We have a similar issue, but much worse. Since yours is just 2inches, I would probably opt to end where the granite ends. I'm no expert though :)

What granite countertop do you have?

Hi rkb21, our countertops are Colonial Cream granite. We love them because they are light. I have a fairly 'dark' house as it faces north, so I am greedy about getting as much light whenever I can.

i would always end with the countertop. I always think it looks funny when the backsplash ends a couple inches before the countertop does.

Mine is like that, too, and the backsplash ends at the countertop. I don't even notice it.

I agree end with countertop. Try it out with construction paper as the tile, you will be convinced.

Another vote to end it with the counter :)

athenab- I choose Colonial Dream for ours...I also loved the light warm colors. I bet they are similar :)

Like BKF, we ended ours with the upper cabinet. But the countertop only extends less than an inch I think. I thought that would be less noticeable than the tile extending past the cabinet, and figuring out what to do with that look. We didn't use a decorative edge on the backspash.

I asked my cabinetmaker about making the upper cabinet 1.5 inches wider (or whatever the overhang on a counter would be) to avoid this problem when it came to the backsplash and he said he thought that would look weird and that everyone has this issue of where to end the backsplash. Now that I think about it, I can't remember how we resolved that and what we decided to do. Should be interesting to find out!

For what it's worth, I think from the examples shown here that either looks fine.

Love the idea of ending early BUT with a trim piece so it looks deliberate. BKW's pic looks great. Lots of example pics on earlier threads in the forum as well.

I prefer the look of ending the tile with the cabinet. I dislike the random 2" or whatever of tile that sticks out on the wall for no good reason. That seems to always catch my eye much more than when the counter projects a bit out without tile, like Bee's. I don't notice the counter sticking out; I notice the tile sticking out. Plus, you get a nice, clean vertical line like Bee.

This post was edited by breezygirl on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 13:33

Thanks for all your input! It looks like it's a split decision with everyone. I do like the tile on Bee's last kitchen, but definitely, with the liner trim/edge.

Breezy, I think you mean ending the tile with the cabinet?

I think I will try to put paper up there and see how it looks. With Bee's kitchen, the counter curves and extends quite a bit. With only 2 inches...not sure how it will look.

Yes, I meant cabinet. I edited my post to fix that. I remember someone showing a small 2" or so bit of counter sticking out beyond the tile/cab on another thread on the same subject. This question does come up every once in a while. I'll try to remember whose kitchen was posted.

We install backsplashes all the time.... we are about 50/50 on whether we end at the upper cabinets or with the end of the counter. If you end with the end of the counter, you'll have to finish the "top" of the backsplash where it sticks out past the cabinet. Ending with the cabinet usually is a cleaner, straighter line. I personally like it ending at the cabinet myself.

I remembered! It was Firsthouse_mp. I found pics on her reveal thread. If you scroll down about halfway (and wipe the drool off your keyboard after oohing and aahing over her unbelievable kitchen), you'll see a couple of pics. Her backsplash is quartzite, but that matters not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Firsthouse's pics of counter/cab

Most cabinets stop about 1.5" short of the counters (because of overhang). 2" is not abnormal.... it will look fine either way.

It depends on the color of the backsplash tile - if the backsplash will look obtrusive sticking out into wallspace, then I prefer it to end with the cabinet. Else it will look like a square of tile floating on the wall. If folks want to do that, it's almost better aesthetically to go all the way up to the ceiling. But that's my feeling. As you see - the aesthetic is so individual.

In your case, with just a couple inches to the end of the wall, it isn't as big of a deal, but if it is a darker color I would keep it ending at the cabinet.

End with the upper. Tile wandering across the wall looking for a place to turn left is not a "feature."

There are threads out there like "show me your subway tile". Search that out and see if you can get some ideas on backsplashes and how they end. Even if you're not doing subway tiles, you'll have lots of pictures to look at.

Breezy, I always loved that kitchen! I admired it for other reasons of course, and never paid attention to the issue of the backsplash. Thanks for remembering it.

Marcolo....love it! haha.

Thanks again everyone!

hi mine is opposite my counter top sticks out beyond the cabinets so do i tile to the end of the cabinet or to the end of the counter top