OOohhhhhh I love your choice of floors. All your options are great but since you want a vote. I vote for BM Kendall Charcoal. Love all your details and the granite too.

Thank you, Boxerpal ;)

I love Kendall. have it on my walls. you could also look at Chelsea gray

have you thought about a blue gray? Gentlemans gray is gorgeous

Thanks all, I appreciate the input!

OldGrayMare, I'm glad to hear you like Edgecomb Gray. I had actually chosen Balboa Mist and the painters had done the living room walls first along with the furr down on ceiling...well, right outside the large windows my pool with Pebble Tec in Caribbean Blue was reflecting in and it looked baby blue and lavender! Oh no! Immediately switched to Edgecomb Gray and I think the warmer gray is much more suited to the amount of natural light I have.

Beth, I will pick up a Chelsea Gray swatch, I'm familiar with that color but it didn't cross my mind so thanks! I also know from reading these boards you're a tile pro so if you have any ideas for backsplash I'd love to know. Definately want to keep it simple with the granite.

Yes, there was granite countertop up there before in that area and will do that again there and the other strip along the long countertop on the left....that's new drywall back there now. I think that would be better than a row of 1 1/2 or so tiles don't you? The backsplash was all granite before. We just brought back in pieces of the countertop after demo to forge a makeshift hillbilly kitchen. ;) We are still living here upstairs. Fun times.

I don't really want subway either but if I have to go that route, I like the ones with crackle and a little color. I love the arabesque! Thank you Beth

I do have a Chelsea Gray chip here! Sun going down now so I will take another pic in the morning and post. I like it too.

Well duh, the Chelsea Gray was on the other end of the Kendall Charcoal paint strip. That’s Amherst Gray in the middle, but I like the other two better. Two pics with and without light.

Beth, I also have a question about extending the countertop up for that narrow strip. So you see to the right of the sink there where there are cabinets and countertop...put backsplash only on back wall and start the short granite countertop backsplash on the side and bring around to column and sink area?

Had all granite counter and backsplash before so not sure how to transition that will tile backsplash this time.

That little bar over the sink will be replaced with new granite and the long bar will extend out to the end of that column, with support of course. That’s how it was before and we use the heck out of that bar.

Thank you all for your input, much appreciated.

so what you could do is take the granite for strip and either stop at the angled part, or do that as well (they will have to seam two pieces for that spot). nothing on the wall to the side, and your backsplash tile can go just on the back wall under cabinets. That way, you won't have to worry about any transition.

Or, just do the narrow strip of granite, leave the angled part bare, and backsplash tile on the back and the wall portion to the left. again, no transition to worry about. that tall strip of wall will remain as is.

OK, thank you. I will play around with those options.

Hi there. Funny you should ask. Work actually began yesterday. (with so many homes flooded here, it's a very long process). Anyway, I went with Kendall Charcoal for the island. Fingers crossed.

After all the cabinets are done by Saturday then all I have to do is hardware and backsplash and 7 months and 2 weeks later I finally have a kitchen again.

Sounds trivial but I'm so looking forward to just sitting at my bar, having coffee and reading the newspaper every morning like I've done for the past 19 years.

Thank you for asking.

Just thought I’d update so y’all could see how it turned it yesterday.

Backsplash and hardware to go...

Can I do polished nickel hardware even though my old faucet is chrome? It was expensive and still in great shape so I’d like to use it again.

Still tape and dirt on floors here. Excuse the working mess...

oh good,,you used the counter material on the thin strip behind sink. you won't have to worry about tiling there.

did you find a tile you like?

I like some contrast with a dark charcoal or a gray,,,

ignore the fruit,,look at the matte tile in a herringbone behind it

if you want lighter,,,something w/the taupe grays/warm whites...this is a marble elongated beveled hex from EncoreCeramics called Earl Grey

similar color,,,this can be done in one color and a bigger size if you like

this white from CleTile gives off a little iridescence. comes in many shapes.

or, the proverbial subway tile. here it's a 3x12 hand made look

Haven't found tile yet but have been thinking I want to do full herringbone, larger tiles in one color. I was waiting till I could see the cabinet color with the granite before I brought samples home. The other thing that concerns me is making sure whomever does the tile knows how to do herringbone correctly ya know?

In that first picture you posted with the collage, the one in the lower right, the light gray chevron...where/who is that from?

Thanks for posting all those!

So if you go to Floor and Decor, purchase tile and labor from them, do they generally have pretty skilled tilers?

I'd like to see Encore in person but there is only one place here that I know of and it's not the most convenient location. I have been to Emser and Daltile but of course they were out of samples of the ones I wanted.

yes,,if laying each individual piece, they will have to know how to start it to get everything symmetrical. once you get going, it's not that hard. it takes 4 times as long though, so that may be an issue. if you find smaller tiles, they come on mesh in the pattern.

those above are from here, and is a chevron. the tiles are already cut on the 45 so all the tiler has to do is set them. they are 2x9

https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/grayson-martin-park-place-chevron-257-x-9-ceramic-field-tile-in-gray-gsmt1789.html

this place has glass, and if you want the smaller size, they come on the sheets

http://www.discountglasstilestore.com/search.php?search_query=chevron&Search=

or the ceramic

http://www.discountglasstilestore.com/chevron-ceramic-silver-gray-2-x-9-ceramic-wall-tile-3-29-per-square-foot-gloss-finish/

these look like this when installed:

as I stated,,I wouldn't trust anyone from floor and decor.

Encore is expensive, and made to order,,,usually.

ask around for tilers and check references and any complaints through their license board

go to a higher end tile store, ask for the manager, and ask him who does his tiling.

Sophie posted this on another post. maybe this will help:

homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

wayfair also had this one. more of a matte porcelain.

Yes, I did get a personal reference from a consultant at Emser.

With all the remodeling going on here from the flood there are a plethora of bad GC stories and shoddy work being done so you have to be careful. The good ones are very busy. We booked our cabinet maker/refinisher 2 weeks after the flood and we were already 6 months on the waiting list. We've been pretty fortunate that we've had good work so far on everything that we've hired out. We've done quite a bit ourselves too...well, my husband has. I'm just the helper. lol

well good. i'm sure doing a backsplash won't be as difficult as a shower. perhaps you and your husband can tackle the splash?? lol. it's not that hard, really.

Oh hell no, I would never tackle a shower! lol

We could probably handle the splash. But do we really need more marital stress now?? lol He's got some great miter saw skills, finishing up all the baseboards now, so I'm pretty sure he could handle a wet saw. But some things might be better left to a professional!