That's overkill I think. We use tile and grout on backsplashes because it's fairly easy to clean. Tile and grout on counters is another story, although there are some epoxy grouts that are supposedly simple to clean. Just seal your grout with and you'll be fine, if worse comes to worse, and the grout does yellow overtime and spray on bleach doesn't clean it, there are grout paints that go on easy and color and seal in one step. Your tile should not yellow.

We have it behind our range, up to the hood, with Sicis glass tile everywhere else. I am SO relieved that I made this choice even before we started cooking so much...it was a great decision, and doesn't stand out, since we've got a stainless range and hood -- it's just one continuous line of stainless. It's easy to clean the stainless whereas I think I never would have been able to get *everything* off grout. Wish I had a pic I could upload, but it's pretty similar to gizmonike's, except we don't have those things on the sides (what are those?).

Yes, shelves do interfere with venting. If the venting is the correct power and design, it will still be effective, but you will have to clean the bottom of the shelf periodically, which can be sometimes be an acrobatic endeavor. All that said, I have a large, high, stainless steel shelf and I am not sure that I could get used to not having it, despite the cleaning issue. I keep my most used bowls and mortar and pestle on it and reach for them while cooking daily. However, I suspect that you have a cleaner aesthetic than I, so you may not desire that arrangement. This post was edited by kitchendetective on Mon, Dec 29, 14 at 14:39

I put in a Blue Star 36” range with grill in 2012 (wow how time flies, seems like yesterday). I have a calacatta marble backsplash and no backguard. Walls are cement behind—this is a pre-war NYC apartment. Marble was sealed with 511. In all this time, I have had only one problem—once when I was making a tandoori-type chicken recipe, convection baking at a really high temp, I got some yellow staining, probably from the turmeric in the sauce vaporizing. Luckily, a poultice fixed most of it. But no other problems. If tomato sauce spatters, I clean it right away. I think you can do whichever you like better.