LOVE the tile with your flooring.

I'd like to see the range hood before deciding -- some have a more vertical than horizontal impact.

Go all the way up! Nice drama!

what's the countertop? (I hope it's something solid. with that tile and your flooring, you have a lot of pattern)

what does your hood look like? are you leaving windows as is or will there be blinds?

Personally, I'd do the entire wall all the way to the ceiling. Most people will tell you to stop under the hood, but we don't know where you're placing it or where the bottom of that will end in relation to the cabinets. In other words, if you stop the tile even w/the bottom of cabinets, and the bottom of the hood is higher than that, then you will have two different stopping points. I say just tile the entire wall.

another option is take the tile all the way up even w/the top of the window trim.

here are some visuals

if this was one of your choices,,,no. do the whole wall.

if you did even w/the windows, it would look something like this one:

top to bottom should make a bold statement however it would be nice to know what will you do for the counter top? You may not want to add more texture there or it would probably be too much ..

IMO tumbled tile where it gets greasy is a poor choice but to answer where it should go all the way up between th windows and your tiler should be making that suggestion with a schluter edge

this tile can actually be polished on the edges. it's Silver Travertine in a honed finish. . they also have pencil liners, rail moldings, etc in the same tile.

Evelyn, if you don't want the grout to discolor your tile, it will have to be sealed before grouting. seal the face only, not the sides. otherwise, the grout will fill in any pit, hole or crack and permanently alter the color. if you use an enhancing penetrating sealer, it will also darken the color of the stone just a bit. Try it on a scrap piece to see if you want enhancing or non enhancing. I have silver travertine on my floors and did the enhancing sealer. the color is beautiful.

the entire way to the ceiling with large tile. small tile is falling by the wayside quickly. the back splash in the same tile ( & a lot will disagree with this one) 4".

Thank you all for feedback!

AJ - Not sure what you mean about top window trim?

Toronto - range hood will be something like this but haven't purchased yet

Beth - Thank you for the time you spent on your answer. Very helpful images and ideas. Countertop is Silestone Lagoon. It's somewhat solid with just a hint of some grey.

I will probably do some kind of blinds but something plain. The inside of the window frame will be painted white along with the trim.

Do you know who normally polishes edges for tile like this? Something done at the time of purchase or by the installer?

thank you for the warning about the sealer. I did purchase it for the stone but now will do a test first to make sure it doesn't darken too much. :)

duquesa - Thanks! See image above for countertop

Patricia - I didn't even know what a schluter edge was...now i do. Thanks for this suggestion.

Wacokid - I know..I am horrible at color and am picking such neutral tones. Sometimes I wish I was more adventurous, but always fall back in my comfortable nude/grey/beige tones.

LSlater - Really? Would you post a picture of it so I can see? I would love to see it in a real environment. Thanks!

evelyn,,,your tiler should be able to polish those edges. although, not sure where you would need the edges to be done? if it's high up on top, no one will see it. if it's on the sides, maybe. he could prob use a 320 grit and work up to 600 or 1000, depending on how polished you want it. 320-600 should be enough for the honed finish.

here is my silver travertine. i used the enhancing sealer. It doesn't change it,,,just enhances it by bringing out the duller parts and adding clarity. that's the best way I can explain it.