If your kitchen is small and you know that you're going to tile, then honestly, I would not chop up the look with a backsplash of granite only behind your stove or even bother installing a 4" granite piece. You won't need that 4" piece if you tile. Actually, in the majority of backsplashes, the 4" pieces takes away from the backsplash and cuts off the lines of your kitchen visually. On the plus side, your walls will appear taller and the look more cohesive by doing some tile work with accent pieces and/or a nice focal point behind your range. Remember, the granite guy gets paid for how much granite he sells. I've installed the 4" piece and popped off the 4" because it chopped up my counters. And when I did pop it off the wall, found out it had been glued, not caulked into place causing me repair work. BTW, I have very busy granite, too. It would drive me nuts to have it on the walls. In a small kitchen it should be all or nothing. Either add all granite on the walls or go tile. I would prefer to keep busy granite on horizontal surfaces or just do it all. Go check out the finished kitchen blog. I know there are some lovely small kitchens with fabulous focal points wtih tile and some lovely kitchens with all granite backsplashes. All granite is lovely, too. Here's a very real issue for you to consider before you jump off and have that 4" piece of granite installed on your counters. Using my own kitchen as an example for you. I have a lot going on in my kitchen. But just looking at the back of my sink area, I have a large Franke Sink, Brizo faucet, and a raised 'window'. Looking at the tile design alone, I would have really chopped up the design had I added the 4" backsplash. My tile is 3"x6", so I would not have gotten more than 3 tiles or so high in the design. Keep in mind that MOST fabricators want to cut out your sink opening at their shop, right? Well, here's one for you. Another HUGE problem that most installers and DIY would probably not thought of until the faucet was to be installed is consideration of the faucet and the depth of the backsplash. Typically tile depth is 3/16" to about 1/4" thick, depending on your tile. If we used a 4"H x 3 cm D piece of granite behind my faucet then there would not have been room for my faucet or hand to operate the faucet. Of course, the granite installers would have left by the time the plumber showed up to install the faucet. Reminder as you look, 3 cm = 1.2". Here's a look see. Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a good site to peruse to look at accent pieces, etc.

Hi Pedimom, Wondering if you have had any luck with the grantie seam problem? I am shopping for granite and started to think about your seams. They have been just terrible to you. I am so sorry you are going through this. While learning all I can about granite I found some links on my search. Maybe this will help you on your discussions with the granite people. Thinking of you and hoping the installers fix this for you. Good luck. Boxerpups ............ http://boards.hgtvpro.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5081053852/m/7061072093 Better place yet is in middle of sink. short seam on each side of sink easy to hide. Other then that pick the end which is not seen as easy from outside the room. The lower the angle you look the easier it can be seen. so when your farther away the seam will stand out more because of the reflective nature of the stone. But any good counter company worth their salt should be able to seam this with little effort and is should hide quite well. Black is a fairly easy color to seam. Its the lighter colors that oftemtimes is harder. ............ http://www.stoneadvice.com/forum/search.php?fid[]=1 ..... http://tomcordova.com/24/seams-in-granite/ Granite countertop seams should be smooth to the touch and no more than 1/16ÂÂ wide. There is no written rule about this but this is the quality standard in the industry. The joint should be filled flush with epoxy in a color that best matches the general granite color. If you are not happy with the color, ask the installer to redo it. This is not difficult. Sometimes the joint can be made smoother with the epoxy as well. If the joint is still rough, then you will need to have the seams professionally ground down and re-polished. This is not easy to do correctly and even impossible with some homogenous colors. Best wishes, Tom Cordova .................... Q. How can I get the smallest seam possible where two slab countertop panels meet? A. Well obviously a good fit and straight cuts are key. But here are a few other tricks of the trade. Get some large soft rubber suction cups of five or six inch diameter and some turnbuckles eight or ten inches long. Attach one cup to each end of the turnbuckle. After you butter the edge of the seam with the epoxy that you have tinted the color of the granite stone you are using set them in place and squeeze them together gently. Then take your assembly of turnbuckles and suction cups and straddle the seam placing one suction cup on each side. Then spin the turnbuckle to gently pull the two panels together. You don't want to apply too much force here or you will break the suction of the rubber cups to the granite. Wedges are also useful in achieving a tight seam by forcing the panel in the direction of the seam.

what is the wood species of your island....and what is the perimeter in your space? I think because it's the island, I might pick a slightly lighter stain and have them glaze it,as long as you have some detail for the glaze to lay on. For an island, this kind of a detail, not complicated to achieve ,would be actually easier at this point than the trial and error trying to find just the right pigment to"allow" grain toshow......and really on the island, being below counter, not sure it's going to be appreciated so much...up on the walls where light hits and your eyes naturally get the full on view is a different matter. It's just going to look dark below the counter once you go that dark with an all over stain.....so add café or dark bronze glaze to a medium-dark stain......easy!

Hi Guys. I was going to mention that I would post pictures after my kitchen is complete. For months and years (even), I've seen people finish their beautiful kitchens on this site and thought mine could never turn out as good as theirs. But I may have been wrong about that. Still have flooring and backsplash to go so I don't want to post pics yet. If I have as good luck with them as I had with cabinets and granite, you will see a kitchen that will knock your socks off (please don't hold it against me for bragging (I hate bragging) -cause I've had a non-stop smile every since my granite was put in a few days ago. Thanks for the granite edge advice. My fabricator just left and he said the same thing as pcjs. He will come Wednesday and either/or/and round out the edge a little and fill the chips with glue or expoxy. I'll be there when he does it so I can tell you what he used. Donna, the chips are not continous, but I'd say around every 5-10 inches or so, there is one. They are not on the surface of the stone, but just around the edges. Thanks everyone for your advice. Will post back Thursday or so.