Here's the whole kitchen.

And here is an image of a finished backsplash using the tile I'm thinking about. Photo from kitchen by Peter Bales.

I think your kitchen is beautiful and I love your choice for the backsplash.

I think you should only tile to the edge of your counter top then go straight up to the bottom of the upper cabinet. Actually, exactly like photo of the kitchen you posted with the finished backsplash.

I'm sorry I have to agree with your husband that I would not like the back splash running down the wall.

Very pretty!

Here's a close-up of the tile.

And here is a link of other examples where people extended their tile down to the floor.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0217483827451.html

Chitown, thanks for your reply!! That's why I'm here...to get others perspectives. Appreciate it. Remodeling decisions can be so hard :)

Misty I think the above poster is correct. I would only tile to the end of the counter.

That being said I really like your kitchen. I think it would be fun to have all the kids sitting at the island waiting for their breakfast. My baby is a senior in high school so I really miss the chaos and cooking!

I too just installed uba tuba and am at the backsplash stage. I had wanted a subway tile but could not find any locally I like. Your sample tile looks very good against your top and I think it will suit your kitchen. I am going to have to see if I can find a piece locally. I have just put this off too long!

Here's a well-designed tiled wall. All the tile is framed by some type of molding. Note that they've also brought the tile up past the bottom of the cabinet, which looks great. Maybe you could hold up a piece of molding to see if this would work in your kitchen.

I think it would look nice with the tile all the way to the door frame and down to the base board. I prefer that to having it extend an inch or two past the upper cabinet. But either way it is going to look nice because you picked a great tile to go with the granite.

Misty - Your kitchen is lovely. You have really pretty cabinets, floor tiles, and a rich neutral color scheme.

If I understand correctly you have a faux finish on the wall, would prefer not to extend the bs tile to the end of the counter, but the wall finish won't match if you don't - is that right? The area you are concerned about, should you end the bs at the end of the cabinets, would be about 4" x 2".

My guess is that as long as you pick the right paint color for that spot, it won't really show. That said, I really like the image May posted, as well as jtalb and circuspeanut's posts at the link you gave, and I think it could work well for you in that corner. You could use a piece of wood trim (in your case, painted white) at the top border, as May shows, or use your field tile cut into a thin border to end your tile, or buy a tile border that matches. If you have wall space between your window trim and cabinet, you'll need to tile (and trim) that to the same height as well.

As for the tile you've chosen, I like that too. My only hesitation is that it is almost exactly the same color as the wall and cabinets. One of the reasons the tile looks so cool in your inspiration pic is that you can see it - it is distinctly different from the white cabinets. In your space, it all blends into different shades of beige.

Ubatuba has detail up close, but the overall look is pretty calm. This frees you to choose a more complex tile either in color, or texture, if that matches your aesthetic. As you love neutrals, different shades of white and bone, like some of the other subway tiles you considered, might do the trick. You could also introduce some contrast using different textures. Here are a few options to give you an idea. They all come from Glass tile oasis at the link below.

Shell brick mosaic
Stone Mosaic made of crema marfil, dark emperador, and Thassos marbles.

Honey onyx, ming green and Thassos marble mosaic

Beige glass mosaic

Cream Brick Glossy Glass

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass tile

Here's an idea of what these tiles might look like in your space. They add a bit of texture, don't they?

I agreed completely with Chitown...until I saw the picture posted by badgergal of a stunning kitchen with tile extending to the door/floor and capped/contained by a piece of molding. From the picture of your full kitchen that you posted, I do think badgergal's approach would work. My one concern is that the inspiration kitchen has a quieter, monocromatic backsplash tile and the one you've picked is bolder and acts as more of an accent. The extended-to-floor approach may be best with a quieter tile.

EAM44--wow, thanks for the ideas as well as the "example" of what they would look like. Before I saw your second post, I loved the 1st and last (but checked them out on the site and didn't love the prices -- both we're $32/sq.). I didn't check the prices of the others because I didn't like them as well, until you sent the other picture with my kitchen, and I think any of them could work. I'll check on prices tomorrow. To answer your question about the space between window and cabinets, only an inch or two, so wouldn't need a trim piece there.

GoneSouth, the glass I chose is exactly the same as my "inspiration photo" (both are daltile cream soda). Must be a lighting thing.

What are anyone else's thoughts...glass cream soda or one of the beautiful samples EAM44 shared?

Mea Culpa, in my post above I was referring to the photo posted by may_flowers as the inspiration photo (and I incorrectly attributed it to badgergal). Very sorry for the confusion.

I am glad you liked them. I can tell you all of the tiles I picked are about the same price, but I really believe you can find something you love in any price range. For example, this marble mosaic is $15/sf, followed by a stone mosaic for $14/sf, and the slate diamond mosaic below it is around $6/sf. They are all beautiful and could work in your space. I found them at stonetiledepot.com at the link below. If you let me know your budget I can keep my eyes open for more.
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone

EAM44, my budget...well that's another dilemma :). Here's a little more background so you can better understand my situation. Our house is on the market. We found the "perfect" house for our family, but it's currently in pre-foreclosure status. Hence the increased urgency to find a backsplash. With that said, I'm very hesitant to spend a fortune on a backsplash that someone else may not like, however, there's no guarantee the foreclosure will work out, and so I want something in the kitchen that I will like if we don't end up selling. I think that's why I was leaning toward the very neutral cream soda glass tile. When I first started looking, I was going for as cheap as possible (hence the $5.00 mosaic which is labeled #4 in my pix). Then, as I started looking on GW and Houzz, it seemed like the mosaics drew a lot more attention to them (which is fine, if it's something that is awesome, but not so fine if you just need a backsplash). I was afraid that not only would the #4 mosaic be too busy, but thought possibly too dark. Then I was leaning toward a 2x2 slate...but thought that would be too dark too (and too "matchy without matching" to the floor). So then I was thinking a more plain subway, so back to the tile store I went realizing I'd be paying more than $5/square (but thought if I didn't want to "deter" a buyer, and that we may end up staying, that it's o.k.). I brought home a couple of crackle glaze ceramics, the white glass (glossy and matte), as well as a travertine that looked decent on the store display (that's the picture I posted with this message). While the travertine display looks a lot like the features in my house, the two samples I brought home are not doing anything for me (they're also shown in my very first picture). I feel like I have to get something up as my kitchen looks completely "unfinished" the way it is right now, and not all buyers can look past that. The cream soda glass subway I was able to find for $13/square). Bottom line, if it's not something I love, love, love...then I don't want it to draw the attention. Now that you have this background, what do you think?

If you are going to sell, I would just leave the area painted instead of putting up something you think someone else would like. Let the future homeowner put up what they want.

Unfortunately, it looks super unfinished as there wasn't paint behind the old laminate backsplash that came out. It's a faux paint with about 4 different colors that I'd never be able to match, so I'd have to repaint the entire kitchen.

If I was putting something up to sell, with the possibility of not selling and then wanting something else, my criteria would be cheap and easily removable.
I think you could paint one dark color drawn from the faux treatment, or use a paint color matched to the cream soda tile, or paint a rich dark color reminiscent of the Uba Tuba. I might do wide beadboard paneling painted the color of the cream soda tile. Paint or paneling, I would still go down the wall past the peninsula and trim it out like in the picture mayflowers posted.
If you go to the trouble of tiling, and you end up staying in the house, I want you to have a tile you love, not one you settled for. Just my opinion.

Honestly - I'd pick tiles I love, then choose the least expensive of them. Of the tiles I've found so far, my favorites for your kitchen are the diamond shaped crema marfil/emperador mosaic from my first post, the second marble mosaic from my second post, and possibly the diamond shaped slate tile mosaic. While the last one is the least expensive, it could be a little dark.

I found two more glass mosaics you might like both under $10. The colors would work, and they sort of bring out the stripes in your cabinets.

Daltile also has the glass tile in "white ice" that could look nice - have you seen it in your space?

localeater, thanks for your suggestion, but I have decided to definitely go with tile.

EAM, I haven't looked at the daltile in white, but I do have two samples of white (gloss and matte) from the tile shop (don't know the mfg.). If you look at my first pix, they're just to the left of the #4 mosaic and then two more down. While they're both nice whites (no glimpse of blue tones showing through), I think they're a little too stark with my granite and cupboards. I just discovered there's a daltile show room 5 minutes from my house...I'm going to head over there during lunch and see what they have. I do still like the cream soda, and I like the first of the last two samples you posted. I agree that the slate diamonds will be too dark (also in my first picture, behind the faucet, is the 2x2 slate)...I'll upload some pictures if I see anything really cool at daltile. I was on the Ann Sacks site this a.m. and she has a lot of nice tiles too...I just want someone to decide for me :) ha ha ha!

O.k., so we hit the daltile showroom. Of corse, found a tile that I LOVE (it's the one on the far right -- in a 4x4, but would do 3x6). Didn't know the cost until I got in the car and looked at my sample checkout receipt...$67/SF!! I also received the other sample in the mail yesterday that I ordered with the cream soda sample, it's the cream one right next to the $67 one. The cream soda is next to that one. EAM, daltile didn't have anything that resembled your beautiful picks...I so want to place an order and get this done!!

Here's the link to that tile. They have three specials at the moment including $2.95 for samples, so by all means, get a sample and see if it looks as fabulous in your space as it does in my head and on the screen!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tile

Like the last two pictures MUCH better. Can't really tell in the picture but is the plain subway tile cream or white? I would think a cream color would go better with your granite.

Lisa SE, Are you referring to the last two photos that I posted? I attached the far right sample in this post (it's the daltile Cristallo in Smoky Topaz) and the one next to it is cream. It's from BellaVita (?) and it's called Cobblestone. I was able to find the Cristallo daltile a little cheaper on line and also found there's also a Cinnamond Topaz that I'm waiting on a sample for. I'm also going to order a sample of the image that EAM44 posted above. Once I get the Cinnamon Topaz sample in, I'll post it. See how different the Smoky Topaz looks on the wall compared to the sample sitting on my counter? It is so trasnparent it picks up a lot of colors from around it.

{{!gwi}}

Misty-I have ubatuba (there is another uba tuba thread going) and I love the slate with it...likely because that is what I did and I really like that earthy texture. We did a kitchen facelift before getting ready to put our house for sale (not quite there yet but at least the kitchen is updated) also. So out of EAM's posts I like the bottom one from 1:09 and in your last one from 20:08 I like the little squares that are by the orange tape. I think it would play off of your floors but not be too matchy matchy.

That said you have a very nice kitchen and I think the neutral/glass that you are gravitating too will look really nice also.

I thought it might be helpful to give you an idea of what those slate tiles would look like in more than just a sample strip. At least give you a "no way" or "maybe" feeling. You look like you have a lot of natural light so the space wouldn't be overly dark. My slate seems a bit darker than the samples you posted and my cabs are not exact either but in general its close enough to get a feel. Hope it's helpful.

Lisa_WI also just did a lighter slate in the shape of your first post with white cabs and dark granite that turned out really well too. Not sure if you've seen it so I posted the link here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Lisa_WI Backsplash thread

Oh and Lisa got her tile at Lowes or Home Depot (forget now but her post says) at $9/sq foot so definitely not a bank breaker.

Misty,

Do you know the name/make of your floor tile? It looks a lot like a discontinued tile I've been searching for. I'm also having the same dilemma of where to end the backsplash, which is how I found your photos.

Thanks.

Autumn4, thanks for the picture. It's beautiful, but afraid it's darker than what I'm looking for in my kitchen (because it doesn't get a lot of natural sunlight and I don't have under cabinet lighting).

h-w-m, I don't know the mfg. of my kitchen tile. It was installed when we bought the house. Luckly, I do have some spares as I've had to replace a couple of cracked tiles. House was built in 2000, the ceramic tile is a faux slate look. Let me know what you decide to do about ending your backsplash.

I don't think I will ever be out of the ABB...still no decision.

Misty - did you ever order sample mosaics? It'll get done. Don't fret!