My backsplash! (Shaker cherry cabs/black counter kitchen)

15 years ago

I am a long-time lurker, finally coming out of the woodwork (and emerging from the haze of dust and debris that has been my kitchen for the past 5 months). My backsplash was installed today (grout tomorrow) and I am so excited that I had to share it! It took a while to find "the one": I tried lots of different things and had my heart set on Ming green 3x6 subways for a long time, but after the granite went in the Ming green just didn't look right. On my 100th (millionth? I lost count) trip to the tile store, I found this tile that I had previously ruled out for reasons I can't remember and when I brought it home it seemed perfect. It's a soft green with a crackle finish and a bit of brownish around the edges.

I love it!

More pictures soon, after the grout and the pendants go in sometime next week.

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Comments (15)

plants4
15 years ago
That's lovely.

Do you mind my asking if those are wooden knobs? They look like ebony.
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alforfun
15 years ago
Love your cabinets and granite, and the backsplash is fabulous. I have been going back and forth between cherry cabs or creamy white, and you may have swayed me towards cherry. Is that a medium color stain on the cherry??
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I wouldn't replace old hardwood with anything harvested today. From what I've read, the old growth oak is gone and today's new growth isn't as hard, so it scratches and dents easily. Even high heels can leave pockmarks. I also have heard that laminate is not a good choice for a kitchen floor. You could look into luxury vinyl tile as a low cost alternative to ceramic tile. I used Armstrong Alterna in a guest bath, grouted it, and it looks like ceramic tile. I don't think it's too hard of a DIY job, though the flooring store installed ours. As for your kitchen floor tile--it probably had linoleum originally, so they added cement backerboard over it when they laid the tile, otherwise the tile can crack. LVT doesn't need cement board, so you might be able to eliminate your speed bump between the tile and hardwood. You mentioned using a G shape for your layout. I would advise not to for your kitchen size. My neighbor has a G peninsula with the DW in the curve, and her kitchen looks so much smaller than mine. Only one person can actually fit comfortably inside the G. I don't think she can even stand at the sink and open the DW.
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Thanks for the input. I lean toward the Raven and Calacatta, too. (In fact we just told our contractor to put the order in for the countertop). I'm still not 100% sold on the marble tile, though, I originally wanted a carrera that would be more muted, but the tile shop we're using doesn't have anything that looks right with Raven. I just worry that the Calacatta is SO white. When I see kitchens like this: http://bungalowhomeinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/04/clients-home.html my eye is drawn to how cool the tile looks next to the cabinetry. Guess I'm also concerned that the calacatta has more movement in it, which could be distracting. I'm loving the look of this kitchen (also with Raven), but I don't know what the tile is: https://www.houzz.com/photos/south-pasadena-craftsman-traditional-kitchen-los-angeles-phvw-vp~14622889-Pasadena-Craftsman-traditional-kitchen-los-angeles Does anyone regret getting marble backsplash?
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If you have trouble visualizing what you'd like but "know it when you see it", then at this stage you should probably just look at as many stainless / dark cherry kitchens as you can and see which countertops and flooring "grab" you. In my case I knew I wanted simple, natural cherry cabinets and stainless appliances and probably a wood floor, but that was it. Looking at lots of pictures helped me narrow things down, so now I can at least have intelligent conversations with kitchen designers. I'd suggest going over to houzz.com and entering "stainless steel dark cherry kitchen" into their search box and looking through some of the hundreds of results you get. It's a great source of ideas. After you see some you like, you can probably come up with more words to add to the search box to narrow things down. You can also go to google and enter "site:gardenweb.com dark cherry stainless" and you'll find lots of threads on this site too. I don't know of a way to limit it to threads with photos, unfortunately. Laura
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remodelfla
15 years ago
That is a fabulous tile and I am "tile fussy". Would you mind sharing the specifics on it? Manufacturer and line?
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roulie
Original Author
15 years ago
fern4: the knobs are matte black metal ("zink alloy die cast"). They are very heavy and were a bargain: $1.49 each from yourhomesupply.com (thanks to a tip from GW!). I was leaning toward cup pulls on the drawers and fancier pulls on the doors, but my husband made a plea for simplicity and I think he was right.

alforfun: I went back and forth between white and cherry for a long time. I was in love with all of the white/soapstone kitchens that I saw on GW and in the magazines, but for the style of my house (a 1960s cape with the kitchen newly opened to the dining room and the family room) and my furniture, the cherry just seemed to go better. Now that it's in, I can't imagine anything else. Of course, I still love to look at the gorgeous white kitchens!! The cabinets are Plain & Fancy and the stain is called "Heirloom LS". I guess you could call it medium -- there were some lighter and some darker! You could look at P&F's website so see where this color falls. I should credit theresab1 on GW, whose gorgeous shaker cherry kitchen inspired me!

remodelfla: I would love to share the specifics of the tile because I adore it so much!! It's an Italian tile called ceramica grazia, the line is Rixi and the color is Agata. They are grouting it right now, and it's a slightly darker grout than it shows in their website (and I'm actually a bit nervous because I hope it's not too dark!) http://www.ceramichegrazia.it/prodotti.phtml?SID=32&Auto=Yes&Lang=Eng
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ni_2006
15 years ago
roulie, your tiles look great! I've been struggling with the tile dilemma for sometime. I also have a sample of the Ceramiche Grazia Rixi tiles in the Mandorla color, which is in the top two. I saw the agata color at store. It was gorgeous! I can't wait to see the tiles grouted. Be sure to post pictures!!
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laurap_2007
15 years ago
I have soft green subway tiles as a backsplash also, mine are a crackled ceramic by Adex Hampton series, and everyone (including me) loves them. The backsplash is where you get to have fun with your kitchen (I kept everything else as neutral as possible) so I know what you mean about repeat trips to the tile store trying to decide!

Love your kitchen, and your tiles look terrific.
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rhome410
15 years ago
NICE! I really love how it all looks.
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roulie
Original Author
15 years ago
LauraP: I have the Adex Hampton green in my new master bath tub/shower. I adore it too!! My SIL has it in her white cab/soapstone kitchen and I knew I had to have it somewhere. It's great in the shower -- a pop of fun color in an otherwise white (and a bit of grey from the marble countertop) bathroom. It's amazing how much the men in my life love the Hampton green too (my husband, of course, but also the current/temporary men: the tile installer, contractor, painter, etc.)

ni_2006: I'll have to see what color the Mandorla is... I was definitely focused on green so didn't really look at other colors, but the Rixi is a really beautiful line.

for what it's worth, as the backsplash grout dried it lightened up a bit and I am back to loving it.

Thanks for your nice comments. It has been so much fun to see the whole thing come together!
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mybrowneyedgirls
15 years ago
Hi, roulie. I love the backsplash. I really wanted ming green for the longest time, and then when I located it at a tile store and saw it in person, it was just to minty of a green, and well, just too green. I thought I'd just have to go with beige or white, then I saw yours. I love it! I do have a question about it...in the pictures on the manufacturer's website, it looks much greener than in your pictures of it installed. In your kitchen, it looks much lighter, and more subtle. Which one would you say is more true-to-life? Thanks, and I love your entire kitchen, btw!
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roulie
Original Author
15 years ago
here are some pictures of the tile grouted. I had a hard time getting the light, so there are lots of different views:

mybrowneyedgirls: I would say that the tile is less of a brownish green and more of a greyish green than I thought it would be, based on the photo on the manufacturer's website and even the sample that I brought home. It is softer and subtler... when the lights are off it looks more like a putty color, which I actually love, but it's not what I thought it would be. Maybe it's reflecting a bit of the black countertop? I think it's like paint: you can't tell from a chip exactly what it will look like on your walls (but unlike paint, you can't sample it and then paint over it if it's not quite right!) Whatever the case, I still love it!!
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mybrowneyedgirls
15 years ago
Thank you so much for the additional pictures. I have verde butterfly granite counters, which are already green/black, so I don't want something too green. I think this one may actually work (I've been searching for months!) One more question. What was the name of the store you bought the tile from? Thanks again and have a wonderful Memorial weekend.
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ni_2006
15 years ago
roulie, your tiles look really nice!!! The Agata tiles that I saw were greener than they appear here. By the way, the Mandorla color is more grayish (slightly greenish). Are your tiles similar to the ones in this picture?
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roulie
Original Author
15 years ago
Mybrowneyedgirls and ni_2006: The picture that ni_2006 posted looks more like how I thought mine would look (it's closer to the sample that I had). Mine is definitely green -- just more of a grayish green than a yellowish green. I know that my tile differs from the sample that I had because the tile installer accidentally put in the sample piece and took it right back out because he could tell the color was different. When I was on my Ming green kick, I was warned that I wouldn't know exactly what shade I'd get until the tiles came in: I didn't realize that there would be variation in ceramic colors too. As I said before, even though it's slightly different than what I thought I was getting, I still love it!

mbeg: I bought the tile in a store south of Boston -- Bellew Tile in Rockland, MA. If you can't find a sample, I could send you one of my leftovers.
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prill
15 years ago
Roulie, What kind of stove do you have? I love the way it looks. Priscilla
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roulie
Original Author
15 years ago
Priscilla: We have the freestanding Sears Kenmore Elite induction range. We don't have gas in our neighborhood and we didn't want a big tank in the yard so we decided to try induction. I haven't used it yet, so can't speak to how it works, but I'm hoping to love it!
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