Why don't you just go with what you like. Sounds like you are looking for validation and it usually comes with a 50-50 outcome.

Maven19, herringbone is wonderful and is definitely not trendy. Although it is very popular right now, it has been around for a long time (not a historian so I don't know how long), but you can find it in a lot of beautiful old homes and commercial buildings. Definitely do it and go with some fun glass.

On the gray color, it is nice, and I love it in my designs sometimes, just remember that gray is trendy and might not be super-popular in 10 years or so.

Chadwick--do you think white/clear glass is a better option? Though I love gray right now, I do want the flexibility to update my kitchen with new colors as we plan to be in this home for a long time.

if that is the only unchangeable item that is grey, you could go white, and buy a grey kitchen aid mixer.

Nnigrt--yes, the rest of my choices are white! (White cabinetry and countertops, with a wood floor). We will be painting the entire house grey-but that is easily updated when I tire of it!

its a plan. by the way i think herringbone on floors is classic, herringbone on walls is a bit trendy but not so bad as arabesque (which i think should only be in bathrooms); i really dont think many people would have fits over white herringbone on walls in 5-10 years.

maven- you must reread what you are saying. You are already anticipating being tired of the grey?? Go White!

Margo--yes, though I LOVE grey and have been dying for a grey home after living with builder beige for many years, I do like to stay current and love to change things up when new styles come along.

Well, keep it up and you will be living with builder grey home, as that is what is happening. Nothing wrong with going with what you LOVE but then do not worry about trends.

Did I mention I went to the dentist yesterday and need 2 crowns? Perhaps I am a bit testy lol.

Maven19 - yes, I do think the white/clear glass is a better option. Saying that, I think people worry too much about what others will think about their design decisions when they sell. If you are staying in the home a long time, do what you like and don't look back. Gray will look good to you. I'm not really giving you a definite answer on this, but I can say that in 10 years, if you don't like the gray backsplash, it is a fairly economical fix versus replacing gray cabinets!

Sorry to hear that Margo-what a pain! And yes, I guess we are going for a builder gray home, but I don't mind!

White gray carrera marble tile is classic in the herringbone pattern no matter what size used.

Beverly, the marble herringbone you posted was my top choice for our backsplash and what inspired me to consider the herringbone pattern. However, we are using a white quartz countertop (that mimics marble) and after doing some thinking on it, I'm afraid that the two wouldn't look good together. Here is a picture of my countertop with the herringbone I liked!

I think they are lovely together, as the quartz is plain enough.

Maven19 you point is well taken. However, your backsplash is gloss which is contributing to the difference and they are on two different plains. Even marble with marble doesn't match exactly.

There is no guarantee the marble tile sample you have will match the marble tile you receive. Colorways change from box to box. All these tiles are carrera, yet all the colors are different. I'm sure you find a run that is closer in color to your quartz.

Is there a reason you are not using the quartz as the backsplash?

Also you may find a "carrera like" porcelain tile that comes close to the quartz background color. Maybe this link will help

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2262922/porcelain-carrara-marble-look-alike-tile

I'm sure you carry the quartz with you everywhere by now, and find the right shade to coordinate with the quartz.

Beverly, thank you so much for your helpful response! We are working from options through our builder's design center (though I can also use their tile supplier for additional options, but they may cost us out of pocket) so we do have a somewhat limited selection of options if we want to stay on budget. I love the idea of using our quartz as a backsplash, but I wonder if this might be cost-prohibitive as I am assuming a slab of quartz is much more expensive than the typical backplash options. If not, that would be the perfect solution!

I'll take a look at the porcelain options you suggested and see if that is an option that I have from the tile shop.

Here is a photo of a kitchen with our quartz with a carrera backsplash.

Incidentally, we are using a faux marble porcelain in our bathroom for the flooring and shower walls. I hadn't thought about using the smaller tiles in the kitchen!

I do think the larger 3x6 marble herringbone would be a closer match to your counters.

This question is a serious one? Is a herringbone pattern "trendy"?

Clothing; wood working; architecture; paving (500 B.C.)? I think herringbone has stood the test of time.

The word inspired by:

Thanks for expanding on your response JudyG. I feel that it is also classic, but in application, I'm not sure if it's "classic" or "trendy" as a backsplash.

Beverly--I stopped by the tile store this morning and picked up another option, a porcelain 3x6 subway tile called "carrarra". It's part of the set that matches our bathroom tile (shown here, the largest tile is our floor tile, the middle sized is our shower wall and the hex are for the shower floor).

However, it is a matte tile, and the coloring is much more white (!) than gray, with little veining, in comparison to the actual much grey-er carrarra subway tile sample that our tile shop has. It seems like middle ground between a plain white subway tile and the grey carrarra tile that our tile shop has, though I'm not sure how I feel about the matte finish. I was hoping for a backslash with a little sparkle! The tile shop also recommended that I use the smaller of the bathroom tiles as our backsplash as they are glossier, but I think it might be too large of a tile!

I couldn't take a picture as I forgot my phone today!

Hopefully you've made your decisions and are happy; I would gently suggest not using accent tile, as pictured, if you'd like to avoid trendy.

We have made our decision and are just waiting for installation of the countertop (hopefully this week!) and then back splash to soon come. In the end, I chose a statuary marble herringbone back splash. I'm excited to see the finished product!

As a side note, we did use the above porcelain tiles in our master bathroom (no accent tile). I'm very pleased with how it's turned out thus far (still needs to be cleaned!).

Both! Trendy right now but timeless.

My first reaction to your (lovely) shower was to think -- somebody has mighty long legs if they use that shelf for shaving! :)) Nice work.

acm--we have a bench on the other side for shaving! :-)

Maven19...do you know the name of your tile? Its really pretty.

Maven19 what is the brand of your bathroom tile?

I may be a little late to this conversation, but we’re having a white kitchen out in and a Carrara marble mimicing quartz countertop put in. What did you kitchen end up looking like?

I am using this on our backsplash. Very excited to have it installed!!
It was a tough choice but I wanted honed herringbone