Bill, et al: I'd really appreciate your advice and help on the tiled niche I want to have put behind the range in my remodeled kitchen (yes, I know this is the BATHroom forum, but it's where all you great tile guys hang out!).

Unfortunately, I haven't got a lot of confidence in my contractor or his tile guy, as they keep saying...don't worry, we'll just work that out when we get to it.

Here's the general plan: I want a full width and approximately 30" tall niche behind my 36" Capital pro-style range. The bottom of the shallow niche (about 3 inches deep ) will be a soapstone shelf that extends out above the range by about 3 inches, to cover the 3-inch high by 2-inch deep "lip" at the back of the range.

The rest of the niche will be tiled with an Ann Sacks Cappricio subway tile...3X6 exactly...preferably in a herringbone pattern (but I'll settle for standard offset subway). There will also be one decorative element...a 4X4 Motawi deco tile framed with 1-inch wide Motawi tiles. The thing is, these Motawi tiles are actually 3/16 of an inch LESS than the stated size...so the 4X4 is really 3 13/16 inch by 3 13/16 inch. I've attached a link that shows how I want to do the Motawi tile, though the pic is of a 4X8 rather than the 4X4 I have in mind.

The issues I'm worried about:

How does one accomodate the smaller size of the Motawi tile in the design? I realize it is also thicker than the Ann Sacks field tile, but the exposed edges will be glazed, so the whole thing will just pillow out more than the field tile.

And how do I figure out exactly what size the niche should be framed out at to ensure that there will be no cuts needed at the sides and top (other than what's needed for the pattern).

I'd really appreciate all help you can offer.

Here is a link that might be useful: how I'd like the motawi tile to look