Not your colors, but here's a shot or two of my random pattern black & white subway tile backsplash.

Personally, I would not like it. That sage is too dark and it would be a high contrast, splotchy look. I have never liked that in a backsplash. I know I am an advocate of mixing things up, but in this case I would not. If the tones were all very soft and muted, it might work. It also depends on how much space you have. Too little might look like you ran short and filled in with your samples and too much might make the splotchy effect worse. And I tend to like subways best when done very simply. That is part of their charm.

If you want to do something different, consider putting a single color in a different pattern lie columns instead of alternating brick. Run a vertical row to break up the horizontals. Lay them on the diagonal. That would give some interest rather than harsh contrast.

Lay out any options you want to try. Get whatever samples you can and even make color copies of them to tape up if needed to test your pattern.

Are you thinking of something like this?

I loved this look, but realized it wouldn't work well in my house.

lascatx,

I agree with you, I'm trying to convince my wife that it will look to busy, however the picture that katsmah posted looks great in that setting.

These are the tiles:
{{!gwi}}

I actually considered a multicolored backsplash at one point in a kitchen that has similarities: QS oak upper cabs (bases are painted) and soapstone counter. I think using different colors could work, but I'm hesitant about both the random aspect and the white.

Is there other white in the kitchen? Walls, appliances, etc? If there isn't, how about using the bone, sand and sage? Or just the sand and sage?

And what style are the cabinets? Does the kitchen evoke modern, transitional or any particular style? Mine (hopefully) evokes a quasi Arts & Crafts feel, so I was contemplating a geometric pattern of multicolored tiles similar to what I had seen on some tile floors or fireplace surrounds in A&C homes. Random just seems contemporary to me.

I notice your tile comes in 6X6 as well as 3X6 subways, how about using a two tile pattern, interspersing at regular intervals one or more of your complimentary colors into a field that is mostly one color? I've included a link to a Daltile site with a variety of two-tile patterns. How about something like Brickweave using say, the sand as the main tile, with a sage and/or bone 6X6 every couple of rows?

Of course, if you end up doing this, I'll be envious...although I ultimately went a different way, I still kinda wish I had done this!

Here is a link that might be useful: tile patterns

Hmmm, now having seen Katsmah's picture, I'm liking the straight subways too. But I suspect that it's not a random placement of the four colors, but a fairly complex pattern of six or seven rows each with its own repetition. The placement of the colors is just too overall even to be completely random.

I think the ones in Katsmah's photo look good, and not too busy, because the cabinets match one of the tiles (the cream one, obviously) and, being painted rather than stained, are the exact opposite of busy. With quartersawn oak, it's a whole different story. Quartersawn is already busy by itself, and nothing in it matches any of these tiles.

I think the idea to convey to your wife is that quartersawn cabs would compete with a backsplash with those tiles. They would by fighting each other to grab the attention of people in the kitchen. Is it Marcolo who coined the phrase "how many clowns," or words to that effect? You know, the idea that a kitchen is not a clown car--you can't stuff it full of visually interesting things (for example, quartersawn cabs, a granite with tons of movement, a multicolored backsplash...). A kitchen only has room for one or two attention-getters, and the rest of the details in the kitchen should support or complement them rather than competing. Much like you don't want a vase that competes with the bouquet it's holding, you don't want major elements of your kitchen competing with each other.

The picture Katsmah posted was the inspiration picture for our kitchen. We used the same WZ tiles for our backsplash, but in a 2x6 rather than a brick size. They are beautiful, but they are the only busy element in the room. We did painted cabinets similar to the ones in the picture. If they were not the only busy element, they would not work. Plus, we worked VERY hard at getting a random looking pattern.

Mine are 1x6, not subways, but I did a multi-colored backsplash. It's one of the favorite parts of my kitchen, and has gotten so many compliments.

Sorry this photo doesn't include the cabinets. It was the first photo I could grab quickly.

Pickle2...love your backsplash!! Gorgeous!

It is still pretty neutral but has a sort of modern and classic feel.

I went to WZ to look at the tile in the photo, they have a deep bevel on them and are sold as a blended mix not individually colored tile. Just way to busy for our kitchen

The tiles we bought from WZ from this collection were not a bevel and they were not a mix. In 2x6 unbeveled, you can order by individual color. We developed our own mix of colors that way.

The reason I think the tiles worked in our kitchen is that I chose the tiles before I chose the rest of my kitchen, and built the room around them. Cabinet paint colors and countertop was selected specifically to work with the tiles. I can't see that it would have worked out as well the other way around. Hopefully we're nearing a point that I can post pictures soon.

A couple of differences in the photos posted -- the mixes are 4 colors and have more than a few random contrasting tiles. They are pretty evenly mixed and not entirely random. Katsmah's shows painted cabinets in the same tones so they blend together. The oak will stand out and make the tile stand out. Pickle's are smaller, and I think that makes them easier to pull off than larger.

To the OP, your photo appears to be in softer colors than the link. That is better, but you still have 3 colors plus the wood cabinets. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it will not be easy to pull it off well. As Sas95 pointed out -- it can be very hard work to make random look good.

I always think the tile with three shades close to the
other elements in the kitchen can look so pretty. Like
this one from Trikeenan tile. White, gray and cream.
Soooooo pretty.
~boxer

Ohhhhhhh love pickle2's backsplash so much!

sas95, I hope you can post pictures soon. That picture was my inspiration, but I only ended up with the cream cabinets because I already had color from my dining room going into the kitchen after I took down the wall.

I will absolutely post pictures soon. Right now there are painters' dropcloths all over the cabinets. We did the cream lowers and green uppers similar to the WZ picture, and a similar color counter top. It's not a slavish reproduction, but if you saw the two pictures side by side you'd certainly guess that I was "heavily influenced."

Wow - I actually had 2 pictures in this thread that made me say "AHHHH."

Thanks to Katsmah for that beautiful photo - those are my exact cabinet colors and just about the first multi-color backsplash that I really like. Doesn't look busy at all to me. Just looks wonderful!!!

Thanks also to boxerpups (as always!) for that lovely photo featuring the "herb?" tiles. Might be just what I'm looking for behind my range!!

clweed - I look forward to see what you eventually pick.

sas95 - I'd love to see your finished product!!!

pickle2.......details on your beeutiful bs tile please!

Mine is a 4 color done in 4 x 4s though not as random as I'd have liked.

Here is a link that might be useful: 4-color splash

Thanks! My backsplash is a mix of Trikeenan ceramic tiles (a white, gray, cream, and pale green) from their Basic collection. Like sas95, my backsplash was chosen first, and everything selected around it. My cabinets are painted Cooking Apple Green. My painted trim is white. My walls are cream, and my baking center cabinets are gray. Everything in the room echoes the colors of the backsplash.

I haven't taken tons of finished photos yet (because the kitchen is still not really finished). I need to paint the ceilings and window trim and get a stainless backsplash for the stove.

Here is a link that might be useful: some more photos of my (still-in-progress) kitchen

Pickle, I like your kitchen quite a bit. I was looking at the Cooking Apple Green for another room. Such a pretty color, and I adore Trikeenan tile. Very pretty!

How sick is this... Pickle2 I remember your kitchen from the name of your cabinet color. I don't remember seeing any pictures after the initial cabinet installation. It looks wonderful!

Looking at these samples, it's my preference that "random" be in smaller formats. The patterns in larger tiles that best fit my aesthetic sense are the ones that have a pattern that I can say in words somehow: "each row moves X farther to the left", or something like that. It would seem that to me generally the larger the tile in these samples, the less formal and more in-your-face the wall becomes. The tiles in the nearly-same colorways are less aggressive and stay more in the background. But that's also true of tile in general--there is aggressive color and there is gentle color.

At one time I had my heart set on a set of 4" square tiles from HD: off-red, off-green, light blue, golden yellow, and maybe a couple more. (Colors in last year's stock.) I wanted to do a pattern in these of some kind. But then, this was only to be under-cab for two sides of the room and behind the range, one of the decor ideas I enjoyed and then abandoned while waiting impatiently for months of construction to end. You see this kind of effect occasionally and it's always marked "not for the faint of heart." I had samples here and I arranged and rearranged them, but usually came back to a single line and not a whole wall of the multi-pattern.

There's a great wall of strong assorted colors in square tiles in the Modest and Quirky thread that many posters really love.

Wish you well. Let us see your finished wall?