mycatz-- We bought a wet saw. I just taught myself how. I have already done 3000 sq. ft of hardwoods and plenty of finish work on this house so figured I can do tile as well. Its a long story but we have an absentee builder and a bank who says we must finish, even though they chose our builder. I have learned a great many things from doing all this and feel I could tackle just about anything. Oh and yes you may have to put in extensions,we had to anyway as we have extensive beadboard and need extensions for that as well. Here is some of what I have been working on. Cabs will be white, haven't decided if I am going with lt grey or white grout yet.

I would do subway tile with your busy granite and floor tile, but I'd use a mosaic accent because you like rich color and detailing. I think you'll be unhappy with a plain subway. I'm not a fan of square accent tiles though. They've been around too long and are boring. I'd get some of the skinny strips.

Thank you, mark rachel. I was wondering about whether the tiles might be crooked on the sheet, which could end up causing more work. The sample sheets I've seen so far seem fine but that's only a few compared to the couple hundred we would need for the bathroom. Both DH and our tile installer are perfectionists, and I could see them spending a lot of time fixing any crooked smaller tiles on the sheet, which might end up taking longer then just installing individual subways.

Beverly raises a good point. And it made me chuckle. We all bring our past experience and influences to the table which lead to all kinds of unexpected connotations. Recently I saw a young couple choosing a quartz counter with lots of marbleized, swirly movement. They thought it looked current, hip and modern. To me it looked exactly like my Grandmother's linoleum (real linoleum not vinyl - that wasn't available when my grandmother did her kitchen). The linoleum was on both the floor and the counter top (complete with a metal edge). I'm sure it was very swanky back in the day. Here's an example from Cambria similar to what the couple picked out: Some people Oooo and Ahhhh . . . I think: That's my grandmother's swirly linoleum! But she turned out the best lemon meringue pie ever in that humble little kitchen of hers.