Have u checked out the urban range of www.bakedtiles.co.uk? They have a great selection to suit your kitchen.

I have mid tone wood cabinets and found cream or "alabaster" worked better. Try painting a portion of the backsplash area white or placing white painted foam board up and see what you think. I color matched the cream tile I found and painted part of the backsplash with the color matched paint and found it liked that color more. There are differences in countertop color and appliance color, so you may find white works better.

Here is mine:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~57088087

Cream would be best. Not white.

Agree that you need a cream to go with the granite. Stark white will probably not work. I suggest getting some sample tiles, more than one, to bring home to see how you like them.

Someone told me me stay away from the beveled subway tile, as the light reflects off of them differently? He also told me to keep the tiles going horizontal and spaced in half. ( He thought staggered//vertical or criss-cross patterns would make it look too busy ) He thought if the granite countertop has any kind of pattern, that our subway tile should be neutral, but not the same color as the cabinets (said we would never be able to make the same match, and would look "off"). Hope this helps a bit! We're going through this right now, too!

Personally, I'm not a fan of SUBWAY... Look at something a bit more contemporary. Jeffrey Court Trax is a place to start. Not that I'm convinced that is right for this particular kitchen. Check out new model homes and see what they are doing with cabinetry in the same color as yours....

Okay so I picked out a really nice cream subway tile that looks nice with the countertops. But if I am doing all the work for the backsplash, now is the time to update the countertops as well. So my question is this....Should I replace my countertops too (leaving the butcher block on the island) to update the kitchen? Or just replace the backsplash? I worry it's too much beige/browns if I leave the countertops and add a cream backsplash.

You don't have to, but if you think you will down the road, then consider doing it now because if you change countertops later, it may break part of the backsplash when they remove the old one, or the new counter may be a different height leaving a space. Backsplash is usually the last thing done.

I could have put up a backsplash with my old counters, but I knew it would need to be ripper out when I got new - an added expense. My old counters had the built in 4" backsplash and I had thought about tiling above that. I ended up holding off on the backsplash till I could afford new counters. You have a lot of counters, so it could be quite an investment, so check your budget. One thing leads to another and if you are going to change your counters, that is the time to consider a new sink. In addition to my new backsplash and counters, I got a Kohler Whitehaven "short apron" farmhouse sink which can be installed on standard cabinetry. Here it is in my kitchen sink:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58830325

I truly do love it, but of course there are many other sinks if you do not like the farmhouse style. New counters and sink can bust the budget compared to just a new backsplash, but if you can afford it, now is the time to do it.

You may leave the butcherblock island. I left mine. I did quartz counters and it would have nearly doubled the price to do my island. A butcherblock island with nice perimeter countertops is a good look, and I see it frequently.

While I am spending your money - save some extra tile. You may want at some point to get a smaller microwave or have one installed in a retrofitted cabinet. Then you could put in a dedicated hood. It looks like you may be slowly changing over to stainless appliances. A pretty stainless hood would look good, and you might want to tile up behind it. I have a wood hood stained to match my cabinets - but it is a more vintage / French Country look to go with my style.

One type of stainless vent hood:

If you win the lottery, you can invest in a really pretty hood:)

Traditional Kitchen · More Info

Thank you for your suggestions jhmarie! There is lots to think about.

Hi Michelle

Are you thinking of having a nice little accent between your stove and hood area?

PS I think the cream subway tile will look really nice

Linda Paul, artist and tile designer

lindapaul.com