I don’t like the look of the black tile, but it’s not my kitchen. So, I’ll be interested to see how it looks once it’s finished.

I love the black tile too however I have a small detail question that I’d be interested to hear where people fall. So when my eye sees this black tile from the patio door side it naturally wants it to align with the dark base below and not the outer edge of the counter (see my poor iPhone mark up trying to show this)….I can see that some will say no just align it with the outer edge of the top because most people won’t notice this (or care) - but wanted to throw it out there for debate…..and yay for the black outlets!

I would really hesitate against using 2 different cabinet colors AND two different backsplashes. I agree with @M Miller that your eyes need somewhere to rest. I mean this gently - the black tile looks like an upscale bar bathroom.

thinkdesignlive, Wow, I didn't consider starting the black tile to align with the walnut cabinet below, thanks for thinking about it. But after looking at the mockup I think that would bug me to see the countertop jag out.

I get it - your response is valid. But what I see is the top dark jogging out from the bottom dark (but only from that one side) so again - it’s interesting to see what bugs one person vs another.

Do you have an elevation view of the window wall rendered in color?

Sally T, that's funny you should mention the bar bathroom because that's exactly what we're doing! We are putting that same tile in the guest bath/powder room as a feature backsplash. Walls, baseboards and interior side of the door are painted with BM Blackbery while the ceiling remains white. The matte black tiles will start from the vanity countertop to the ceiling. The countertop is Cambria Inverness Frost from a remnant, and the cabinet is walnut. Rendering of bathroom attached as well as the light fixture. Outlet will be matte black. There will be a white thin ceiling mount track for the shower curtain for the shower/tub to the right of the toilet -- it's a small bathroom. Purchased shower curtain is a dark grey linen weave but we'll see if it works once the room is finished. I'll be sure to post photos.

The rest of this 1972 ranch house is airy and minimalistic with BM Chantilly Lace in every room so we wanted the powder room to have a moody, modern feel.

No, thinkdesignlive, no color rendering of the window wall elevation.

Make sure you specify Benjamin Moore’s bathroom paint. With dark tones it really helps reduce the steam/streaking that will occur (even with great ventilation)

Love the black tile, keep it! Since your granite has a color and isn't white like the rendering, I would go with a white tile bs that is the same white as your upper cabinets. It will basically disappear, giving just some texture (with a matching grout color). The counters get to be their own detail.

I think your kitchen is great, including that black stacked tile. I hope some of the comments aren’t dissuading you from your vision. Your kitchen has plenty of light and there’s not that much surface anyway. I don’t see a problem with adding the white tile either if it’s a similar vocabulary. I like that you’re not playing it safe, follow your good aesthetic sense.

thinkdesignlive, yup, got the BM Aura Spa and Bath paint for the kitchen and bathrooms! I think I'm more excited about that since I always worry about mildew in these small bathrooms.

lucky and Michael, thanks for your vote of confidence on the tiles. We decided to go with the seamed granite bs because we can hide the seam with Trader Joe's exotic cutting boards. Plus, husband makes a ton of Italian red sauce and I was worried about it splattering on a white tiled bs.

What about just using the black tile everywhere for the backsplash. I think you have enough light coming into the kitchen and it would tie it together since you have two different cabinet colors.

If you absolutely MUST have the black tile wall? Repeat on the opposite side.

But the kitchen loses not one thing, just going white tile both walls.. Truly? The black, while certainly dramatic, is actually more suited to the bath, in which you are already REPEATING it.

My Point? Pick one color.

I think because people are typically only choosing finishes for One kitchen and a couple bathrooms that they fall into a trap of wanting to use all of their top picks mixed together because they can't narrow it down to one pick of each finish. Unfortunately you are not going to be use every thing you think is great, just because you think it is great.

People don't wear one of each from two different pairs of shoes and the jacket of one outfit and the pants of another because they just love them all so much, but this is exactly what people try to do in kitchens all the time. And if you Did wear two different shoes and two different outfits, you get to go home and take it off again, you aren't stuck with it for 20 years.

And people are afraid that using only one countertop and one cabinet finish and one flooring finish is going to be "boring", but that's not necessarily so. There are two kinds of kitchens of a certain age that show up in the forum. Usually neither one has anything particularly wrong with it other than visually they did not age well.

One of these is a kitchen that was always probably been dull probably, but the issue is more that it feel into the "all neutrals/all beiges/all browns/all greys go together"... and they really don't. This kitchen was probably always a dull mismatch. You can pick out " just one of each" that will not be dull or mismatched though.

The second one is the kitchen that tried to fit all the current trends into one room and it seemed like it looked great for a few years because it was hitting all the trends, but as each trend fades, some of them start to not look so great. When I first started here there was a big push for very colorful glass mosaic backsplashes with colored, textured, and metallic tiles all mixed together sometimes with a "feature" over the range or sink, mixed with a very active granite. We all know what people think of this combination now, and really those kitchens aren't "old" chronologically or ergonomically, but they are the sorts of things that show up under "what do I do with this dated granite/backsplash/floor tile/glazed cabinet"?

Oh boy, I can't believe that you experts have successfully swayed us away from the idea of the black stacked tile in the kitchen. Looking forward to that drama feature has sustained my husband and I throughout this remodel dealing with unforeseen hiccups, cooking and sleeping in two back rooms with cat and huge dog, cleaning dishes on our knees in a plastic tub in the bathtub, nightly dusting away construction dust....but, we just requested for the black tiles to be switched out for white tiles. The stacked 1"x6" white tiles will still give us some modernity to the kitchen, hopefully timeless modernity. This was a difficult but necessary lesson for us to step back and really think about how our current dream kitchen would feel in 10 years. Standing for one's conviction is crucial in life but knowing when to eventually listen to offered wisdom is as important. I wish I could repeat the same tile along the cooktop's backsplash but there's a lot of red sauce ragu made every Sunday and I fear for the little white grout lines. As for the white uppers and walnut bottom cabinets we know we will love that combo forever as we have loved a similar cabinet in our office for 20 years.

Here's a quick photoshopped rendering with white tile (countertops will be Pitaya granite, not Mont Blanc quartzite.) Thank you, thank you for sharing your expertise and expressing it so thoughtfully.

@midcentura - I LOVE It in white. It's fresh, modern, and soothing - with zero bathroom vibes

haha, no bathroom vibes!

The slab you show has an all-over pattern with lots of speckles. I think you'd have a hard time finding the seams with this material. If the slab had very distinct veining, I might have a different answer, but that's not the case here.

I vote white. : ) Much better, fresher : ) and still plenty modern.

Jan, my husband's red sauce will one Sunday get into those little grout lines and then that kitchen will certainly see a lot of drama from me, that's for sure.

Simple, almost never fails you.

Take a page from her book. Photo? Welllllll.... she's been DEAD for 29 years. Need to know more?

What always kills? Failure to edit....: )

I was a clothing designer for 40 years and the last (and difficult) thing I had to do for every single design before it went to the patternmaker was to edit back to that dress’s essence. Nothing contrived but keep the dress style fresh and inspiring to buy. I hope our kitchen stands to that test of time.

Prop up a sheet pan behind the cooktop on ragu making days. Easy to wipe splatters off that.

The kitchen will be gorgeous with the white tile.

We’re tidy people but messy cooks. I also tend to splatter when baking as I’ll later find batter on the backsplash. We figure we can wipe down the granite backsplash easily if dried batter or sauce was missed earlier.

How do you feel about switching the lone cabinet by the window to the white as well. It looked more balanced with the black

Meaning the walnut cabinet against the black vs a white cabinet against the white.

I forgot you already had the cabinets in. Why don’t you wait until they are in and then prop up the tiles? I’d want to know that the white was the exact right white before I pulled the trigger either way.

I mean wait until the tops are in😂sheesh I need a nap

I love a dark backsplash. I've used black/dark gray on a number of recent projects.

And here is a Walnut/white kitchen that had a black exposed brick chimney.

Kristin, those pix are gorgeous but now that weve been looking at the white tile rendering we could see the longterm wisdom in them. It’s a fresher feeling with the white and now the kitchen window and sliding door can share the same color shades.

thinkdesignlive, The cabinet above the sink counter is already in and though it’d be less eye crowded in white now that the backsplash will be white, I’m wary to ask our contractor for yet another change. The walnut cabinet is beautiful when I gaze at it.

I’m in the dark camp - as you know - however best to wait and prop all/any options up on the counter and look at them with the correct lighting.

You decided. White. Don't waffle : ) lol

The white of that tile may lean too cream or grey or who knows. As long as they are looking at it in real life with the correct lighting then that’s not waffling that’s getting it right.

And back to your original question - are you sticking with the granite splash on the other side? I lean in the camp to make the splash’s the same on both sides. So extra critical to get the right white tile with that expanse of upper white cabinets.

Yes, for sure the backsplash along the cooktop counter will be the Pitaya granite. it is a duller white than the BM Chantilly Lace upper cabinets and the walls.

Its a good idea to see if the Bedrosian Cafe Tile in white will blend well with the rest of the shades of white in the kitchen but we’re so concerned with screwing up the calendar set up by the contractor. I read how the experts advise that the tile backsplash selection is the last thing to happen but what does that do to the timeline? They've been really adhering to their calendar up to this point though the process is only now getting into the design aesthetics.

Jan, were not waffling!

White and seal the grout

My sister has tiled white grout behind her cooktop and it’s pristine. But she is an avid cleaner and wipes it down after each and every time they use the cooktop. Not me!

If you are sticking with the slab backsplash on one side, the black tile may be the best approach. The slab is not white and has prominent black specks, the black tile picks up on the specks and does not look -close but not quite- as white tile may. If you do both sides tile then white would probably be fine.

I would not extend the stacked tile to the edge of the outer countertop. Either stop it to align w/the cabinets below (as stated earlier) or…lose the last column all together (my preference), so it just seems to ”frame” the window.

That wall space can then be used to hang some art (tall/narrow) to add some interest.

Chris b, thanks for the photo of the Pitaya backsplash. I hope my backsplash is as fresh and beautiful. Well, the zen energy must be directing itself toward me because we are staying with the black stacked tile, not by choice but perhaps divine intervention, lol. The white tile has a back order of end July, long after my scheduled completion date. Though we could actually ask if the contractor to come back and finish the wall when the white tiles do come in, we’ll stay the course with the original design. I’m Asian, and my sisters and cousin really love the wabi sabi of the black stacked tiles, it’s got a Japanese iron kettle feel. Countertops and slab bs get installed on Tuesday and tile on Wednesday. Sorry Jan! I’ll post photos sooner than later as it’s all starting to happen the next two weeks.

Seal the grout either way.

And one photo looking into the dining area, and one each of the bathrooms

Simply beautiful!

Lovely! I’m so happy for you!

Stunning.

Thank you! We are loving it!