This probably isn't what you are talking about - this was a mock up I did using tumbled stone in a subway-like way. I think it would also look good with marble tiles such as the beautiful carrara ones used by edlakin.

Thanks for the reply (I had already checked out your mock up before posting my question) Your discussion was the closest thing I could find to what I'm searching for. I bet yours will look incredible. I'm sort of stuck with this idea of using 2x2 tiles, however, I will probably have to use them with 4x4 tiles unless someone can show me how it works with subway. Maybe I'll copy your mock up idea and then play around with the accent tiles. Thanks

We used white 3x6 glossy subways with 2x2 glass tiles used as accents. Everything is by DalTile:

The area over the rangetop is 2x4 subways in a herringbone pattern around special diamond-shaped tiles with a diamond cut-out in the center. The subways are part of the Rittenhouse line. I can't remember the other line--I think the word accent is in it.

I'm planning white subway with an accent line of 1" glass, sea glass/blue/green colored. Have been looking for pictures myself so will be interested to see yours as you may be closer to doing it than I am.

Sue4993,
That sounds like something that might work for me also. Let me know if you come across any photos. I'd love to see them. What color is your granite?
mcps,
Love the tiles! That also might work!
meg711, Beautiful kitchen. Tile work is wonderful!
Tina

beachcomber3,
My granite is new caledonia, which is gray in the sample they gave me but is listed as brown on all the sites where I've found it. I'm not far enough along to have actually seen a slab so I'm still up in the air. I want the gray version.

Here are 2x4 subways with 1 inch glass accents

kad2, I love your subway tile. May I ask where you got it and what it is called? I also love the glass! Your granite looks like mine. This is helpful, thank you!

meg711, thank you so much for posting all the photos. It is the first time I've ever seen exactly what I was looking for! Did your installer help you determine where the 2x2 should go? My installer is not very helpful and I can't figure out where each 2x2 should go without a diagram. Thank you so very much!!!! I love this forum.

Meg 711, your tile layout is inspiring! I've been looking to implement the accent idea similar to Sue's, but I only want to go with Lowes in-stock accents, so not a lot of choices. Was considering doing a simple black rope as my picture shows in this earlier post: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0720094116730.html
What do u guys think?

Hi Young 2008,

I'm so happy to finally be of help to someone! (I'm usually asking questions on the decorating forum.)

First off, I have to give credit to Bill Vincent who graciously discussed random placement vs. symmetry with me. He gave me some "rules" which unfortunately I cannot remember exactly, but he said that it's better to have the random tiles at different heights in each section, if possible. Also, Mary 228's kitchen was a late-night inspiration when I was figuring out tile placement.

Our installer wasn't really any help. He had been hired by our builder so I didn't have any contact with him prior to the installation. But they did need to know how many tiles to order so I had to figure that out in advance.

We had roughly 18" inches of backsplash showing from counter to under the cabinet light, which means six rows of tiles, but only five lines to place a diamond accent. The top line was too high (hidden by the cabinets) and the bottom was too low (hidden by the items on the counter), and the middle three lines were great but the outlets would get in the way of a continuous line of accents. And, at $7 per accent tile, it was cost prohibitive to do a straight line. So I opted for random but with symmetry on each wall. (There's that one corner that isn't perfect and still bugs me, but I couldn't figure out a better placement for that corner.)

You won't like this response but I used graph paper and then drawer lining paper and paper-bag cut-outs to place my accent tiles. The full-size mock ups are critical, especially if your kitchen is like mine and you can see the kitchen from across the house. You'll need to sketch in the outlets and any light switches. The installer will need a diagram anyway, unless you plan to be there the whole time--which I wouldn't recommend.

A couple other points:

--if you have corners, discuss with the installer whether the subway pattern will wrap around the corner. If our installer had started on one particular wall, this would have turned out better. That being said, I'm probably the only one who would ever even think about it.

--if you're using glass tiles, know that they'll appear darker once installed because the neighboring ceramic tiles cut off the light source to the glass. Our bubbly golden tiles were not so much once installed. But luckily our granite has different shades of brown so it looked intentional.

--make absolutely sure that the installer uses white adhesive behind the glass tiles. Can't remember whether it's mastic, but it has to be white. (Our guy might have used gray but he wouldn't admit to it.)

--finally, I would probably tweak a couple tiles now if I could, especially the two that flank the rangetop which are almost always blocked. So think about what you will have on your counters.

Sorry for being long-winded! Let me know if you have any questions. And good luck!

Young 2008,

Both tiles were from Glasstilestore.com. The glass tile is Harvest Gold listed under the '1x1 tiles' link and the subway is Jerusalem Gold 2x4 listed under the 'marble mosaics' link. We were happy with prices and quality and they shipped pretty quick...including samples!

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass Tile Store

Meg711,
Thank you for being "long-winded" You have been incredibly helpful. My husband has been telling me that I am expecting too much from my installer and I guess he was right. I guess I will have to do a mock up myself so I can be certain of where the deco tiles land. I am looking at things like my coffee maker and a vase that I always have out and don't want to spend the $22 deco tile if it is going to land behind one of my appliances. My installer doesn't care how much they cost and just wants to do it mathematically!

Thanks so much for all the information I am grateful for people like you!

I know these aren't set in subway tiles - but I fell in love with these glass accent tiles when I saw this picture months ago. I finally gave up on finding them and picked up something else. But some of you seem to be striving for the "fresh coastal feel" that I am - so I thought you might like to be haunted by them too!

You're very welcome! I thought my tiles per square foot were expensive but I guess not. $22 each? Can't wait to see photos!

bwt, depending on where your outlets and switches are, you might be able to plan a consistent pattern, rather than a random one. My problem was that the outlet placement meant that I'd have a consistent pattern for a stretch--and then one tile would be missing. That's a look that I personally didn't want.

Good luck!

Kad2, what a lovely backsplash! Do you mind posting a picture of your backsplash behind your range? Thanks so much for the inspiration!

so please excuse the kids in the pic and the fact that it is my bathroom, but at least it shows a pic of subway tile with accents.....sometimes a visual can just help spark an idea.....

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Here's a few pics of the backsplash in our small kitchen. We went with white subway tiles (Dal Tile Rittenhouse) with blue glass inserts. We used the one row of vertical tiles around the bottom to deal with the awkward height of the half wall over the range. We got the idea from a previous poster here on the forums (I just can't remember who!). Hope that helps.

Ooh, and Stat White, too. Nice kitchen, tim_bo.

I'm thinking, instead of tile accents, would it be ok to use decorative wall plates to break the monotone of white subway tiles? I have two outlets and two switches on a fairly short 8-foot wall. Would it be a bad idea to use these wall plates (by the way, they are made of ceramic with stainless steel edges)? Or should I go with the plain white plates and some accent pieces like tim_bo? I guess the advantage of decorative wall plates is if I end up not liking them some day, I can easily change them out.

Meg you are SO right about all of your points! We did a sample layout so we could determine where to put the accent tiles. We also learned that it is VERY important on where to start the tiling so it will wrap around the corners correctly. We DIY'd the tile, and learned so much from this forum and also the John Bridge forum (thanks Bill on both forums).

Sample layout pic:

We used a 6x6 accent tile with our 3x6 subway travertine tile at the Butler Pantry area. We also added a row of 6" scroll border tiles.