I like the Heath... why? just cause it's a contemporary take on a traditional style... and that suits my taste. Your kitchen sounds beautiful!

Kitty seems to like the first one better! I, however, prefer the Heath. The first doesn't say bathroom to me, but it's busier and more angular. The Heath is calming and graceful.

Your kitchen looks great! I forgot to say that on your other thread.

Initially when I saw the first one, I thought yea that would work, the curved sides mimic the curve of the window and vent. But when I saw the second one that one really does it. It will look great in your room - that little touch of contemporary.

I might be in the minority, but I think the elongated subway might be too modern for your traditional kitchen. I would stay with the 3 X 6 or 2 X 4 size subway. It will remain in style longer as it's been around for years. The long thin subways are more trendy, and trendy always becomes dated.

Another fan of the Heath here. We actually have the first in our master bathroom...so yes I think of that too. Your kitchen will be beautiful. I think we might have that same flooring in our house, and are extending it to the kitchen in our remodel as well. The island legs remind me of Alabammamommy's. I swoon for them.

Ha ha. Ya. I'm totally Guilty of stealing everything from Alabamamommys kitchen!! Still swooning over it.

And no other island legs will do I think- my cabinet maker better be able to find them!
:D

Guess I'm in the minority as I prefer the first tile over the second.
Everyone's tastes are different. Go with what you and DH will both be happy with.

I love the Heath tile, and did that size for my kitchen, but I prefer the first one for yours. The more traditional looking tile fits the style of your room better, in my opinion.

I like the first tile too, but have you thought of using anything, other than plain white? How about a marble subway tile, with a bit of gray veining...just an idea :)

Go with the Heath. That will work for the shape of your cabinets and produces nice clean lines that will suit your style.

I also like the look of the Heath.

The two tiles you picked are nice and either is a very safe choice. However, with the white cabinets and grey countertops, I would go with something other than plain white. I like in your drawing where there is some color on the backsplash. It makes your cabinets stand out as opposed to a sea of white.

I love the idea of the marble subways. It would pick up the marble on your island.

There are also glass subway tiles that come in all sorts of colors. Grey would tie everything together.

Don't mean to throw a monkeywrench in your plans, but just my opinion :)

Yes celineike - seeing Alabamamommy's sneak peak is was actually made us do a complete 180 and decide to go with white cabinets instead of dark. Unfortunately we are doing IKEA so I have no chance of getting those dang island legs and am doing an espresso colored island instead.

I like chocolatebunny's idea of the marble subways as well to tie in with your island.
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

or you could try some color...green?
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

or blue: {{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

I did happen to have a pic of what is I think is close to your first choice:
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

and this from katieob:
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

and I can't tell for sure if these are like the Heath:
{{!gwi}}From Kitchen - BEFORE & inspiration

ooohh Slush! thanks those are great pics! all things i have considered actually.
We were going to do the 3x6 marble subways then they got progressively thinner until I felt too much marble might be a bad thing. I want the island to just stand on it's own and have everything else support it.

I think Alalbamamommy's kitchen spoke to me so much because i LOVE that look with the wood legs. In fact i did it 5 years ago when we put in a huge mudroom. there were so many cabinets and things we wanted in here that we went with IKEA too. And i put in the overhanging counter with legs that i got a molding store. here's a pic.. it's totally an option, if you get a little imaginative.

and i cant believe im posting this pic - it's so messy in there right now because it's our only non-gutted part of the house (save the bedrooms upstairs!)

I love the Heath---we wanted to do the 2x6 in Opaque white, but after watching for seconds or overstock firsts for a couple of months, gave up (full price was out of our budget sadly). So I'd do that---2x6 does have a contemporary feel, but that size was also used in 1910s and 1920s kitchens, though less commonly than the 3x6. I think it's a great way to give it an updated twist. Heath also has a really nice soft gray that would work; we would have used that except that our cabinets are also gray so it seemed like overkill (and same problem with no magical boxes of seconds appearing....everything was blue when we were looking, apparently because people with swimming pools choose blue so there are copious overruns!)

I just found our Heath samples yesterday cleaning up, and am still really sad that we couldn't use them...the color is much better than the tile we ended up using, too. (It's fine, but just not as good...ah, well.)

I'd do the Heath tiles out of those 2 choices. I think it gives you a mellow yet quietly edgy look.
I'd also like glass tiles in a soft color or neutral with your choices. The marble could be too much, but if you did go that route, going with smaller tiles would help it not need to match the veining of the island. 3 x 6s in marble with a marble counter might be too large a format. I'd prefer them to be smaller but not tiny.
Jeffrey Court has some beautiful tiles that could also work for you. He seems to have a lot of pretty neutral tones in a handmade look to give it a little interest while staying calm.

Okay, here is another way to think about it. Which of the two will be easier to clean?

I like them both and neither one says bathroom to me...

Becky

Eeek! Celineike that is great! I love the legs you added on that. I was trying to talk DH into figuring out a way to add legs on our island and at first he said no way, but then said maybe. You pic will totally help my cause. Our island will be more like katieob's where the legs would be where our seating is on the long side of the island. Thanks for sharing!

I really do love the Heath tile though you picked, I can't wait to see your completed kitchen and how it all comes together. I like the idea of maybe doing a light gray in the Heath that artemis78 suggests if you wanted to add a bit more color. My kitchen will be very similar in colors to yours and we still have no idea what to do for backsplash. As for cleaning, like I said we have the bigger tiles in our bathroom and along the wall that stays dry they still look great. But where they get hit by water in the shower, they are a pain to keep clean, but maybe if they had a thinner grout line, and you could somehow seal them they would stay a lot cleaner. I have no experience in the kitchen with them though.

Hi Celine,

Sorry if I missed it in another post, but what backsplash did you end up selecting? Both of your choices are classic and beautiful. I enjoyed reading the thread and hearing how people responded to your choices.

Hi Francoise,
Thanks for following up on me.
I have decided to go with the Heath tiles in white and in 3 lengths. 2x6, 2x8, and a few random 2x12....
My GC was joking that i'll probably be standing over the tiling guy handing him the next "right" tile to place.
Unfortunately, I might do that. :0)

We aren't ready to tile the BS yet but ordering Heath takes a while since they are handmade etc. So I'll post pics once we've tiled it.

Still waiting for cabinets... Oh this part is so hard!!!!!

Hi Celine,

Great to hear about your tile plans. I have a friend with Heath tiles -- they are beautifully subtle. Can't wait to see your reveal. I know it is going to be stunning.

( In our case -- also inset white stacked cabinets -- our cabinets are probably going to arrive before our GC has even started the project -- he is way behind on starting our project. At least that gives us time to continue to think about backsplash tiles and counters.)

Aw thank you.
I'm really hoping the " beautiful subtle" part doesn't read as boring. Lol.

Celineike, No worries about that -- they will be gorgeous!