"My walls are going to be painted tongue and groove pickwick paneling (v. similar to beadboard), so I don't think I can tile to that--or can I?" You can tile on wood. But it does depend on the tile that you are using as well as the intended adhesive. Some of this is personal preference, what I mean is that if using "regular sized porcelain tile" sure, I'd not have a problem going over properly prepared wood. For glass mosaic? No. The better bet would be to mark out the area for the backsplash. Then come in a half-inch or so from that perimeter line and mark a new cut line. In that area instead of your wood paneling, insert a fill piece of cement backer board. Pad out the backer board so the face is flush with the wood paneling. Then you can do whatever you want on that space. Glass, ceramic, stone, mosaic, non-mosaic. And you can use the appropriate adhesive. With the backer board being slightly smaller than the tiled area, your top course and side column tiles will lap over the backerboard/paneling seam for a nice transition. If the edges of your intended tiles don't have a level of finish appropriate for exposure, then you could use a border or frame (wood or tile) to contain the design, just like in the photo above. Mongo

I agree... and disagree... with your sales person. I agree in that there's no need for crack isolation behind a backsplash. However, I DON'T agree that it's okay to install glass with any kind of mastic, no matter what color it is. To get the same ease of installation that your sales person's talking about, and still get the strength of thinset, look to the non-sag thinsets. My preference, because of how highly modified it is, would be Laticrete's 255. Most glass manufacturers recommend using their 254 Platinum thinset because of its bonding strength. The 255 not only is a non-sag thinset (it won't allow the tile to droop while drying like most thinsets), but it's also got even a stronger bonding strength than the 254. That's something not one of the other non-sag thinsets can claim.

Everything looks beautiful so far, and I'm sure what ever you choose the result will be lovely. I am not a fan of the 4" border concept. It reminds me of the 4" laminate bs of yesteryear. I love the subway tile. I'm not sure which mosaic you think of as the basketweave, but you might want to consider using the small stone square mosaic with the large central pewter accent (just to the right of the stove) in a rectangle with a border/frame around it above the stove. You'll want to think about the spacing of the accent tiles - 4 as you have them, or 6 (mimics the burners) or three in the center. It's hard to know without tile dimensions but you'll figure it out. The image below from stonecontact gives an idea of what I'm thinking.

Hi everyone, Thanks for checking in. I decided to live with my kitchen for a little while. I finally placed my tile order last week. I decided to go with a plain matte finish tile. Too many windows adjacent to the kitchen so I was concerned about the glare bouncing off of the granite and the backsplash. So, that being said, I ordered Ann Sacks elements 3 x 8 (a little variation on the standard subway tile) in the "warm candle white" matte finish. The sales person in the store recommended the antique white grout and the tiles need to be sealed before and after grouting with a product called pourous plus. The downside is the tiles take about 6 - 8 weeks to come in (I swore I would never wait that long) and the frieght charges were very high. I figured I waited this long what's a "few" more weeks. The only concern I do have is cooking without a tile backsplash. I dont fry much but the other night I stir fried and some of the oil splatterd onto the backboard. I scrubbed it down afterwards and hoping when I finally do install the tiles this will not give me a problem later on (i.e. mold, bacteria, who knows?). So my advice to anyone waiting for a backsplash but still cooking is to put a piece of tinfoil behind the stove. I wish I had done this before but didn't think about it until the problem arose. I will start a separate thread on this to give people the heads up. In the meantime, I purchased curtains and am looking into purchasing a light honey colored or natural oak dining room set. I would like to get something that contrasts the cherry cabinet and easily "melds" with the natural oak floors (so, if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears). I also found a very nice paint color for the dining area...its called "Mascarpone"...it is part of the Benjamin Moore Pottery Barn collection and it looks very nice. So, I'm excited, everything is coming together little by little. I will definately post photos when it's all completed. In the meantime, I really thank everyone for their suggestions, support and for posting photographs. It helped me arrive at my decisions. All of the backsplashes you folks have posted came out great! Thanks for sharing them. I'll write soon, everyone please do the same. Sincerely, Melanie1121