how about shiplap?

Here is a link that might be useful: see halfway down for b/s discussion

Another vote for shiplap!!!

You could do the pink or the bluish tones from the fabric. It might be cool to do layers and slight sand throughs or dry brush one or both tones over the white.

If you like the look of limed wood, there is also white oil (an oil finish for wood with white pigment).

V-groove boards can be ordered in a lot of different widths and you can mix widths. I'm thinking any horizontal installation would be a pain to clean. I realize above the horizontal shiplap is pretty, but all I cringe because of grease and fluids dripping down into the cracks between boards.

I wonder if that shiplap has a v-groove?

mtnrdredux and caminnc - Thanks for your shiplap votes! It's an interesting suggestion. I definitely need to give it some serious consideration!

bmorepanic - Thanks for your reply! It sounds like you think I should go for a more distressed/shabby look for the backsplash, yes? That's a really interesting suggestion too! I can sort of visualize what you're talking about, but I'm having a hard time finding pictures online. Do you think it will look too Easter egg-y with a pink and/or blue backsplash? (I think I just want to use the pink in small doses for warmth - it's not my favorite color, but I love how it looks with the black counters and green walls.) Could I dry brush some green over the white instead, or would that be too boring? Maybe green and blue?

Haven't heard of limed wood before - I googled and, and it seems to be whitewashing. Yet another interesting idea! I think I'm going to have to mock up a few of these irl. If I do go with a whitewashed or distressed backsplash - do you think I need to distress my table and chairs too? Well, they are actually already distressed (chipped in various places from use), so maybe they'll fit right in as is, lol.

Mixing widths - ah ha! That would keep it from looking too similar to the cabinets. Would you suggest a random pattern or a repeating one? (Sooo many decisions!)

Hmmm - shiplap being hard to clean. That's a good point. DH is all about low maintenance, so if it is hard to clean that would be a deal killer for him. Thanks again! :)

Lake Girl - I wonder too. It's hard to tell from the photos.

Thanks again for your suggestions, and please keep them coming! :)

One more option. We did 3 graduated horizontal wainscot boards for our BS. Painted the same color as the cabs.

eandhl - Thanks for your reply! Do you have a picture of it, by any chance?

I don't know about about texture - that would be your personal choice. Everything in your kitchen is becoming shiny new. I like some elements that have texture but I'm not sure it should (or should not) be that... I just might think about having the intention to include some used or worn items and see where that leads.

I have an odd shaped kitchen and we installed paneling on two short walls that aren't connected to each other. The panels and trim are painted the same color.

It gave the room immediate personality and texture - eventho they are smoothly painted. It's not particularly cheap, but its not as expensive as tile. I thought they were a bargain in terms of bang for the decorating buck. These are a nominal 8" wide but actually closer to 7 when assembled. A picture during construction.

eandhl - is there any way you can post of picture? I'm not sure what you're describing. Thanks a bunch!

Horizontal boards can look nice too (see linked image).

Here is a link that might be useful: Horizontal plank backsplash

Bella- I love the new mood board! The backsplash pictures you posted are wonderful and I especially like the first one...color and all. Would that work with your walls, or would white be better? Either way, the fabric looks lovely and the chandelier is perfect, IMHO :)

bmorepanic - Oh, wow! Your kitchen is So beautiful and charming! I love it! Your paneling is gorgeous! (Love the color - and I love your Craftsman trim too! We adore Craftsman but stuck with Colonial for our colonial.) I talked over all of the options with DH last night, and it looks like we'll go with vertical paneling - just not sure of the width and if we'll mix sizes or not. He doesn't want the paneling to look distressed (he's worried it will clash with the cabinets), but I'll definitely work on bringing in some texture and personality with accessories. I'm actually looking forward to it! Thank you, again! :)

HLV2 - Thanks for your reply and the link! That kitchen is lovely! After much thought, I think we're leaning towards vertical planks. But, if it doesn't work irl, then we can give the horizontal planks a try.

Lavender! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you love it! :) I have to thank You for new mood board, actually! I went through a gazillion fabrics online for curtains, and once I tried a shabby rose floral it just clicked; I was amazed! Then I remembered how you described our kitchen as "romantic" with a touch of modern - which is why the romantic fabric fits so beautifully. I ordered a swatch of it and the colors are Perfect with the Fernwood Green walls, and the pink warms everything up so nicely. (I'm just going to do touches of pink though - I don't want too much of it.) We did order the chandelier - it's sitting in a box in our dining room and I can't wait for it to be installed. And it is black, not rust, which was a huge relief. I LOVE it! Thank you so much for giving me the push I needed to order it! :)

I love the color of the first backsplash picture too. But I think it might be too much of a contrast from our green walls, and would give an Easter egg effect. If we went with it, I would probably need to change the wall color too (at which point DH would promptly divorce me, lol - well, not really - but he would be seriously annoyed - it took me forever to pick out that green).

Here are some mockups for backsplash color only (still need to figure out the plank size - and it was easier to mock up the colors without them). I photoshopped in a range hood, lol.

A - Light green backsplash (lighter than the walls, in a coordinating shade)
B - White backsplash
C - Blue/green (like the first backsplash in this thread)
D - Fernwood Green backsplash (same color as wall)

What do you think? (Comments from everyone are welcome too, of course!)

Thank you! :)

I like C or D. I think C would be nice to add some contrast and to work with the fabric (and I am very surprised I picked it, btw). Of course, with D, you have a lot of versatility in that you can swap out wts and have a new look easily later on.
I think the lighter color is not noticeable enough since the original color is soft. The white is ok, but it reminds me of brand new sneakers and how too much white can stick out...

dianalo - Thanks for your reply! Hmmm - good point about the lighter colors not offering enough contrast. That's definitely a fault of mine, as I'm drawn to light, pastel colors.

With the white backsplash, we could make it a warmer white than the cabinets (which are close to Cloud White) - right now the mockup has them a bit cooler. But - aside from the "new sneaker" concern (good analogy!), I'm concerned that a white/off white backsplash will draw the eye to the green soffit. =/

The green of the soffit is closer to the backsplash color of D irl, it's not "as" light or as cool as shown (medium base paint). It's a warm green, which is one of the reasons why we chose it.

Wall/soffit color (Fernwood Green):

BUT - you gave me another idea to test. Since I'm not sure DH is going to go for the green/blue in C (I'm on the fence too - I do like the color and contrast - but worry that it's too much) - what if we went with a Darker green from the fabric? This way it will still coordinate and give contrast, but not get confused with an Easter egg?

I warmed up the soffit color so it is truer to real life. Not sure I love the darker green here - it might be a challenge to find a darker green that I actually like (being a light color lover), but here's a mockup to give the general idea:

And here's the fabric again (colors are pretty accurate on my monitor):

?

To be fair to A - D, here's a revised version with a more accurate (warmer) soffit color:

I like C too! It looks great with the fabric. Just bring in some of the blue/green and pink for accents. I think you're right, just a bit of pink...but the colors would be great as accent colors, with the green walls. Add some more green, too. The blue/green looks great with the countertops, too :)

Here are a few accent ideas, in those colors. Noritake hydrangea plate... {{!gwi}}From 1920s kitchen project

Green and pink kitchen accents... {{!gwi}}From 1920s kitchen project

Too much? :) {{!gwi}}From 1920s kitchen project

I vote D.

Lavender - Thanks for your vote and the lovely pics! The hydrangea plate is Very pretty! I'm adding it to my short list. :) The pink mixer is a bit much for me, but cute. (I'm a blue fan, so pink will only be allowed a very small supporting cast role in my kitchen, lol.)

eleena - Thanks for your vote!

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This has been Really helpful. Blue is my favorite color, and this helped me to realize that I really Do want to include it in my kitchen somehow (with tiny touches of pink to warm things up).

I went over the options with DH last night and he likes D best (he thought I was crazy to consider C) - But - he said I can give C a try! So, we'll mockup some planks in both colors in real life.

In the meantime, I'm trying to see how the accessories would play out and to see if a favorite overall look emerges. This is my first time decorating a house, and I'm not really sure what I'm doing. =/

I'm guessing that if we go with "D" - the accessories will be mostly blue, with touches of pink and green. And if we go with "C," I would use mostly green accessories, with touches of pink and blue. Does that sound right?

So, sort of like this:

For "D" - to bring in the blue more, I think I'd be better off using a blue based fabric instead of the green one that I found.

Thoughts? Preferences?

Thank you, again!! :)

Hmmm - or maybe C and D have too many pops of color going on. I don't want people to get dizzy.

I tried two more mockups with less pops. F loses the blue though, it will only be in tiny doses in the fabric. (The kitchen does open up to the den/living room - which has cream walls, so I will get to use my blue in there as an accent color if it doesn't make it into the kitchen.)

Less pops of color:

Felt compelled to see what it would look with the white backsplash...*ducks and hides*