We have white powercoated tin ceiling tiles in our bathroom. They were new, though, but easy to install since they were tongue and groove. Since ours came out so well, my hairstylist ordered the tin for his kitchen, and it looks fantastic when I got to see it at his holiday party.

lafonda, we discovered that there wasn't any bead board up there, so we ordered the tin today. The cost of the unfinished panels, which is what we chose, wasn't all that high, but some of the special finishes can get very pricey! The shipping costs, of course, too. Laura, your ceiling looks fantastic! We're going to install it ourselves...wish us luck! Casey, we looked over the site you linked to. The designs are wonderful and we loved so many of them, but we needed something less formal for our relatively simple kitchen. But if this project goes well, I may suggest to my husband that we consider another tin ceiling for the main bathroom so it's bookmarked...

I guess ceramic subways are out of the question? Maybe with a line of glass mosaics in yellow a row or two from the bottom? I think that would give a nod to the nostalgia/age of the home but bring in some pop and the color that you've incorporated into your kitchen with the wall color. The ceramic subways are generally cheaper than slate (I think?), and with only a little bit of the pricy tile interspersed, it wouldn't be all that expensive. I think Bill V. usually says that Dal-Tile is perfectly acceptable tile to use--and I take what he says like the gospel!! I'm (personally) not a big fan of the tin ceiling tile backsplash look. Can't really tell you why--no real rationale. I know some people really like it. For a real budget makeover for the backsplash in an old country home, I prefer painted beadboard. (oh, and do you have pictures of the rest of your kitchen and/or house? I have an 1870's Victorian farmhouse and rarely get to sneak a peek at other homes of the same age!!) Looks great--and I love the stainless/white combo on your appliances!! :) Sarah

As I understand it, tin ceilings are only tin plated. Tin is resistant to rust, which is why cans used to be tin plated also, but tin is actually a rather expensive metal. If the tin plating wears off, then the base metal could corrode/rust. Tin used to be more plentiful, but it is only found in certain areas of the world. Aluminum foil used to be tin foil, but tin foil has not been available for quite some time, at least from what I have seen. In fact, I never heard the term tin foil until I visited the East Coast - for me, it was always aluminum foil, but some people still call aluminum foil "tin foil," which is confusing. I do have some cookware that is tin plated, but that is not common anymore either. My father's store, built in 1901 had a tin ceiling, and that was painted. I used to use a plating company that would tin plate items, and this was the only plating company I knew that did tin plating, and it was very beautiful. However, for furniture, people did not like the sound of "tin" as a finish, despite tin being somewhat rare and expensive. People just thought it sounded cheap. However, it is a good substitute for silver, since it is lighter than stainless steel, but then it is also lighter than silver. If the plating is wearing off from you ceiling, then painting it is a good idea.