Here's a post from Jan 2014 discussing the same issue.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stainless steel panel sizing

Thanks!

There will be 42" cabinets on each side. We're mounting the hood at 33" above the range. So there will be about 15" from the bottom of the hood to the bottom of the wall cabinets.

One thing I was kicking around was a shelf at the bottom of the cabinets that would hide a transition from 30" stainless below to 36" stainless above. Like in the pic below.

As stated in that thread, it couldn't be deep, or it'd block the airflow. Maybe there's something like that that I'm not thinking of. I'm googling images and checking lots of similar threads.

DH is the one that really wants the stainless. I'd like it because I think it'd be easier to keep clean (now that I think about it...I've never had a range against a wall) compared to continuing the tile.

Here is a link that might be useful: thread with the above pic

Beekeeperswife's stainless backsplash with shelf.

Very pretty! We opted for wider, but only went with 21" depth. I'm worried about taking up some of that with a shelf. Since our cabinets are 13" deep, I'll be putting something to pull it out a bit. So we'll cover a little bit more of the front burners, that's why I was thinking maybe if it was only 3 or 4 inches deep, it could be okay.

We have the same dilemma...30" range, 36" hood, sheet stainless on the wall behind both. We have gone back and forth so many times on this but after several cardboard mock-up's we decided that, in our space anyway, having the stainless the same width as the hood looks better. We still haven't worked out how that will interact with our backsplash tile though. I don't really think there is a wrong or right way. In my space, it just looked strange to have the hood sticking out 3" beyond the stainless but it looks great in beekeeperswife's kitchen.

Looking at the 3 kitchens posted, I just realized all of these hoods are the same width top to bottom. Ours is a chimney style hood where the chimney part is significantly skinnier than the lower part of the hood. Maybe that is what made the difference for us. It would have been the chimney at about 10" wide, the actually hood part at 36" wide and the stainless and range at 30" wide...something to think about anyway.

People survive with a tile only backsplash, right? I think that's how we're leaning right now. Our kitchen doesn't have much backsplash as it is (2 1/3 walls are masonry, the remaining 1 2/3 include the fridge, a standard interior door and a very wide doorway).

There's one wall between the front wall and the fridge that's got 51" backsplash, and then the range wall where the base cabinet run goes 24"/30"range/24". I had initially thought having the stainless there would be too choppy. I warmed up to the idea since I like the look, but I'm going to take this as a sign.

I also may take this as a sign that since we'll be seeing more backsplash and not having to deal with the stainless, maybe we'll get Heath tile in a custom color vs. picking one of the ready made colors. :) The big issue is that since we don't need a lot, we'll pay more per square foot. ::

We looked at a lot of pictures last night and I would be fine switching the trim on the range to one of the higher backs, rather than island. DH had dismissed it before, considered it, and decided against it. I think we'll be good with tile.

Are you sure stainless is easier to keep clean than tile behind a range? My chimney hood is a PITA to keep clean. You have to wipe in one direction so you don't scratch the stainless, and that is not a natural motion. I usually get it "good enough". Wiping a backsplash while leaning over an appliance, and doing it daily or several times a week, doesn't sound fun! Won't you notice grease and water spots more on stainless? I think you'll need to keep it pristine. I haven't seen this discussed here, and I would be curious what GW's experiences have been. I also haven't seen people complain about their tile backsplash getting stained, so I assume it's not a big issue now that there's epoxy and urethane grout.