Hi. We installed out kitchen in 2012. We still haven't chosen or decided on a backslpash - it's the painted wall. I have a creamy Egyptian marble, - don't remember the name. I like unstructured European vintage-y kitchens. Many of them don't have backsplashes either. My stainless range has a stainless backsplash directly behind it. I had picked out some mini-clear glass subway tile for the backsplash that coincidentally matches my Prescott Green paint color perfectly but what if I decide to change wall color one day? Just this week I started thinking maybe I made my backsplash tile decision three years ago which was to have none. Our marble installers tried very hard to discourage us from marble in the kitchen but I have not regretted it. All those kitchens in southern Europe can't be wrong. FYI - If you are considering glass backsplash look at a product call 3-Form it comes in an amazing variety of colors,textures and imbedded items, two good friends used it in their kitchens. http://www.3-form.com/ Do what speaks to you in your home. Best.

Yes, shelves do interfere with venting. If the venting is the correct power and design, it will still be effective, but you will have to clean the bottom of the shelf periodically, which can be sometimes be an acrobatic endeavor. All that said, I have a large, high, stainless steel shelf and I am not sure that I could get used to not having it, despite the cleaning issue. I keep my most used bowls and mortar and pestle on it and reach for them while cooking daily. However, I suspect that you have a cleaner aesthetic than I, so you may not desire that arrangement. This post was edited by kitchendetective on Mon, Dec 29, 14 at 14:39

Practigal- cleaning the grout is no different than if there wasn't a feature tile. The only other thing I can think of that would require less work cleaning is a stainless panel. I also didn't know arabesque was so popular!! I thought I was on to something unique ;)

Thank you all, last night when I was handling the dishes you see in the strainer I realized I do need a much deeper sink. I never really paid attention to it but things like that red salad bowl or the glass pan have far too much air space when they're in the sink. The part to the left of the sink would bother me more had it not been a perfect spot for the strainer to go (that way we aren't moving dirty dishes over the clean dishes to get to the open half of the sink) and surprisingly it doesn't spill much on that side even if we do use the faucet over there. Luckily there's plenty of room to the right of the sink for placing larger dishes that need to be washed.