I have white white cabs and tile so my pics won't help, but can you take a pic of what you've done to help others visualize and give you input before you rip it out? How much and what area does the splash cover? What color off-white are your cabinets?

Thanks for the replies.

I did think of posting a picture but i figured it can be hard to tell the shades of white in a picture. Anyways, lets see if this helps. Let me know what you think:

The area of the backsplash is not that big, roughly 23SF altogether. Ideally we dont want to rib out everything we have done, but at the same time, it can be an option.

You're right, it's hard to tell, but I think it looks great, and some kind of light brownish gray grout that matches a color in your counters might really pull it together well. Will you have undercabinet lighting? That might make a difference but I think it would highlight the colors in the granite and tile more than showing the difference b/t the tile and cabinets. I think you should leave it, but do you/can you love it?

Showing my ignorance now. You said "rib", I assumed you meant "rip" so I said "rip", and you said "rib" again. So clearly that's what you meant to say and is the more correct term for what you are describing than "rip". I am such a beginner!

I know pictures sometimes don't show true colors, but I like what I see. The backsplash doesn't look whiter than the cabs and I think your countertop can take a pretty white. For some reason, I don't particularly like darker grout so I would do something lighter.

i think it looks lovely. keep in mind you will have stuff on the countertops like toasters etc so it will be become a backdrop, not so barren and open as it is now. i think i would not grout it for now and live with it for a week or two and see how you feel about it. put some stuff on the countertops and live as you normally would and see how it looks to you.

i LOVE the color of your granite - can you post the name for me?

best wishes on your kitchen - it is really coming along!

Beautiful.
I like the whites together.
One is slightly more milky than the
the grout but it really works with that stunning stone.
Don't second guess yourself it is looking great.
~boxer

I think it looks great now too. I like the mix of whites.

If the tile isn't grouted I think a grout that looks like what I'm seeing in the picture (which I assume is a shadow line) would tie the grayish color in your granite -- which looks amazing -- to the backsplash.

The name of granite is bianco antico.

More pictures with different lighting and angle:

Thanks again for all the replies. I dont think the pictures show the true colors. From my camera i can really see the different whites... Can you guys see the different whites?

I dont know..... Appreciate all the kind words but the different shades is bothering me. And the thought of once i grout it most likely will be final makes me so nervous....

Still would love to see pictures of different grout colors on white subway tiles, at least that may give me an idea what grout color to choose to hopefully make the different whites not as noticeable.

I have been struggling with the same thing. I have creamy white cabinets and a lighter granite and I tried the white subway. I just got some from Lowes and taped them up. When I tried a few, I loved it, but then when I got a bunch and taped up a whole section, the bright white was so stark. I am leaning towards a biscuit subway and have lots of pics on another thread.

I do think that we end up far more critical of our own choices than anyone else would be. You will have things on the counter like others have said which will break it up and I think a darker grout would look nice. But, if it is going to bother you everytime you look at it, I would take it out before you do more work.

I think these look great and perhaps an off white or beige grout would be good. I don't like dark grout either, but that is my preference. Is it my imagination or do the tiles near the outlets look more yellow toned? Or is it tape that is making them look yellow?

I can definitely see the different tones now. I couldn't in your earlier pic. What I see, I still really like. I will ask again, will you have lighting under your cabinet, and if so, will it be on much, or only some of the time, or infrequently? Have you looked at it at different times of day and in different lights? Behind those questions, I'm thinking that with UC lights you will get a different read on the color than you get with your general lighting.

Look at mary_in_nc, redroze, mamadadapaige in the FKB. Also look at the backsplash inspiration link (though it doesn't tell grout/cabinet/tile color) and the backsplash slideshow.

Also look at these threads:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0623573824340.html
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0420001211215.html

Bottom line, if it bothers you and you won't love it, it would be worth going with something else. Great idea not to grout it for now but to live with it for a month.

springvillegardens: not your imagination... area around the outlets are not done, what you are seeing is the wall which, by the way, is painted the same color as the cabinets, that should give an idea how different the shades are.

bosspaige: tried searching for your thread to peek at your bisque tiles but the search didnt come up with any result?!? i must be doing something wrong..

jsweenc: as of now, we dont have any lighting under the cabinets, not sure if we will because we most likely wont use it, but what you said makes sense though.

i have been lurking on the FKB, so hard to find what i am looking for. i have seen some of the kitchens you mentioned, but still dont answer my question in entirety. One kitchen i did find, makes me rethink my subway decision, is scottielee's kitchen, breathtaking!!

http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2009/10/scottielees-kitchen.html

Not saying i would go that route, but i am as confused as before doing my countertop, took us a good 4 months to finally made the decision with bianco antico. now i am in the same situation for the backsplash....

hi paintpanther (cute name!)

who is the manufacturer of your cabs and what is the color? it might help us look up the color on line given your comments about color now showing right in photo.

Hi babushka, yours cute too!!

dont know the manufacturer of the cabinets, we did repaint it with benjamin moore mayonaise, love how it turns out. I know one of my options now is to paint the cabinets whiter to match with the subway, but my guts say stick with the mayonnaise ;-)

The subway tile is daltile white color code 100.

Thanks again all, really appreciate all your feedback and suggestions.

My cabinets and backsplash are different shades of white too even though I tried to get a bright white cabinet and tile. Doesn't bother me though -- that's how a room of white should be. If it were all the same exact white it would look flat, sterile and boring, but with different shades of white, once you let your eye look at the whole picture, you will see white with tonal depths and variations that will make it more interesting, comfortable and natural in a subtle way. Look closely at your granite and I bet you have a dozen shades of "bianco" in it. It is possible to clash whites, but I don't think you are having that problem.

My backsplash has a pale, pale grey grout -- but mine is tying together with marble counters. I would pick a grout that plays on the palest part of the color in your granite or that is similar to your wall.cabinet color. The granite would be my first choice because I think it will flow visually from the cabinets to the counters. The wall color was my first thought but now I am not so sure. While what we are seeing in your photos looks good, what you are seeing bothers you, and my fear with replicating that shade in the grout would be that it might accentuate the difference you are seeing between the two whites and not marry them into the granite. Hope that makes sense to you.

lascatx, i think it makes sense.

the reason why i keep asking for pictures of white subway with different grout colors is, i wonder with different grout color it will make the tiles less white, but still keeping the subway look i first fell in love with....

now without any grout, i am seeing stark white with gray lines (the spacing now looks pretty gray) and maybe these deeper gray lines are accetuating how stark white these subway tiles are. if we tone down using a lighter gray grout, or white, or cream (i really donno), i may not see as much starkness with the subway?!? am i making sense?

okay, here's ours:

I worried that our subway tiles wouldn't be the same color as our cabinets, and that the white in the Bianco Antico wouldn't go together somehow. But once it was all installed, the colors blended together just fine.
From your photos, it looks like it will all go together beautifully in your kitchen. Having the different subway tile seems to take the colors in the granite right up to the cabinet creaminess. I like it!
Redroze has written about the creamy hint in her paint color going well with the granite, and the color of her own sink being "off" a bit...but it's still just fine with them, as I recall. People write on this site all the time about not wanting colors to be too "matchy-matchy." I'm sure your own instincts will work for you. Good luck with this! And welcome to the Bianco Antico club. We're a "happy lot" of folks. I love our granite.

Panther--I think your kitchen looks TERRIFIC!

I understand your struggle. I am getting cream cabs and when I put the stark white subway tile next to it...with a piece of carrera (countertops) I freaked out a little. But after I gave it some thought, I think it is going to look great. Maybe even as great as yours! ;)

Oh, and I am going with Delorean Grey grout.

I think it looks fabulous!! Love that tile, used it in my bath. One tip: I'd go for a creamy/beigey grout veering towards brown, rather than one that veers towards gray. If you're using laticrete grout from Lowes, don't use Antique White - I used it and was dismayed at how blue/gray it turned out. The gray will accentuate the blue in the white tile that you're trying to downplay.

Try one of their beige colors like Parchment or Latte or Sand Beige.

Hiya paintpanther! Haven't seen you on here in awhile. Was wondering what happened with your backsplash. Guess you decided against the mirrors ;-)

I too have the ivory cabinets, and the BA. As you may or may not know I had finally narrowed down my choice to this very inexpensive Italian crackle slightly beveled subway tile, white but with gray undertones. But then I won that contest and I really lucked out because the white from the contest does work well.

Back to your kitchen--I am guessing that you are not even considering changing the tiles, but just wanting adivce on the grout decision. Can you do a sample board with leftover tiles and then test the grout that way?

I think once it's done you will love it, it always looks odd to me without the grout. My backsplash totally changed when we grouted it.

Also, do you have undercabinet lights? That may change the way your tile "reads" also. My lights cause my tiles to become creamier--I wanted a Daltile in biscuit--perfect match, however when I duct taped it to the wall and put on the u/c lights...way too creamy. I have since calculated that it isn't the lights...it's the non painted underside of the cabinets causing this!

If you are considering changing the tile, look for a white with gray undertones, this way it will blend with both the counters and the cabinets (maybe--since I'm not really sure about your cabinet color's undertones). Also, have you just gone to a tile shop that sells Daltile? Their modern dimension collection and rittenhouse collection have different choices in "whites"--arctic white, white, biscuit, etc.

I totally understand your frustration, as I have been there.

I believe it is a matter of personal taste. I think your countertops are so very beautiful. I would use the med/dark vein color in your countertop for your tile grout. I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD DO SAMPLE BOARDS (AND WASTE SOME TILE) OF THE DIFFERENT GROUT COLORS BEFORE YOU MAKE A CHOICE.

In my opinion, tonal differences add interest, depth, and richness. I am purposely going with a color scheme of black, brown, cream, and white. I have seen white cabinets with cream backsplashes and vise versa done successfully in several kitchen magazines. Again, IMO, not everything has to match per se, it just has to blend and coordinate. Knowing already that your granite and cabinets blend beautifully, using a grout that ties your backsplash with your granite would then tie it all together. But, as everyone else has pointed out, it is all a matter of personal preference and taste.

Thanks to all for great advices and info. you have no idea how much i appreciate all these posts, anything and every bit of info is helpful!!

beeferswife: hiya there, yeah decided against the mirror because too expensive, these days we have been spending too much and since i have always loved the look of subway, so we went with it. So are you done with yours? any pictures?

donnakay: what color is your cabinets?

i must say i love love love scottielees backsplash. and i think it will work with our kitchen. but then at the same time it will be a headache tearing out what we have done. if we do tear out all the subways, there is a good chance i will go with scottielees backsplash. might as well!! But it is much more expensive than these subway tiles so..oh I sometimes hate options.......and if we decide to stick with these tiles then as everyone suggest we will be testing different grout colors on a test board or something. still nervous....

i have always loved the white subway with white grout look, but i donno, with the different shades, i might have to try something else, and that really worries me because i am detouring from what i originally like.

anyways, thanks again all of you, cant say thank you enough!!

paint, here is the link to the thread with my back splash when we finished it.

and the thing about the different grout color with the white tile is the possibility of the b/s looking too busy. With our granite, I was very worried about that. The white/white look is a clean look.

Here is a link that might be useful: here you go!

Ah, a topic I may be able to help out with. We recently installed off the shelf (Lowe's) white subway tile. The brand is American Olean (not sure about the spelling!). I remember reading in a magazine that in a white kitchen there should be varying shades of white to keep it from looking sterile, just as someone mentioned above. When my husband installed it he and my mom both liked how it looked: as if it had been grouted with gray grout. I knew I didn't like this look but was almost talked into it. I mention this because of your previous statement

"i have always loved the white subway with white grout look, but i donno, with the different shades, i might have to try something else, and that really worries me because i am detouring from what i originally like. "

Stick to what you like or you won't be happy. I almost went with gray grout. Perhaps it may look better or more appealing but it is not the look I'm going for. And since you've mentioned that you are worried about the shade of white you've chosen change it now before it's too late. I personally think it will look great but being that you are questioning it makes me think it is not really what you want and are hoping to be talked into liking it.

But if you stick with your tile I wouldn't go with a cream grout but rather one that matches the tile and blends nicely.
To answer your question
In my opinion the color of the grout makes a difference. Just look at kitchens with white subway with gray grout vs white grout and you'll see what I mean.
I don't think an off white grout will make it blend with the cabinets better, it could make it look soiled. White will make it look whiter but IMO cleaner. I say keep the backdrop (backsplash) simple. As someone mentioned above you will have things on the counter to break it up. I plan on putting more items on our counters and the gray grout for me would be too busy. Not to mention I'm not the tidiest-so I need everything else to be simple.

I sure hope I did't confuse you! Here are pics of our off white cabinet, BM moonlight white, though not quite as creamy as yours, with white subway tile and bright white grout. Below is a link to segbrowns kitchen. I think the pewter grout in this kitchen looks great because of all the other elements. But with such creamy cabinets as yours I'm not sure about gray/pewter grout.

Gray grout look (before grouted). My cabinets look quite stark here but are really creamier in person. Hopefully you can see a difference in the shade of the cabinets compared to the white subway-it is hard to capture in a pic!

Here is a link that might be useful: segbrowns kitchen

I like beekeeperswife's suggestion about a sample board. I wound up ripping out white tiles that turned gray and looked horible with my giallo ornamental granite(My counter reads very brown.) I don't recall the grout color but was told that that it did have somethng to do with the tiles turning gray! My new tiles are Rixi Crema and we did an almond grout. The salesman in the tile store chose it for us and he was right. Grout does make a big difference!

beeferwife: girl you lucky dog you won a lottery!! and your kitchen looks great!! agree with others it is unique, different but still very pretty. see now i donno if i should stick with subway!!

thanks ellendi and megpie for the posts. megpie, thanks for the pictures, thats the pictures i am looking for and your picture helps to see differnt looks with different grout color. although after looking at it, i am not sure if i like the white on white like i thought. maybe i do like some grout color?!? i am one confused woman aint i?!?

Another thing i noticed is, from your pictures and others i have seen, that the white white subway looks really good with black soapstone countertop. i do see creamier white cabinets and starker white backsplash, but i think i am more drawn to how nice the contrast is between the dark counter top and the white backsplash. i am just afraid, i dont have that strong constrast from my bianco antico.

Sorry this is off the topic but....
Donnakay2009: I love your faucet. Is it a Franke FHPD100? Do you like it? This is just what I'm looking for.

Who knew that whites would be so hard? I had a moment of panic when my cabinets were installed and they read too grey to me, especially next to the primed only trim. It really bothered me. But a bunch of people gave me the advice to wait until everything was in, and then things would come together, or at least I wouldnt' notice it as much. I'll have to admit that now more elements are in the house, I don't mind the color (as much). Good luck. Your kitchen is beautiful btw.

Sorry this is off the topic but....
Donnakay2009: I love your faucet. Is it a Franke FHPD100? Do you like it? This is just what I'm looking for.

O.k. I will be very honest with you paintpanther...
If you are unhappy with the white subway tiles go ahead and rib it out. I think a soft cream tile with pale grout is the look you are trying to acheive.
I do not think it will be very expensive to redo it the way you really want it to be. $400 +- (I'm Canadian)
This kitchen will be yours for the next 25 years or more so do the math... Devide that amount by 25 years, you will see it won't break the bank!
Make it the way you really want it to be. If not you will be a very unhappy puppy...for the next 25 years!

Gobruno: yes, who would think the most primitive white color will be so hard!!

Danielle: it is not the money, the subway tiles are pretty cheap, it is just the ripping it out part, if we damage the wall then it will be a project in itself and unfortunately we are not very handy people...=( But i might just take your and some others' advices, and get what i really like. I have started looking for tiles that have the shimmery look like scottielee's kitchen. I am so in love with her backsplash.

Thank you all, again, for all your posts. You guys are the best!!!!

It not a problem to rip out the backsplash and start over. I did it! However, I was then living with a brown cardboard looking wall until I found another tile. Please try to find a grout color first. I had the salesman at my tile store pick the grout color for me. You can always start over! After all my problems with my kitchen choices, I am OK with how it looks now. You have a beautiful kitchen and you are doing what we all have done, OVER THINK things!

ellendi, thanks for the kind words. i think my thoughts now is, subway is nice, but after seeing other pictures like beeferswife and scottielee, maybe i want to make it a little different. Am i thinking too much? I dont know, i think for now i plan to just wait, look at other options, and then decide. I might end up keeping the subways, you know....women =)