Thanks so much! I appreciate it. I think staggered works more with sink and stone, too. There are modern elements but no matter what, the cabin feels rustic.

Personally, I like stacked better and I think soapstone could be used in both traditional and modern ways. With soapstone behind the range, try to visualize how stacked vs staggered will work on either side of the stove backsplash. Dry-fit first to know where the cuts will be, or do calculations so you don't end up with slivers.

Voting for staggered for the same reason stated by the first poster.

Voting for staggered too.

Staggered

Definitely staggered

I had thought I preferred the stacked, but when it came down to it, and I did some visuals in my kitchen, the staggered looked way better. It's really personal preference.

This was so helpful! I played around d with the tile as I waited for some responses and got a good layout for the staggered. One wall done. Will post when I am finished. Thank you again for all of your input

I think you made the right choice. On your other thread, someone had added a photo of a beautiful wall of stacked tile that made me like stacked (I usually dislike the look), but the layout of the kitchen was completely different than yours with a full wall of the stacked tile. Can't wait to see how yours looks finished.

Ok finally finished yesterday and ready to grout. Thanks so much for your input. It’s helped tremendously as I had two days to do this and got it done! Now, I am planning to grout with white, as I’ve seen in all the photos.

https://www.fireclaytile.com/blog/full/tile-color-spotlight-add-neutral-appeal-with-french-linen

But maybe it’s because the soapstone counters, but it looks so bright (was using arctic white to have no undertone of yellowing)

If you’re not too tired of the project by now, any insight would be appreciated, as always!

Another photo

Great choice--staggered works SO much better in this kitchen!

If you’re asking about the grout, white grout will reduce the visual impact of your backsplash. But I think you can also consider a pale (silver) grey to tie the tiles in with the countertop. The staggered was the right choice.

Staggered was the right choice for your kitchen.

Are you doing the tiling yourself? The sooner you remove the excess mortar, the easier it will be to get the grout lines clean.  It looks good and post more pics when you finish the grout

Staggered.

Looks good! My vote would also have been staggered - to me it seems more traditional.

I think a light grey would be nice, but so would white.

Staggered.

That looks REALLY good so far!

White grout is too white, as suggested above, I would do a pale grey or silver as it will blend better.

Thank you, all so far! I have some gray and some silver grout (platinum) I can try and also a bone--that's slightly warmer. As much as i liked the bright white grout as in the fireclay photos, all of those countertops were white, as well. This tile, although it looks white in the photo is kind of a gauzy, gray, but muslin-like color.

I did the tiling myself, at almost breakneck speed, and started a tiny bit with the white grout, which I can remove before proceeding, along with cleaning out some of those grout lines.. I will post more photos when I am done. Thank you all again for taking the time to help!

The wood ( tongue and groove?) has enough pattern and interest. I would match the grout to the tile for a cleaner, less busy look.

I think I'd prefer a pale grey/silver rather than the white. You need to tie the white into the counter. Looking good.

Well, finally done with 5 tiles to spare. I finally found a good compromise for the grout—Snow White. Someone described it like “snow three days after a Chicago snowstorm”, which led me right to it. So, it’s almost grayish. Still not happy with microwave shelf, but needed countertop space. Made my own bullnose out of the tile with eased edge tile that was inside the box. I got the tile on FB marketplace (fireclay) at a great price, and it was wonderful tile to work with. Thanks for all of your advice and help along the way! You really helped me work with the rustic cabin setting.

Looks great!

Wonderful! Nicely done.

Well done. Looks really nice. 👍

Is rustic luxury an oxymoron? Well done!

ETA: do you mind sharing how you mounted the microwave? is it an after market shelf? We have a 40 year old microwave the size of a small house and I keep putting off getting a new one because I can't decide where it should go. Off the counter would be ideal. TIA!

Thanks so much! I was trying various solutions for the microwave, as I could not find a good placement off the counter and didn’t want an extra cart. This took me ten minutes to install and worked pretty well. It’s also adjustable

https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00PBWVHFO/ref=dp_prsubs_cr_1?pd_rd_i=B00PBWVHFO

Perfect! Well done.