Thank you for the photos, Christina Marie. That Traditional Home one is beautiful. I'm glad you brought up the border tile... I'm not sure if I should use it or not. Another decision to make, right? :-) The tiles that I chose are 8x8 and our hood is 36" wide, meaning to fit completely under the hood would only give me about four tiles across and four tiles down...and I feel like it's kind of skimpy looking then. If I go five tiles, it would extend beyond each side of the hood about 3" (give or take). I do understand what you're saying about trying to force it to work. I want something different, but I still want it to look nice. I'm starting to think I may need to check out the tile board again and make some photo copies of the tile to pin up on the wall so I can see exactly what it looks like. haha desperate times call for desperate measures

Christina Marie...We are DEFINITELY hiring a tiling professional.

Found pic similar in style to your kitchen. I love the tile too. Looks good how they have set it out

The tile above is just a black herringbone tile with white grout, very smart, the other one is beaut too from Greg Natale. Just a bit more modern

Thank you, Irene!! Ironically, i had planned to add similar lights above the windows until we discovered there was a big header and a stud running right through the center. Just our luck, I guess! Ha! Love this look! I appreciate you sharing this with me.

Limit the tile to below the vent hood.

Have you thought about switching to another decorative tile? Look at Artisan Stone from Stone Impressions, they have 6x6 decorative tiles, and you can mix designs or just select one you like best. That will enable you to keep the design under the hood without spilling out.

I think you have the right idea to photocopy and pin up the tile pattern. Having 4 different 8x8 tiles will not look good if the area is too small. Some of the framed plaques look good, but the tiles are repetitive. I think Irene's idea might work, but things are going to get tricky around the windows. You will need some kind of trim tile or wood trim. Try to make the trim around the windows equal to the space between the window and cabinet. I hope this makes sense.

Liking how the traditional home picture is showing the tile window to window.

Thank you for the tile source, Skippack. I will check that out.

Very good point on the windows, Weil Friedman...everyone’s thoughts have given me a lot to think about and consider. I need to go back over to our home and work through my concerns at this point. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

Wow, Beverly... I need you to come to AZ!! I love this, but know I would tire of it quickly. Thank you for posting the look in my photo. For the record, the kitchen isn’t this yellow...bad late afternoon light.

Even if you only use the painted tile under the hood, you might want to consider these graphic tiles from HD. Also, make sure whatever other tiles you use is the same thickness and carefully layout with the tile setter how the grout lines and tiles will transition. Work this out BEFORE THE FIRST TILE IS APPLIED TO THE WALL. So there are no surprises. Also, figure out how you will end tile using either trim strips or Schlutter metal caps.

Great... thank you! We meet with the tile person on Monday and I’ve been keeping my notes. We plan to go over there today and decide if, and where, we are able to use this tile or another decorative tile. I will check out the tiles you suggested. I really appreciate all of the help I’ve gotten here!

Called Griggio >>?

[https://www.houzz.com/products/3x6-antiguo-special-ceramic-wall-tiles-set-of-8-griggio-prvw-vr~48522063[(https://www.houzz.com/products/3x6-antiguo-special-ceramic-wall-tiles-set-of-8-griggio-prvw-vr~48522063)

That's a BEAUTIFUL kitchen! Your decorative tile accent under the hood with plain tile everywhere else will be simply gorgeous!

Ok...so i found a different tile, made copies of it and hung it on the wall in the pattern that I discussed with the tile installer. Is this large enough or should it extend out from under the hood on each side? This is black and white copies so some of the color is missing.

Looks a little skimpy in picture, in real life may be different. Can you copy more pages and place each side to window.

I would recommend going up to the window top to make it a focal point.

I feel like it may be a little skimpy, too. I’m going to make some more copies and will post again once I have a photo.

I had thought about that, infoAAI, but it felt a little overwhelming with that much decorative tile. The rest of the wall will be in a 3x16 subway tile.

I really like Beverly's picture with the entire backsplash in the decorative tile. I think just under the hood looks out of proportion to me.

Machele, your such a smart cookie - doing all this leg work first. There are quite a few who put the tile up then are on this site saying "help - I don't like what i've done".

Can you post a picture of the 3x16" tile that you are using? (or is it a typo and really 3x6?) Seems like a really visually interesting size - could this be competing with the dramatic interest that your beautiful patterned tiles create? I would be hesitant to introduce too much going on with the patterned tile and the very different sized potentially very modern subway tiles you have selected.

By the way, I love the idea of pulling the patterned tile out to the windows. This tile will be a show stopper once you have everything laid out perfectly :) Can't wait to see how it all work out!

Haha Angel 18432... we’ll see how smart I am when it’s done ;-). But thank you...and thank you for your help. It’s nice to bounce my thoughts off of everyone.

Kfulls18...actually it’s 4x16 and in a pumice color. On that large area, i felt like the smaller tiles were a little too small. See photo below.

These are the two tiles

yeah - I love that together. My concerns are needless! lol

Thanks, Kfulls18!!

The decorative tile you chose is beautiful & will be stylish for many years to come; so maybe embrace it. Here are some possibilities so you do not have to tape to wall. I cut and pasted the pattern the best I could. Sorry it is not exact, but it gives you a feel for the tile. Add herb plants under the windows for greenery and when you get your décor and small appliances on the countertop, the tile pattern on the first picture will blend into the design. How are you feeling about it. The room can certainly embrace the patterned tile design of 1st pic with its large size. It looks very balanced and complete.

Do a border tile under the hood vent to align with middle of window & over to the cabinets as a transition between the decorative and subway tile.

Christina Marie!! I love this so much!! Both are beautiful!! Thank you for doing this...that visual is so amazing and helpful. We’re going back over to have another look and make a final decision. Thank you so, so much!!

Christina Marie- Another recent post had tile set similar to your second rendering above. It looked "off" because, as one responder said, the windows couldn't "breathe." How about a rendering with the tiles not butting against the window edges? Enough space to look as though the windows had a frame on all sides.

Christina Marie...when you say border tile, is that like a bullnose or pencil type tile? They are maybe 3/4” or 1”? There are several great options with the subway style.

Grout lines can be same color as tile or darker or lighter to bring out tile work.

pencil type tile for a border.

What about a darker border tile same color as your cabinets

I can’t tell you how helpful this has been, Christina Marie. I did choose a grout that matches the tile. Mainly because I felt that all the grout lines would compete with the decorative tile. I think the lighter pencil tile is my first choice, but I plan to stop by the tile shop and try the black color, too. I may as well weigh all of the options, right? Thanks again for taking the time to beautify my photos.

Great, you have good instincts and are planning well. It is very permanent, so I am with you on taking time to get it right. Send your choices after you go to the tile shop and I can try and put them into a picture for you if you want. Happy shopping!

Christina Marie... I like the deco tile across the entire lower section, however, we have to wrap it around the right hand side of that cabinet...where the wall returns. Also on another smaller, wall of our kitchen, we had planned to do the subway tile and it is on the lower section so it may mean that we need to do the deco tile there to make this work. I’ll take a photo when we go back over. We could also leave that bare paint. You know what they say about projects...one thing leads to another. Haha

What if the subway tiles went vertically?

I think I'd not want the contrast of black strip - but a grey/ maybe color of the grout, about...

I thought about that also, leaving the wall above painted with no tile. You could always tile the lower half with the decorative tile and wait to see if you even want upper tile. Again you have good instincts. Send more photos and I can plug in the decorative tile for you. Thanks and have a great evening!

you can see in this application, they have no upper tile. I realize this is different than yours, but it gives you a reference.

Here are some more close ups of this tile application. There is no border and it looks finished. Your tile is similar in size and texture, so you may not need a border either; if you leave the upper wall painted like they did.

I really love Design by Christina Marie's first photo with the pencil border around the decorative tile especially the idea of making the pencil border black. I would place the decorative tile just beyond the hood. The rest the subway tile.

In my humble opinion the decorative tiles in the other pictures are too high with the lighter color subway tile on top. Something about it is off center. I would place four or five inches of decorative tile, like a backsplash just to the bottom of the cabinets and then begin the subway tile. The black framed decorative tile can still be used under the hood surrounded by the subway tile. I am not sure whether I would go up to the ceiling. Instead I would hang some interesting plates (black and white) or some pottery, interesting objects de arte.

Whoever commented negatively about the soffet around the ceiling, well I can only say I wish I had one in my kitchen. I would put crown molding around the inside of it to give it a finished look. I love those details in a house.

Also those tiles you chose have been around for thousands of years but they were made of cement I think. They are unbelievably costly because they are hand made. The ones you have are beautiful and timeless.

Your kitchen is so beautiful, spacious, and if it looks this good without any tile I can't wait to see it when the tile is installed.

Go to this site. It reminds me of the all white tile with a similar size hood as yours.

http://www.lonny.com/At-Home+Coffee+Stations+That+Beat+A+Cafe/articles/C8c4nAuTl8F/Pop+of+Color

Thank you, Eleanor Smith-Litt ...your comments are very kind and I appreciate your opinions. Thank you for sharing that photo. I wish my photos had a better viewpoint. They don’t really show how much space there is when you’re standing there.
Christina Marie, we spent some time at our home tonight literally looking at the area from every angle...walking in and out of the room. I did hang my makeshift tile up again. Haha And we had your photo to reference for the other. One thing I am noticing with tiling the entire lower half is that return on the right side. It makes it feel unbalanced. I think if we had a tall cabinet that mimicked the left side oven cabinet it would feel more symmetrical. I’ve talked to my installer and he’s going to do the section under the hood from window to window first. And then he will proceed from there and we can decide if we want to continue the deco tile or not. I didn’t get to the tile shop today, hopefully tomorrow. I definitely feel like the subway needs to go up...it would almost seem unfinished if we don’t. Thank you again for your help. Have a good night!!

There are so many different ways to do a decorative tile backsplash. You have some great ideas already, but we recommend not just doing under the hood with yours.

why