Wow,, am I glad I checked this thread. First-- Metro is annother tile company. I'm pretty sure instead of having lugs on the sides of the tiles like Dal's, it has a raised ridge that runs the whole perimeter of the tile, but does the exact same thing. As for HD, they have the very same Daltile, but they also have U.S. Ceramics, as well. Also not a bad tile. Secondly, as for matte vs brite glaze, there's no difference in maintanence. The only difference, pretty much is your taste. Third, the only problem I forsee with respect to hanging the Durock is that any time I've hung cement board where plaster was, the studs never seem to be in good alignment. But that's not a big deal. They can either be hand planed or shimmed, as needed. Other than that, it's a piece of cake. Lastly, DO NNOT take those HD classes. I sat in on one and tore the instructor to bits, to the point that he was ready to have me removed from the store. Those classes are a joke. If you want the real deal information, as well as a BUNCH of pros to pretty much hold your hand through the whole thing, go to John BRidge's forum. the link's below. They (we) won't steer you wrong. Here is a link that might be useful: John Bridge's Tile Advice Forum

Home Depot Expo carried a very nice 1X2 in white and a light yellow/gold, with the classic crackle finish, in 1X1 ft sheets. When all the Expos were shut down, Floor and Decor sold all of Expo's old tile and glass stock. At the Floor and Decor near us (Atlanta area), you could have gotten all the white tile you wanted for $10 per square foot. I think that was late summer or fall. They had exactly one sheet of the yellow, and that's what we wanted. Ended up finding the 15 squares we needed in a Floor and Decor in Texas and had it shipped. Even with shipping it was around $20 per square foot. I actually have one square foot of the white left - I bought it to practice with. It is by BANAN APPEAL, made in the Dominican Republic. The UPC code is 17877 24359 and what looks like the model number is CSMB1212-C20. Try calling Floor and Decor to see if they have any left. http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/ If you find someone who is helpful, they can check their national inventory from one of their mainframe inventory terminals. Here is what the yellow looks like installed: Good luck!

kgolby, sorry I didn't mean to lump you in with the other comment, I realized they were separate. mpagmom, I was probably over reacting being sick and exhausted... and having just recently spend hours deciding to go with tile instead of beadboard after finding the affordable 23 cents/tile ($1.80/sq ft) HD and Lowes tile, I was a bit dismayed to hear it called horrible! I am sure it would not work out for every kitchen - the HD tile has a definite warm tone to it, while the Lowes product at the same price point is a purer white. With these 2 choices, probably one or the other would work for most kitchens. If your backsplash area is large like mine, the difference between $1.80 and $10/sq ft is $100 vs $500, which is the entire budget for my kitchen facelift! This post was edited by tinan on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 23:53

jeffrow- This is the first time I've seen stainless steel (?) subway tile inserts...I like that look! Today we ordered the Daltile Rittenhouse "special tiles" (ones we need with bullnose variations). The regular field tiles are sold in the store and we'll pick those up when our order comes in. I noticed on the store's field tile box it stated the color as 0100 white/semi gloss. We placed the order using the same color code, so hopefully the color will be close. On your photo, I wouldn't have noticed any variation if you hadn't mentioned it. You mean at the far right on the end...just a bit lighter/brighter white? Sometimes the reflection from lights in the room can have affect on colors, too. Your overall kitchen look is clean and appealing : )