I agree with lukkiirish - in general, you would choose your cabinet/cabinet finish prior to the countertop prior since it is such a predominant element in your kitchen. That being said, that's not a hard and fast rule (I, for example, chose my backsplash first then found a granite to complement it which is not normally done. In my case, I knew my backsplash wall was going to be a THE focal point of my kitchen, so it was more important for the tile to be *the one*). If you love the Mombasa and want to design around it, I think it's critical you get a sample so that you can put a "design board" together of all the elements in your kitchen. My friend is a KD, and she had previously given me this (great) advice: "I think the most important factors are: color of wood, color of painted walls, color of counters, and amount and quality of natural light in the room. If you put a 'design board' together of all the elements then the right tile choice will probably just jump out at you." So while you can get very good suggestions about x tile going with y granite and z floor tile that all work beautifully together, it still might not be *right* for your kitchen. BTW, the reason this post caught my eye is that I originally was going to use Mombasa granite (see this link for pictures of the Mombasa in context of my tile choice, Lunada Bay Sumi-E). I ended up not using Mombasa because I couldn't source slabs of Mombasa that worked for my kitchen. My kitchen is very dark, so I needed lighter, greener slabs of Mombasa, and all I could find were the darker, browner slabs. While they were still pretty and went with my tile, it didn't work in the context of my kitchen. HTH!

screen photos cannot show real life lighting experience well. Do not search the web for examples of good lighting; it's a waste of your time. One thing to learn is that long thin tube fluorescent bulbs have improved their color rendition astronomically in the last ten years. So, use some of them. LED's will replace most of the incandescent type bulbs within a few years, so keep an open mind and be ready to switch. Or, install some LED's , or a lot of them. Xenons are incandescent. All incandescent type bulbs produce heat primarily and light as a secondary output. So, don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes by claiming xenons are better. (It may be true, that they are better, but it's still a lie.) Low-voltage (12V or 24V) produce great white color that is stable over time. -- I agree with your conclusions as stated, with one modification: no need to go to "standard or smaller tiles" although that may be what the market has to offer. You may find that beautiful flat things in larger sizes are not available. It is hard to make something beautiful and flat in a large size. Your floor tile is a good tile to walk on. Backsplash material has to show something else to the eye. It could be a continuous sheet of stainless steel. It could be something that has (relatively speaking) some beauty or refinement in its coloration. A sheet of stainless steel and the glue behind it take less than 1/8th of an inch away from your counter. Thin thin glass tile (nominally 1/8th") and the glue behind it take about 1/4th of an inch away from your counter. Think about that. You have a small kitchen. Ikea has a 1/8th" aluminum panel they sell as a backsplash (about $20 for a two square foot panel), called Fastbo. Buy a couple and you can return them a month later after you have lived with them in simulation mode for a month. Tape the panels to the wall behind the cooktop. Here is a link that might be useful: Fastbo backsplash

All, thanks a lot for your honest feedback (please keep them coming!) Raehelen - This has been also a dilemma for me: the overhang question with the 24" tiles. I have researched this quite a bit. Maybe should post this on a separate thread but for now here is a run down: There are few options: 1) Going for ultra modern look and stop at the cabinet depth (this should be OK only if the total depth of the cabinets stops at 24" - Otherwise would look weird with doors and drawer faces protruding beyond the counter edge). 2) Finishing the edge with a trim piece: Either similar to the material of your cabinetry to give it some consistency or use a metal edging (there is a cool company names schluter-systems (www.schluter.com) that offers such solutions especially designed for tiled counters) 3) Running a small strip of the tile in the back  Can be the tile itself, OR a completely different tile, likely the same as the backsplash. Thinking in the line of 1" mosaics that continues onto the backsplash. Can do lots of things here just requires a bit of creativity. Bellacat_2008 - The tile is called Steelwork, color Argento (it comes also in a bronze/copperish and a darker/black tone). The manufacturing company was difficult to figure out  as most suppliers wonÂt tell you their sources. But it is called "Fioranese" I think. Bellow is a link to a website that has some pictures of it in different settings: Here is a link that might be useful: tile pics

Hey there - I was going to suggest the schluter edging as well - we used it on a floor, and a friend has it in her kitchen and while I'm not like "WOW! Awesome edging!" I basically don't notice it. It comes in an awesome copper color that blends perfectly into slate... but that's probably not helpful to you! Also comes in brass-like and brushed stainless-like. We used a mix of tile behind the stove and beadboard everywhere else, so wood was already in the mix. That being said, we used .5" x 1" sticks to frame out the subway. I hated it at the time, but now, again, don't really notice it. May not be for everyone, but here's a pic so you can see what I'm talking about - we did buy the bullnose pieces for where the tiles are next to the painted (orange) wall - but needed a transition between the beadboard and tile - bullnose wouldn't have worked well and the tiles and beadboard are different thicknesses, so they didn't make a smooth transition on their own.