I like the lighter version. Your cabs are fairly dark and so is the sink and faucet. If the backdrop is too dark, the faucet will be lost and it will all blend together too much.

Those Jeffrey Court glass tiles are gorgeous indeed. I'm in love with the moroccan mosaic tile and I have a sample board in my kitchen right that has the glass tiles on the bottom row--they have so much depth in person.

I agree with dianalo about the dark elements in your kitchen already. Plus the darker colors means the cream surround stands out more, so the little square pattern is harsher on the really dark color that your husband likes. But it's more dramatic, so I guess it depends on the look you are going for. I like the Fawn color, it seems to pick up on the copper color in your countertop.

dianalo ~ you know I never even gave thought to the fact that if I had dark sparkly tiles in the inset, that my faucet wouldn't show up ~ and I spent about 3 mos. trying to find the *perfect* faucet ~ am loving it!!! And I sure want it to show up!!

logansmum ~ Is the moroccan mosaic tile also from Jeffrey Court??? If so, I'll have to have a look at it. And I also am liking the Fawn color, a few of the other colors (on the opposite side of that board) look just a *little* tooo orangy (especially in the evening).

I am hoping to get back to the tile place and ask her advice. Actually, she advised the 2x2 very dark brown my DIL liked. She also picked out one from Oceanside Glass, that looks black straight on and a wonderful coppery brown when the light hits it or sometimes a sideways look. And I thought the Oceanside one waaay to dark.

Sooo, I'm not sure we're on the same page (the tile girl and me). It will be interesting to see what she thinks about the Encore Glass Tile (as they don't have that in their showroom) ..... keeping fingers crossed I find something soon, as my husband just wants to get this project over!

jody

Hey Jody,

The morocan mosaic is Jeffrey Court--it is an arabesque shaped tile (like beekeepers tile) but it has these little glass rounds in the junctions. I wanted to do my whole backsplash with it, but then I found out it is $37 for one mosaic piece which is only .75 square feet and I have 50 square feet to cover ;-( So I'll probably do an inset of it behind the rangetop and then use 4x8 subways in the same color (it's a cream colored crackle finish) and use a row of the matching glass rounds in a line around the kitchen.

I'm really frugal (my husband would say cheap ;-) so it is killing me to pay retail for tile. But I can't find it cheaper anywhere on the net. I can't even get anyone to return my calls. And I love it so much more than anything else I have seen.

Get them to order you samples if they don't have it. I wouldn't buy anything without seeing it in person. I know your husband wants to finish, but this is a lot of money, so don't be rushed.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Moroccan mosaic

Susan .... that Moroccan tile from Jeffrey Court is GORGEOUS!!! But $37 for ONE piece which is only 3/4 of a sq. ft. .... ouch!!! PLUS the labor!!

Jeffrey Court is very generous with their tile samples. The little mosaic pieces are from Encore Ceramics and they are about $120/sheet (and I will only need two of them) ... so I can splurge a bit here. I *hope* I just posted a link to their website (haven't done that before) .... but the depth of their glazes is amazing.

The distributor for their tile, Beaver Tile, in Michigan, only had that board with all the colors on it. And didn't seem overly interested in getting me a REAL sample ... but I will check this week if I have time.

What color way are you using in those Moroccan tiles???

jody

Here is a link that might be useful: Encore Ceramics

Susan, why did you have to go and post that tile? Fifty dollars a square foot?!? My mind was saying, "Don't click on the link! Don't click on the link!" but my finger wouldn't obey. It's perfect. Have you ever seen a whole backsplash of it?

Oops, I made a mistake. The moroccan mosaic tile is not perfect. The tunisian mosaic cultured pearl crackle gloss with tumbled glass dots tile is perfect. And I'm not even a fan of crackle. Oh my!

{{!gwi}}

mpagmom--I'm sorry I tempted you--I feel like a little like a drug dealer ;-) It's so pretty IRL--just try a little, you won't get hooked. I've only seen photos and sample boards--not a finished wall of it. The Tunisian is a beauty too. But I want to use the glass rounds (link below if you dare) for the raised area on my gray island and I liked the idea of the round being reinforced with the round glass on the mosaic. Plus I am doing the 4x8 subways for the majority of the backsplash and the Tunisian is smaller, so I thought the bigger Moroccan was a better balance to the bigger subways.

At first, I wanted the silverleaf, but it's flat which isn't as pretty IRL and I'm afraid the gray and the blue glass tiles might read a little bathroom-y. So I've mostly decided on the cultured pearl crackle gloss (it is a spot on match for my BM White Linen painted cabinets) so it's going to be a fairly monochromatic look. I have open shelves on one wall with tile to the ceiling, so I wanted something simpler. Yes, the OTK creamy-white subway tile monkeys flew out of Christopher Peacocks rear end and convinced me (If ya'll have been following that thread ;-)The crackle comes with the wrong color dots (I'm using the blue/gray ones) so I'll have to order some extra glass dots and replace.

Jody--didn't mean to steal your thread rambling on about my own backsplash ;-) Please let us know what you decide and post finished pics. I haven't ordered the tile yet--I've got to mock it all up and count pieces because I don't want to order any more than I have too.

Best,
Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Periodot glass rounds

Hey Jody--I thought the glass tile was from Jeffey Court as well. They do have a similar tile that is on the bottom of the mosaic board that I have downstairs.

That Encore is beautiful. I clicked on the link and wow, can you imagine having a pool tiled in that at $120 a sheet?? Holy Moly.

Susan .... no problem *sharing* my thread on backslashes!!! That's where good ideas come from.

Would LOVE to see pics of your kitchen, even if it's not done yet.

But I tell you, I have been driving myself crazy over this little *sparkly* kitchen detail!!! And I never gave it a thought, that IF the area behind the sink was a darker tile, my faucet wouldn't show up!! Yikes!! Can't have that!!

I had a friend stop over this afternoon and we really took a good look at that tile board. The problem is, some of those are *cool* colors and my granite tends to be warm, so, that being said, I'm thinking the color THATCH looks very good with it, picks up colors from the granite almost perfect; and is a *warm* color tone. It is like a caramel color. And again, the glaze on these Encore tiles is so beautiful (and sparkly!!)

I emailed the tile supplier and they are going to get me samples of 2 (and then I emailed back and requested the Thatch), so now 3 samples. They said it will be 8-10 days and would be more than happy to help with the details/color of the tile.

Sooo, thanks for suggesting that. It's so hard to *pick* when all the other colors are crowded right up there next to each other.

And now I'm thinking I can FINALLY concentrate on getting this house cleaned and stuff done for Thanksgiving.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

jody

Good for you for getting samples and waiting to make the decision. Of course, this is coming from someone who took a really long time to get started--my 10 year was a toddler when I joined this board ;-)

I don't anything to show pictures of yet--except chaos. The IKEA cabinets are put together and sitting in our family room and living room. We are tearing out the old kitchen this weekend and the contractor starts moving the wall the following week--we are moving what is a load bearing wall 2 feet (which sounds crazy to move a wall only 2 feet, but it made the layout so much better) so they have to recess a beam in the ceiling for support and the new wall is non-loadbearing--it'll be there to hang cabinets on. I'm still trying to decide on the shade of gray for the island so I can send the doors to get painted--I'm keeping the paint mixers at the ben moore store busy. The perimeter cabinets will be linen white for sure (it's the color of all the trim in our house and I love it). Walnut counters on the perimeter with the white cabs and soapstone on the gray island.

Happy Thanksgiving to you. Hope you enjoy cooking in your pretty new kitchen. We are visiting relatives and eating out.

Wow, Susan! That's going to be stunning! I know this is taking a long time, but on the bright side, at least you don't have a toddler trying to nap during construction.

Jody, I feel quite rude to have commented to Susan yesterday without acknowledging your tile plight. I was on a serious tile high and forgot my manners. Do you think I could marry Jeffrey Court and get a tile fix any time I want? I'm hopeless with tile, but I think the field tile looks amazing with your granite and I love your design. And those sparkly tiles are gorgeous! Can't wait to see more!

Susan, I'm very fickle and went back to the Moroccan almost immediately. Unfortunately I liked the silverleaf best, and you're right, it looks like it belongs in a bathroom. I'll have to look at them in person sometime to get an idea of sizes, but the nearest store is 45 minutes away. I'm with you though, I like the cultured pearl and the peridot colors best. It's good to know the cultured pearl goes well with BM linen white. I haven't picked my cabinet color yet, but that's coming soon. Good luck finding a gray. I spent the longest time thinking about gray cabinets or a gray island. I still might go with a darker gray-blue island. When I was thinking about a lighter greige I was considering SW Agreeable Gray, which is about the same as BM Collingwood. I'm sure you've seen Segbrown's BM Taos Taupe island. There I am trying to help with paint colors when you didn't even ask.

Oh, one more question, how much are the 4x8 field tile and the glass rounds? I have to figure out if I'm way out of my league here.

Happy Thanksgiving to you both, and PLEASE post progress pictures when you get to the tile!

Lynn

Lynn .... glad you like the Jeffrey Court field tile .... yes marry him (AND live happily ever after in sunny California!!) .... can you tell, I hate MI in the winter!!!

I'm sure both you and Susan are doing much more extensive remodeling jobs than we did. I didn't get new cabinets. Really couldn't afford that and besides, my dad built those for me 32 years ago. Now, they DO need refinishing, and come spring, I'm going to decide just WHAT to do about that!! But I want to live with the rest of the NEW stuff for awhile.

I did go to Beaver Tile and the lady there helped me a LOT!!! They are a tile showroom and do not sell to the public, so I have a tile store nearby I am using. But the young girl in that store just doesn't seem interested in my small project. She has made a few suggestions regarding the field tile (which I had already decided on); but as for the *sparkley* inset, she ONLY sees dark brown.

Well, to get to the point, yesterday Kathy, suggested pulling the green out of the granite. So, I am getting samples of the colors: Thatch and Morrell. She thought the Thatch (caramel) color would blend OK (she's not sure about the glazing around the tile however; but the Morrell, would blend good and be a little more contrast.

I am *trying* to put a pix of the Morrell in here. Read descriptions under pix!!

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

OK .... Picasa seems to have CHANGED where to find the html code so, hoping this works (oh, why can't I be tech savvy!!!)

Well, I CAN NOT FIND anywhere those codes on Picasa .... so, you can (hopefully) copy/paste this in (hoping it shows up and you DON'T need a password)

Could this be because I used a pix from a website and NOT an actual photo I took???

Here goes:

https://picasaweb.google.com/114185928512321257398/November232011

Well, BETWEEN cooking and cleaning and baking a pre-made pie, I figured out just HOW to make the pics show up. You know, if you miss ONE step, it ain't gonna work.

Here is two pics of the tile that the tile showroom liked for my backsplash. She is picking up the green undertones and really seems to know her colors.

Anxiously waiting the samples ~ will be here in about 8-10 days ;)

jody

mpagmom--the 4 x 8 field tile is $17 a square foot. The glass rounds are like $37 a sheet I think but it's almost a whole square foot ;-) Which is more than I ever thought I would pay for tile, but I'm just trying not to think about it to much. I think it'll be about $2k for all the tile and I have 50 sq feet total plush 6" backslash on an island.

I don't have a toddler trying to sleep through it--my kids are at school. And they have actually been quite helpful as we demoed most of it over Thanksgiving break. I've been really proud of them and it's actually been a fun project--family time without any electronic devices ;-)

Contractor started this morning (I was in my pjs when he showed up 10 minutes early--I told him get used to it ;-) They already built the temp wall, sunk the beam in the ceiling, tore down the temp wall and framed out the new wall which was moved over 2 feet--the kitchen seems a lot bigger so I think I will be happy. We think Joe the Builder may be ready for the tile before i am. My husband is pushing me to order it--it's special delivery from CA and we are in GA.

So tomorrow, I'll gird my loin and give the tile lady my amex number.

Cheers!
Susan

What great progress! I can't wait to see the tile installed. Thanks for the prices. I'll have an open kitchen and a very large window on one wall - so not that much square footage. I have to finalize my granite before I can play with tile.

Jody, I'm sure you'll post pics when you get your samples. What fun!

Susan ... glad to hear you are getting the tile you had your heart set on ;)
It will look GORGEOUS!!! Love the Jeffrey Court tile. Are you doing the tile installation yourself???

We will have to hire ours out. I guess the tile place has guys that do this, haven't really asked yet about the procedure of this. Do I hire them, or do they just have them do the job and we pay them at the end. Guess I'd better be finding out.

Well, I'd like to see pics .... it must be so exciting to get a whole new kitchen!!! We didn't replace cabinets or change anything but the countertop, BS, sink & faucet.

Don't laugh, but I have 5 doors in my kitchen. This house is about 105 yrs. old. It originally had 4 doors and we did add the 5th (to go outside to the deck we put on ~ GREAT decision there). And of the other 4 doors, there's not one we could eliminate ~ weird, I know!! Sometimes that's just the way it is in these older places.

jody

Hi Jody and Lynn,

Thanks for the moral support--I'm a nervous wreck. I didn't use a designer, so I'm so afraid I'm gonna mess something up and it's so hard to envision what it will look like in real life.

The electrical rough-in is going in now and well have can lights installed by the end of the day. If Lynn marries Jeffrey Court, I think I may marry my contractor (if our respective spouses don't mind). He is awesome and just goes "OK, whatever" to my ideas, even though he is not looking forward to installing the IKEA cabs. I think all contractors hate them unless that is the only thing they do. And he is not bad on the eyes.

Jody--he'll get me a tile guy. I'm afraid I would mess it up. But I am going to lay it out like I want it on paper and stand over them the whole time ;-) I work from home, so that is fairly easy to do. I have a mess of doors too and the kitchen is a major pathway to the flow of the house, so it was really hard to do the layout. I think my layout thread scrolled off gardeneweb, but I'll put the layout below and a link to photobucket if you want to look.

Lets turn Jody's back splash thread into a hold Susan's hand thread ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Some more layout and wall views

Susan ... your kitchen plan is great!!! But I'm not the best at reading layouts on graph paper. I need more visualization .... hence ALL the problems picking out the BS tile!!!

Did you get your tile ordered??? The Jeffrey Court??? You'll be so glad you went with what you really loved! Updates please!

jody