Crackle is out of style, but so what? If the cabinets are in good shape, put your thoughts, budget and efforts elsewhere. My old kitchen had partial overlay, bullnosed laminated slab, knobless, oranage oak from the '80's, with MDF interiors. Nothing to show off there! Lots of frustration with having the wrong kind of cabinets in the wrong places, too few uppers, too few drawers. If it hadn't bee for the awful layout and for the fact that MDF does not stand up to water damage at all well (plywood would probably have been okay--the MDF croaked), I probably would have just replaced the appliances and been done. Decent quality and not glaringly ugly is sufficient. (I'd call the orange oak non-ugly the way a new pair of coveralls isn't ugly. Not pretty, but functional and not ugly.) Not-ugly is also saleable. The best thing you can do for your kitchen for resale is clean the heck out of it. Empty all the cupboards and scrub the insides. Let them dry before putting stuff back (do a section at a time), and stage your belongings inside the cupboards to look good, like in a magazine ad. If you have overflow, pack it if you can, or put it in plastic tote boxes that can be put in the gargage during viewings. Get the appliances pristine. Pull out any free standing ones and clean all the area behind and under really well, then clean the backs and sides of the appliances. Wash them thoroughly inside and out. Use baking soda and boiling water (let them set) to get spots off of cooking equipment. And let the cabinets be what they are. If you hate the crackle, you can take apart the cabinets (remove doors and drawer fronts from all hardware including screws and hinges). Sand lightly, but thoroughly, and clean with TSP. Get a primer recommended at the paint store for covering faux, and prime carefully, then paint. That's a lot of work, however, and if you're really thinking of selling, it's not worth it.

Like phillyfeet I originally preferred the bone but in your latest photo both look good (though I still lean toward the bone). PS I'd be very careful about a grey with that wood, I think too grey would not look well. This post was edited by colleenoz on Sun, Mar 16, 14 at 2:15

I'm so sorry this happened! What brand of cabinets? As Chicagoans said, contact your point of puchase immediately with lots of pics and your warranty paperwork in hand. Let us know how this works out for you. Good luck and be firm about expecting the company to do right by you!

No No ...No tears, I have already been there...that's when my husband actually took me to the tile store and has committed to getting involved. He usually leaves all these decisions to me (thankfully) but I am stumped with this backsplash choice. I took photos on my iphone and it won't let me upload them to this sight so I emailed them to you - hope that was ok. The ashbury Chamomile (Market collection I think its called) is so far the winning tile. I actually feel I could order this and go forward. I have to tell you it was your words "it makes the cream in the granite pop like popcorn) that got me to reconsider the cream subway again. I had this ashbury home in sept. and would walk by and go 'oh that's nice' but OMG it's basic cream. And my husband would say 'what's wrong with that tile' and I would say, no too cream. I think I was in denial and wanting something greater, better, the perfect match. My idea is to get Benjamin Moore to team up with a tile company and do custom colored tiles for us all. I have to say I painted my walls when the kitchen was gutted - put Bleeker Beige up, loved it, then the cabinets went in, still loved it, then the granite and my furniture went in and my stomach rolled over, YUK it was grey and cold and awful. I thought it was the granite (which it was) I convinced my husband to repaint and went with Oak Ridge from BM and LOVE it. This granite is full of warmth and earth tones and for me, trying to bring in a cool tone didn't work. I find the same problem with the tile. This ashbury tile has warmth, almost can look creamy (yellow but not yellow) and somewhat green but not green. It is a cream but a warm one. The rixi is the next runner up but for me it kind of comes through pale, not pink not grey but not the warmth I want. Sorry for going on and on its just so hard to get it all across. In the end I wanted a creamy subway tile, I just got off track with my kids telling me NO SHINY TILE it should be natural. But then they go off to college and leave me with their thoughts!! One more point my husband made about using the creamy tiles, he said cream goes with everything. When you can't match an outfit you (meaning me) you put a cream sweater on..... it's your go to color. And he's right. I am feeling more confident about this. But am still waiting to see the adex sand due in monday. I too have googled my eyeballs out over this. It's not the most common granite but we do love it. I do understand your stress. And you have already invested in tile and have to do it again. But we all make decorating boo boo's at some point. And when it's all finally done, that feeling of wow it's great will be worth it. We just finished our master bath redo (which took me away from the backsplash for a bit) and I was as a mess with decisions about it. But it looks amazing. We are thrilled. So I am trying to trust myself and say, you can do this......this from the woman who buys 15 different shades of tan paint samples to finally feel confident in choosing my kitchen paint color. I exhaust every option. But then I know it's right. So if I were you, it might be worth the 45 min drive to check out this tile.......it's cheaper than tearing out that granite :)