didn't have time to read all the answers. I have no backsplash and have never regretted it...been over 6 yrs. It is painted with BM matte...which has ceramic in it. It is as beautiful now as it was when first painted. I love the fact that I can showcase other things ...art etc in my kitchen and no competition. Also if I ever want to change it is as quick as a paint brush...expense is minimal..paint only ! All in all I think it is serene as you point out . Here is one pick. Since I have a lot of high heat cooking in my kitchen..built in deep fat fryer as well as gas cook top I can definitely speak to the longevity of paint only. c ( more at this album )

I just had my shower/bath area in the primary bathroom retiled. The tilesetter put up the tile probably Wednesday. He grouted it the next day. It has not been sealed yet. It's quite obvious that the thinset has not dried behind the tile - especially obvious where the accent mosaic has been placed. Some of it had dried by the next day but you can see where it has not dried - the white marble looks gray. It is now Monday the following week and this is how it looks. Since it has already been grouted, I am wondering if this will ever dry. The floor area looks a little odd also and I am wondering what's up with that. There are also two tiles on the edge of the window by the bath where he sanded the edges. I don't understand why that was done - it seems to me that it would open up the marble to moisture. The tilesetter also put up cracked marble mosaic tile in my kitchen backsplash. Since the marble has little veins, it is very hard to tell it's cracked. It's been filled with grout and sealed. Am I going to have any staining problems from it being cracked? Should I have him replace those tiles? Any input would be appreciated.

Hi! Yes thank you this was me, I was trying to get back to this post to get this photo. I remember your comments and I don’t know why they didn’t put another layer of cement board on top of all of this they assured me it wasn’t necessary. The contractor came back out and basically said this is why they didn’t want to do a pocket door here. they said they can cut out and replace the cracked tiles but they don’t want to pull out the entire wall and redo obviously. I told them I need to think about it as if it doesn’t get worse I am inclined to leave the crack. If it gets worse then something needs to be done.

Thanks Patricia, the lighting is all new LED and gives a nice bright look (In person) The gray is the lightest, palest gray I could come up with. It is slightly lighter in person, for some reason it appears a bit darker, more contrast in the photo. I do like the look of all white, but am concered that all white may "fall flat" here with all the other white choices. I also am not going for a farmhouse look here, so want to be sure it doesn't give off that. My style is more traditional/transitional. I want to go with something classic and also a grout that doesn't have a big impact.