Nope, we installed a granite backsplash, same as the counter top. After more than 5 years, We still love it.

We did not hafta wonder if this or that went with the granite, plus after living with a white tile kitchen with white grout,for over 30 years, I've seen enough grout and tile to last me a life time and then some!!! and if I wanna see said tile, all I havta do is walk into any of our 3 bathrooms.

"To Me" (note the To Me)!!! I think this blacksplash thing is being wayyyyyy overplayed, We looked at 3 kitchens before starting the design on ours, and all 3 had granite backsplashes, I also see them on HGTV, and DIY network, yet here in GW they are as rare as 3 legged chickens---no worries thou, I'm not reknown for "Following the Crowd"!

Gary

So sorry. I was afraid of this. I mentioned to you in one of my posts that I did that very thing. My first backsplash was not super expensive, jut a mistake. Sometimes you have to see it installed and then you realize "oh, no!".
There are a few of us who have been through the same saga as you have. Do not feel bad.
You need to figure out what exactly bothers you. My guess is the movement in the granite and the movement in the tiles. Too busy for you.
You mentioned something about clashing. Are the colors wrong together?
As you have seen, my Rixi tiles are very plain. But, I like plain and this was the answer for my kitchen.
Right now you are feeling disppointed. You could have had any tile, yet you chose the "wrong" one. You can't appreciate the other elemnts in the kitchen because this is now over shadowing everything.
Take some time, but my guess is that you will want to change it. And, we will be here to help you along the way. :)

Not backsplash, but I've done other things (labor intensive) that I hated the minute they were put up and never grew to like, so took down.

CKGM, if you give it a bit of time (a few months seems reasonable) and still want it gone, get rid of it. You have an out. It's not like you've done something from which you can't extricate yourself, like that large neck tattoo. You're not trapped. It's not the end of the world.

CKGM I'm sorry you aren't happy with your BS. I agree with you about giving it more time to see if you start to "love" it, maybe it just has more color than you're use to? But if at the end of a few months you still aren't happy, without a doubt I agree about changing it. I'm sure I would do the same. I have oak floors throughout my house, for my kitchen wanted a "green" floor and decided on Bamboo Strand. I didn't do cork because it was "soft", unfortunately my harder than oak floor is denting! I waited a long time to have a kitchen I "love", in fact this is the first kitchen in our 29 years of marriage I can even say I like the style. For 20 years my kitchen was "country" when I wanted "modern" and then we moved here where I lived with "powder blue countertops" for 6 years in a "country" kitchen when I wanted "traditional". We have already decided when and if the floor becomes to "dented and scratched" before I "hate it" we will change it! Now I try not to notice each dent and scratch, and for sure the floor still looks "new and beautiful" but before it looks "old, worn, dented and scratched" it will be replaced even if that is by the end of the summer.

There was an expensive pillowed onyx (I believe) backsplash that was installed and removed before grouted, last year sometime. I don't remember whose kitchen it was.

The tile was nice, but it just didn't look good with the granite.

CKGM - I am getting cold feet on my backsplash and haven't even picked it out. I thought yours looked great in the pictures....
Not sure what do do now....
PS Cabinets being installed right now and countertop templating on Friday.

No...but sometimes I want to!
We went cheap white subway and I think it was a big mistake. We'll see when it's all pulled together.
I keep going back to look at Pipdog's white onyx mosaic backsplash and dreaming of having one just like it.
Yes, I'll give it time...but I reserve the right to change my mind, as you should too.

If you do a search, you'll see a thread started by Renorman, who took down a really nice backsplash and replaced it with something else, also very nice.

There was an installation problem, but also it was an irridescent tile and didn't sparkle, it looked a bit dull.

Forgot to mention, I lived with granite counters that I hated for 4 years--they were in a my brand new spec home, and I felt so guilty even thinking about removing granite.

Anyway, DH finally told me to just do it for Pete's sake, and now I have my dream white marble. My only regret, as they say, is that I didn't do it sooner. Life is short!

Guilty. I lived with it for a couple of years, then changed it to something more neutral that I still like a lot but wish the second time around had been a better installation job. As luck would have it the first install was magnificent.. Darn that extinct Home Expo tile guy.

I remember fretting about it and feeling unsettled about it for most of those two years and finally decided to go for it. It was not an easy fix. They ended up cutting the drywall out, putting in new and going that route since the tile that was up was very thick and very well attached. Hitting it with a hammer, chisel did nothing. I doubt you will have that problem, though.

Thanks everyone! again the reassurance I needed. Think I just need an out:)

CKGM - I understand how disappointed you must feel. I am sorry that you don't like it. We all second guess ourselves and our choices when doing the kitchen reno because it's expensive and we'll have to live with our choices for a while. I definitely did! That said, and I know this is the minority opinion here, but if you really don't like it and can afford to replace it, I say do it. Why wait? At least you have a functional kitchen that you can use while you search for your replacement.

I chose pretty well with the elements in my kitchen, but my neighbours didn't. They called me in just after demo for my opinion on backsplash tiles. They had chosen the most gorgeous granite for their countertops - deep forest green with pink/magenta veining. And they had their hearts set on glass tiles. But they were dealing with a design/build contractor, and they had to choose and buy all their materials through him. When I saw the granite, I immediately exclaimed that they NEEDED a dark rose pink bs. But there was no such colour in their guy's palette. In fact, all of the available colour choices looked like poop against that granite. I suggested that they wait until the counters were installed, but they said they couldn't wait as their $300/sf glass tiles had to be ordered from Italy, with a 10 wk lead time.

Next time they called me over, most of the kitchen was installed, but the tiler had stopped and walked, luckily before grouting their ORANGE glass backspash. They told me, "I know you said dark rose, but orange was the closest we could find and we figured it would work, because we just love glass tiles..." I could have gagged.

Ultimately, they settled on a brown glass tile backsplash that sorta looks OK. But considering that they paid 3x what I did for my kitchen (and theirs is a much smaller house), they shouldn't have settled for anything less than FABULOUS!!!! They would have been further ahead with a $3 Canadian Tire tile in the correct colour, than that exclusive Italian stuff in all the wrong colours.

Thanks again all:) I sent a text to my out of town DH who asked about the backsplash and I said as simply as I could, I don't love it( in fact really hate it). He wrote back you better LOVE IT, hinting at the expense we went to install it so since its not worth a divorce, I will live with it! For a bit at least and see how I feel.
The tile is installed perfectly and is not a hideous orange making the kitchen look like a disaster so I will deal. For now:) I am hoping he hates it as much as me since then this will be a no brainier. I doubt it though since it's just off and not a great match but for a style challenged guy, it would look great! lol
Will post pics tomorrow of it grouted and finished- tile installer really did a beautiful job and think it would kill me to rip down all his gorgeous work. Feel free to offer honest critiques in case I am just convincing myself here for all reasons listed above and thanks again.

ckgm, sorry you are not happy with your backsplash and are feeling stuck with it. maybe if you post pics, some of the talented people on here can help you change it up in a low cost way? maybe you just need to put stuff on your counters so the backsplash becomes background and it will look better?

You mean there are people who are happy with things the very first time?
Renee

SaraKat...which EXPO? We also had a great tile guy from EXPO Design Center out of the Columbia, MD, store...one of the few great tradesmen we encountered with them. (Our finish carpenter was also very good.) [I'd email you instead of hijacking this thread, but you don't have your email turned on.]

Oh no. I'm so sorry you're feeling you made the wrong choice. Your post further heightens my growing fear of my own upcoming bs choice. Please do post pics when you can. Chin up!

If it makes you feel better,I first ordered white glass tile, but when it came in, I immediately decided it had way too much blue in it once they were all en mass and sent it back. I found something I think/hope will work better, but lost about $400 in the process. Also, when my granite was installed I cried because I hated it. It has been about a month and I still don't love it, but the helpful people here on GW, you included I believe, made me feel better about it. I think we are our own harshest critics and quick to judge our own work, but other impartial views can see it better than we can. I think your backsplash looks lovely and looks very nice with your beautiful granite. Hopefully it will grow on you as my granite has on me.

@Buhel....It was the one in Dunwoody, GA. He was from Italy and did such a great job. It was part of the heartbreaking part of removing it and why I waited for at least two years maybe a little more. The second guy was a contractor recommendation and he was just horrible both in skill, professionalism, social skill and was downright abusive and probably is in jail now. I had to hire another guy to finish it when he disappeared. I had to order new tile and take down some that he did. What a disaster. So to the OP please keep this in mind, if it's a great install and not too far off try to live with it at least for awhile.

CKGM - are you in Georgia? I miss that Home Expo store, too. The pics you posted before came out pretty large on my computer, so I'm wondering if you can make them a little smaller, to get a better overall feel. I thought the tiles were looking pretty good on your other thread, so maybe we'll like em even better with grout :)

CKGM - If you're anything like me, you're probably fixating on that tile every time you go into the kitchen. And, if you're doing that, you're not noticing the other beautiful choices you've made and enjoying all the work that you've done up until now.

Of course you can change it if you don't love it (assuming that you can get your DH on board) but you don't have to do it right now. You have all the time in the world to contemplate what will work with your other choices and get it absolutely perfect next time around...whether that's in a month or in a year.

I hope you're able to let the backsplash fade into the background for awhile and enjoy the other elements. Maybe you might even forget how much you disliked it at some point? And, if not, you can always accidentally throw paint all over it and then have to rip it out and replace it later!

And, can I add that some people might like to have no tile in their kitchen, but that doesn't mean that every person prefers the monotone look. I know that I don't. I wouldn't disparage someone else for their personal preference... Ok, I feel better now!

We didn't remove a backsplash, but we did remove a whole pantry on one side of the room, that I thought I really wanted, but when it went in it just didn't work.

This was a custom, handbuilt pantry. : (
I felt really bad, posted on here - got lots of responses both for and against removing it. I think more people said we should keep it, but just talking it through here really helped clarify for us that it wasn't going to work.

Not only did we lose a full height pull out pantry we had already paid for, we also had to get a new end panels to finish off the upper and lower cabinets that were now at the end of the run. It was a shame.

These things are expensive mistakes, but it is what it is. I think you are doing the right thing by giving it a chance and seeing how it looks when everything else is in place. If you still hate it down the line then hopefully you'll be able to persuade your DH to get on board for changing it.

Sorry you don't love it, I know how much that sucks and hope you can get it sorted out one way or another. : )

I totally feel your pain. I am on my 3rd backsplash! I finally have something I love but it was a painful process. Hang in there, it will all work out in the end. Have you tried "decorating" the kitchen so you are not focused on the backsplash. It might disappear once you do that. Best of luck!

All your suggestions are so wonderful! Renorman- hearing you are on the 3rd one makes me feel SO much better. I just helps knowing that I am not alone and understanding why its driving me crazy. I can't talk about this with anyone else I know since they would KILL to have a new kitchen and would shot me for complaining about any of it. And I am starting to feel like a spoiled brat too so being able to vent here where I know I am not judged(well, except for the first poster but I hear his complaint loud and clear;)really helps!

Yes, we did... handmade tiles, crackle subway and glass inserts. Hated it from day one - went ahead and had it grouted - still hated it. Painted the room - still hated it as well as hating the new paint color. Ripped it out on week 3 because it made me just sick everytime I walked in the room. Repainted the room to the original color - went with a less busy muted glass subway and love it. Never regretted it - very few people know about what happened - and when someone does bring it up - I am shocked because I do forget about it... blocked it out but really - never for a second did I regret ripping it out and putting in a new one.