Wow.

Who ever installed that tile is a master, though.

Eeewwwww

Yikes!!! Just tragic...

Hang on... I think I just blew a retina...

Oy. And I especially like the way the outlet covers are so prominently displayed and that the tiled planter in the corner brings in a geometric shape (and color) totally unrelated to the geometric of the backsplash or the flow of the counters.

Oww, my eyeballs!

Oh dear. If I were moving in I’d paint right over that backsplash as a solution until I came up with something else. I wonder if the owners liked it after the install.

Going through open houses is one of my favorite hobbies. I do It mostly for decorating ideas, but it can also be highly entertaining!

I have to respect people who choose what they love and not what they think others will love.

Agreed. Although sharing your kitchen that you put together with all the things you love is somewhat different than a design firm posting this as a sample of their work. Even if you're not a design wonk, you're going to look at that and think it looks "off" - even if you can't pin down why. I suspect someone was very proud that they managed to find a penny tile mosaic with colors that really do match that countertop to the nth degree. And never considered that "match" doesn't mean "use together."

"...jonesing to go blind." lol

It's the opposite of gestalt—the selection of individual items based on their own merit, and not on how they harmonize. It's like divas fighting on stage as to whose high C is stronger.

Seriously... who would DO this?

LOL ... me! Before I knew anything about "too many clowns" in the kitchen (or Divas fighting on stage!) , I chose a glass mosaic tile backsplash for my granite countertops. I guess I was exhausted from looking, under pressure from Mr. Jelly to move forward, and the colors did coordinate perfectly, so ....

There was brown construction paper covering the granite during the install to protect it. When the splash was completed, I tore off the brown paper and had the same reaction you did ... who would DO this? My second thought was that it had to go and the third was that my husband was going to kill me! It was a very unpleasant moment. Thankfully it hadn't been grouted, because it did come off (and not easily; I tore it off myself that very day) and it went straight into the trash. And I didn't even get any push-back or grief from Mr. J ... nothing wrong with his eyeballs!

"I suspect someone was very proud that they managed to find a [penny] tile mosaic with colors that really do match that countertop to the nth degree. And never considered that "match" doesn't mean "use together."

So true, Holly!!! I can't stop laughing at this.

Remember how we had sometimes pithy but always useful quotes at the top of the GW forums? Match doesn't mean use together would have been perfect - good one Holly.

I respect people who choose what they love too, but that doesn't mean I respect design that is so flawed it could trigger a migraine. That said, the colors are pretty (I mean, if I'm expected to say something nice about it). And yep, as stated, this was found on the website for a design firm, so I'm not real concerned about someone getting their feelers hurt.

Wow. For someone who thinks even white penny rounds with dark grout are too busy for a backsplash this was pretty painful.

You know who would do it? A lover of pattern and color and someone whose is not overly disturbed by visual stimuli. Some people need minimalism visually, some do not. I am one of those who does not, and I like it. It also probably looks better in person than photos. I have found that some lovely "in person" looks just do not photograph well. Sometime proportion, depth and colors, all combined, look bad in a photo and not in person. Particularly with patterns. That's why there are different decorating and landscaping styles, because there are different personality types.

Outlets can be painted to match tile. Maybe they just haven't gotten around to doing that yet.

Edited to add that this kitchen has an organic look, not the flat, sterile lab look. It's got natural colors and textures, wood and marble grain, etc. That's another direction from the design perspective, but not necessarily poor design. In fact, mixtures of ornate pattern and color is often featured in high end design. At what point it becomes "too much" I'm not sure, but that kitchen is by no means there yet, IMHO.

To my eye they don't look good together. However, even though I'm not huge fan of fussy backsplashes, the problem is the countertops. I couldn't face looking at that every day. See? We're all different.

I want to know if their freezer door opens all the way... and how they like that OTR microwave instead of a real hood... and whether these pictures actually help the design firm get any new clients.

I have that same microwave and an electric stovetop. Not an issue. When we get gas, we'll replace it with a hood vent. Maybe the stovetop would have to vent to the upstairs so that's why they went with electric instead of gas, easier to install. I like my microwave up off the counter, gives me more counter space. The photo is skewed, there is probably at least 4 feet between the fridge and the island and the island is probably not that long. So the kitchen is rather small. A mounted microwave allows for maximum food prep. space.

I'm glad your OTR microwave works for you (I didn't mention anything about an electric range.) I personally don't like retrieving hot items at or above face level but I like having it off the counter so I opted for a drawer MW. I get that everyone's preference is different so hopefully this kitchen owner loves theirs too.

My comment about the freezer door wasn't because of the island; it's because the unit is right next to a wall. It could be the perspective of the photo, but it looks like the wall is deeper than the side of the refrigerator and would impede the door swing. Like I said, I'm just curious to know if it opens all the way.

My dad has that same set up. The worst thing is stove burner dials at the back of the stove so you're always reaching over hot food to adjust when cooking. Plus steam from something blew out one of indicators so now it always reads that a burner is on. Not ideal, but often done because kitchens are tiny. Never seen a drawer micro, that's intriguing. Dad probably shouldn't be reaching up to get stuff out of the micro either, but he has zero counter space. We're going to be moving ours down soon, but that's going to necessitate a whole kitchen cleanse to make room for the stuff from the cabinets above the range, and my extensive spice island is going to have to be re-homed because that's where the micro is going.

I like it.

You have to admit that the colors match perfectly.

I like a kitchen with clean, simple, lines. This ain't it. I wouldn't want the OTR (never even heard of such things till I came to Houzz), the two level countertop (waste of good prep space), or the mosaics with all that grout to keep clean. And I do find the combo of the countertops (which I actually like) with the busy tile just too overwhelming. I'd have put plain glass in there as a backsplash.