If you DIY that comes out to about $35/sf budget for material (incl. any decos, pencils, mastic, grout and waste), assuming 17' x 1.5' tall area. Even if you hire someone (and I don't know what good installer gets in your area) I think you'd still have a good budget for materials. Have fun!

We have about the same amount of space and were quoted 800 by 2 different people. (not including the cost of the tile)

Wow, that seems like a lot! The guy here in CT who did my floors didn't know what he was doing, so I won't mention how cheap he was, but the guy in RI who did my bathroom floor and walls (Ok, it was 11.5 yrs ago) only charged $500 for full-height (about 7.5' up to edge of where old fiberglas tub reached) tub surround using 8x11 tiles listello and b/n, some decos with inserts, deck, relatively small floor area (50sf?) using 12" tiles, and tile b/s using 1 row of listello and 1 row of b/n on 60" vanity.

Keep in mind, that a backsplash is usually alot more ornate than any other installation. Additionally, it's what you want to attract attention to, in most cases, so everything has to be perfect, or it's not good enough. Add to that the contorted positions the installer usually ahs to get into to get up close and see what he's doing, and you have an idea of why they're so expensive. Although I'll go as low as about 15.00 per square foot for a bare bones tile covering, most of the custom backsplashes I do are closer to betwen 25-35.00 a foot for the labor.

mommy2taylor-- That just might be enough. You might draw out what you want before you ask for quotes, as well as getting prices on the material you want to use. For something like what you have pictured there, you could figure about 650.00 for the labor, based on 17 linear feet of backsplash. That would mean you have about 350 for the materials, and that's very doable. I just did one about the exact same size (25 square feet), and the materials came to about 370.00:

I just called the tile store to ask how much for installation (I returned samples this AM but didn't order since I want to finish woodwork and move some outlets/put in an airswitch first). They said under 100 sf, their minimum was $350, she knows my area and simple running bond (hopefully not too many cuts) so maybe it wouldn't be more than that. Definitely take good measurements and try to keep the design simple (maybe skip the 1" tiles on the bottom, use the 4" set square instead? Bill can tell you if that's less $$), and call around. But it looks like you should try to keep the materials closer to $10/sf than $35 if $25/sf is good estimate for labor. Maybe you'll luck out and find somebody for $15/sf for 25sf (still $375).

I've got about 33sf, so would be paying minimum of $10.61/sf and from what Bill says that's not a bad price.

It's an excellent price. Almost TOO good.