It's looking beautiful so far, well done. And good for you for waiting for the counters to be installed before worrying about this. Can you tell me your tile budget in $/SF? Also, do you have inspiration images that you used for your reno? Can you post them? Finally, do you want to keep the bs white, or would you welcome some color? I would consider a pretty, light grey, or even a blue or green, depending on the colors you like.

what are Your thoughts?

you've done a great job so far-really clean, nice, classic looking kitchen. you can stay within this feel, and do something blending in, subtle-from simple white subway to a bit more intricate, maybe handmade, maybe differently shaped, but still simple tile in the tones ranging from white to gray. or you can decide you lay simple tile out differently, and pick a lightly darker grout to make the pattern more pronounced

or you can decide you want a bit of color and/or pattern on your tile-and as long as it within the same..lets call it "temperature", and is mindful of all your other materials' colors-you can do this too, and it will still be a tasteful kitchen.

What are you inclined to do? What is your overall style, what are you drawn to, what is the style of the house?

Your budget will dictate the decision to some (big) degree of course.

What are the metal finishes going to be? Faucet, hardware,etc.

Ha! Hi April!

@eam44- Thanks! Budget? Haven't thought of that! LOL. I just want something that looks perfect with the room. I thought I wanted white subway....and I may still. Hubby said "it was a little too bland/white". I do like Romy's silver crackle encore tile.....or kelleyg's sienna marble (??).

@aprilneverends- My thoughts are .....I want to keep it classic and timeless. I am not a fan of the darker grout....that much I am sure of. I like your temperature analogy. I was planning on doing chrome hardware, but may think about satin nickel or brushed chrome to warm it up. I haven't seen the counter in the daylight yet, so I am going to wait until tomorrow to decide. My house is a cape style and my overall style is timeless/classic.....the "Hampton's look" is what I am going for.

P.S. I have not even priced tile yet......so I may very well be in for a "shocker!"

Well, crackle tile can be pricy. It generally has to be sealed for use in the kitchen, which is no big deal. I agree with your husband that white is probably not what you want. One of the things I love about tile is that you can find something nice at just about every price point, especially if white subway tile is your starting point. Let us know when you have a tile budget.

@eam44- $2000-$2500 according to my husband.

Ok, so deduct the cost of installation, then determine how many square feet you have to cover.

If your tile installer is charging you $1000 to install 30 square feet of tile, your tile budget is $1500/30 = $50/SF.

Guessing that you have more than 30 SF, let's keep the tile budget for now at $35/SF.

That puts Encore ceramics crackle tile in silver within your price range. If you like crackle tile, it will be great. A lot of folks here have used it and love it. I have a fondness for Fireclay Tile, and you would have several options there too, including their glazes with lots of variation and crazing (crackle). How do you feel about tile shapes other than 3" x 6"?

I just answered on the other thread, but I was thinking the same thing. Silver subway. here is Romy's: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2704151/silver-crackle-backsplash-done?n=97

@eam44- Wow! Thank you for all that info! I will take a look at Fireclay too! I am not a fan of other shapes....just haven't seen anything that jumps out at me other than subway style.

Encore is mind blowing. Mind. Blowing. Fireclay's too. If both are within your budget-you don't need more than a simple subway that you'll love and that will work with your cabinets/counters..the sheer quality of tile will be enough. Your heart'll skip a bit every time when you'll look at it.

I get that, some people just want subway tile, and some subways tile is really beautiful. Just look at the Gallery too. You never know what might catch your eye. I'm not a fan of green, nor of white cabinets with brass hardware, but when I saw the image below I actually swooned. I'll tell you what I tell everyone - find something you love!

(I think just remembering these colors equals a cup of coffee for me. Dangerous thread))

on the window wall, I'd spend more on a really good looking,classically styled hi arc faucet more than statement backsplash. Beautiful window....light streaming in...that faucet will command attention and always be in view. the backsplash looks like it will recede a bit.....you have plenty of features with doorstyle, trim molding and window......"restraint" with tile is how It looks to me. What is not shown is your area around range or cooktop...assume you have a hood.....look for an insert to place under hood, something coordinating but a change in look from the field tile running elsewhere. Good opportunity to play up your classic look. Really great looking cabinets....you invested well.

OP: If/When you shop the higher end (and, yes, beautiful) Fireclay and Encore, be sure to also obtain the approximate shipping charges for your project. From my notes earlier this year, $1,500 worth of BS tile (for a 30 sf area) would've cost ~ $700 to ship (from NoCal to TX).

Javiwa, you're absolutely right, shipping can be a huge consideration!

@herbflavor- Thank you! I seriously had no idea what I was doing ( or getting myself into) when I started this reno.....so it's really nice to hear my efforts are on the right track. My KD had wanted to go a different avenue, and I am so happy I stood my ground.

Here is my faucet: Perrin&Rowe. It is not installed yet. Can't decide between chrome or brushed nickel. It also has a side sprayer. I wanted to keep it simple. The pull down sprayers my kids tend to break somehow ( I have 5 boys need I say more?) so I opted for a side sprayer.

Here is the oven hood area:

I did a 36" induction cooktop. Much easier to clean and I couldn't pull a gas line in. There are simple corbels on either side of the hood that haven't been installed yet. The glass cabinets ended up being smaller than I thought because the kitchen designer mis-measured that entire wall and those are what suffered. We don't have high ceilings ( 96") so I didn't want to do 32"cabinets. First, I couldn't reach the top so it would have been wasted space, and second, they were way more $.

I have cabinet panels for the fridge and dishwasher. Hoping to keep the fingerprints to a minimum!

Still up in the air on the hardware too. Thoughts anyone?

@javiwa and @eam44- Thanks for the tip on the shipping charge!

looks like an excellent installation....nice area with hood/small glass cabinet doors flanking...beautiful paint finish. I'd spend my effort figuring out a contrast section under the hood...maybe some botanical relief tile, or slight art deco with some color. Depends on what you care to gaze at...it's a good spot to insert something pretty there. Your faucet is a little more plain than what I would have envisioned .....it's fine.....I think you can go a little more "statement" with hardware....slightly elegant,perhaps...the kitchen is classic and not especially casual...dressy, somewhat......in a good way.

It's lovely.

Hi Jem - really pretty kitchen. I love the details on cooktop wall, the hood & glass cabinets especially. Does the pattern of the London Sky looks subtle - versus striking or busy ? It looks soft & subtle, to me, in your pics. The reason I ask is in regard to your backsplash. I think a crackle or gloss tile in a light grey (possibly a hint of green or blue?) would be pretty. I just scrolled up & see that Eam44 said the exact same thing. How much sunlight do you get? Do you want the overall look to be a solid color or have some variation? My Encore Silver has quite a bit of variation. Encore describes Silver as "Light gray with dusty rose, glass blue & mint undertones. Moderate glaze movement. High color range." I have to admit that when my tile arrived, I was quite surprised at the range of colors & color saturation from tile to tile. It ended up being perfect in my kitchen. My kitchen was predominantly white & needed something to add some pizzazz, yet still read as neutral. I think it would be worthwhile to look at Encore - but also look at some of the other colors. Each tile has a description of the overall color, undertones, the amount of glaze movement & the amount of color variation. The crackle collection has a few new colors. Cirrus looks intriguing.

Encore Crackle Collection

Encore also has a Sheer Gloss Collection & a Sheer Glaze Collection. I think the Sheer Glaze Collection is fairly new?

There are also several other manufacturers that make beautiful handmade crackle tile. Here's a GW link that discusses many of them.

Glazed Ceramic Tile

Here are some other inspiration pics of tiles I like.

As far as hardware, I think you need some kitchen jewelry so I'd go polished nickel or shiny chrome. My KD showroom had this Schaub pull on display with their Nordic White kitchen. I ended up using that pull. There are many similar pulls by different manufacturers. The Schaub PN has held up well.

I also considered this one by Atlas Hardware.

Here's another:

Once I found my pull, I chose knobs & Appliance Pulls. I have hardware from 4 different manufacturers so don't feel like you need to match. I think you could have some fun with appliance pulls.

For your floors, have your floor finisher do good sized samples of different stains on the sanded floor.

If you do a photo search on Houzz, "Duraseal", there are multilple pics of wood floors. In the questions & answers section of each photo, many of the pics have the wood type & floor stain info.

I found this one:

Red Oak finished in Coffee Brown or Antique Brown or a mix of both.

We used Duraseal in Special Walnut. Here's what our floor finishing person did for us:

Mix of Ebony & Coffee Brown

Duraseal Spiced Brown

We have dark floors but the grain shows & there is color variation versus solid dark floors, so I'm not "seeing everything" constantly having to clean.

Just came across this thread & thought it might be helpful (if you haven't seen it.)

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3960461/zodiaq-london-sky-backsplash-ideas?n=8

Thanks for everyones help! It's been a long road.....we had to move out for a bit to finish up.

@Romy718- you are amazing, thank you! I will post a photo when completed!

Here are some tile choices. I like white and am terrified to do anything else. Here are my options: ( just look at the 2x8 tile as we are not doing the marble).

Left one is a handmade/painted tile.Right is machine made.

It will look stacked and have some dimension when installed to give it some texture/character.

@jem0223 - I like the one on the right. I've seen the one on the left, recently posted, in another thread. While it's very pretty, I believe the one on the right works better with the style of your cabinets and glass doors. The one thing I would concentrate is making sure the tone of the white subway tile works with the cabinet color, like the pictures below.

In this pic, and it could be the lighting, the tile looks cool when compared to the cabinet color.

@romy718

Thank you! I was leaning towards the left one.....so thank you! The right one is hundreds cheaper too!!

Jem0223, I was just re-reading an old post and you were saying we must be related. I sure love your kitchen, so you might be right. I can't wait to see the reveal. When do you think that will be? I like both tile choices. I'd probably say the handmade one, but romy might be right. The cleaner lines of the man made might work better with your kitchen. Also, can I ask, what part of the country are you in?

My sister did mother of pearl backsplash in her all white kitchen and it is gorgeous.

@kelleg69 Hopefully soon! I am located just outside on Boston.

Jem - What did you decide on? Do you have updated photos???

Hi- Thanks for everyone's help! Sorry, these are so delayed.

Here are some photos...