source but every sample came looking different from how it looked on my monitor.

So, in for a penny, in for a pound. The website is below with a link to dealers in every state. The pix on the site aren't nearly as vivid or gorgeous as in person. The blue one and the blonde one are wonderful, too.

Keep looking, Cate, till your eyes light up. YOu'll know it when you find it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bella Ceramic

We are also going with a very modern look for our reno. I looked at your choices (the Novica link now just takes you to a main page, so I wasn't sure what you were referring to there). My personal and very subjective opinion is go with the Bali. The black is too subtle, and you already have lots of subtle in your countertops and cabinet colors. And, as much as I love the design of falling water, neither of the colors pops to me as much as the Bali. I just love the luminosity of it. And we looked at slate squares and decided that, although there are some fantastic slates, all those big squares were just not for us. There is a falling water design in slate and glass. Someone here used it and it was gorgeous. I think it might have been a Court product, too. But I don't recall it came in colors appropriate for your kitchen.

I agree with the view that paint can be changed. Perhaps try painting some of those sample sheets from the paint store with any other colors you might consider and put the sample of the Bali over it to see how it will look. Don't worry too much about matchy-matchy, but more the overall effect. Judging from what you've already chosen, I'm sure whatever you pick will be fabulous.

Okay, we have samples of the Bali Green, Red Khaki Falling Water, and Olive Falling Water coming.

Raynag - I looked more closely at the parent page for your backsplash, and it looks like yours (the Rosso?) has much more red and much less beigy tones than what is shown on the website. Is that right?

Thanks, Cate

Igloochic - I've been following your story(ies) and am amazed by the energy you put into everything. And, on top of it all, to be considering a move. Sure makes me glad, on the one hand, that I didn't get granite. :P

Petlady - Thank you for the opinion. I'm so excited to get these samples. Someone from the tile store from which we're getting the Bali sample said it has brown, not blue. I hope that's not true. I'll try your sample sheets suggestion.

I think the falling water backsplash of which you're thinking is Jodi_in_SoCal?

Cate
I read the "cliff notes" version above

Love your kitchen - browsed at the backsplashes - I agree w/you I prefer a larger tile size - I think the bali colors work, not sure about the size & sheen of the tile

Is it possible to bring your art work into the kitchen - at least stage it & take photos - if there is a lot of art work going in there it seems that will have a huge impact on the backsplash - more so than the paint colors - which are temporary

good luck

Yup, the slate falling water was in Jodi's kitchen. Appreciate the memory jog. Be sure to let us know what you decide, and we'll want photos!

I like the olive falling water.

Jejvtr - Thank you! I'll try to get some of the artwork into the space (at least for pictures) over the next couple of days. Most of it will be displayed on the opposite walls, 15-20 feet away from the backsplash; and none of it is attention-grabbing.

Ehs20815 - Thanks for the vote!

I feel like a kid at Christmas, waiting for the samples to get here.

Yes, the sample I had is red and ochre and brown - the one on the website looked washed out. But, who knows? We'll see when they get here. I saw the sample in person - would never have ordered it based on the on-line one. My luck with ordering samples of stuff I've seen on line has been poor: they never look the way they did on the monitor. I hope yours are accurate - can't wait to see the follow-up.

Thanks for telling me about the online / in-person sample difference, Raynag.

My husband went into Detroit tonight for a friend's concert, driving my car, and someone broke into it. They smashed a window. I can handle them getting my credit card, and bank card, and driver's license. I'm so sad that they got my diaper bag (bookbag style, not designer but not cheap plastic) and folding potty seat (ordered online, no clue where) and, worst of all, digital camera. I took the kids to the petting zoo today, with their preschool class, and took pictures. I left the diaper bag in the front seat of the car, with the camera inside. Last minute, I asked DH to take my car instead of his, because mine's in better shape, safer on the road. I feel so sad about the camera. It was nice, Canon XS or something similar, and felt like a splurge a year ago. These jerks probably thought they had a nice find there, but now I just can't take pictures of my kids and my kitchen. I know this is no big deal in the big picture but it's just so rotten. I bet they don't think about the hours and dollars of clean-up it costs us, to fix what they did. So, no pictures for a while.

Okay, unlike Igloo, I'm whining. Done now. D@!*it.

So sorry to hear about the break in, it is the personal loss that hurts so much. Try to borrow a camera to take sample pics so we can keep you going and keep your mind off of the loss. Good luck!!

Thanks, ngng. I feel bad for complaining last night but needed to get it out. :) Hey, at least they didn't take the car seats. Now THAT would have caused problems! (Lol - can't imagine them taking time to get carseats out, though they did have good cover, with the heavy metal in the background.)

The Khaki Red and Olive samples arrived today. The Khaki Red is more mauve than bold. I am not a mauve girl. The Olive looks okay but isn't "the one." It just kind of sits there.

Cate, I feel just awful about your camera and baby things being stolen, such an injustice! I do admire your kitchen, though and am looking forward to seeing it progress.

Raynag, I think you made an excellent choice with the red tiles. Don't you love it when your heart sings?