I prefer the tumbled marble to allow the granite and cabs stand out. The mosaic is beautiful, but busy. I would like to see the blue mosaic in a laundry room, bath or pool area.

I too like the tumbled marble. Perhaps you can accentuate with some darker metal or decorative pieces every so often to bring the darker tones of your granite out.

I think the mosaics look bad. I like the marble and agree with the previous poster......... your granite has plenty of expression and needs to stand out. The backsplash should be quiet and subtle....

(my opinion, at least....)

Another vote for the tumbled marble. It will make your beautiful granite the centerpiece of your kitchen. I agree with St. Judy, small dark metallic accents in the tumbled marble might be nice but wouldn't overwhelm the granite.

Would you consider looking at Rixi crackle subway tile in Crema? I have giallo ornamental and it blends with the cream color in the granite. When I was looking in tile stores, I was told that the tumbled tiles were becoming dated.

I prefer the tumbled marble. I think simplicity is best with your cabinets and granite.

I like the marble as well. I just did my backsplash in a marble that is smooth subway not tumbled and I love it!

Another vote for the marble. Looks classic

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like the tumbled stone is the clear winner here.

Ellendi, what is this Rixi subway tile? I tried doing a search for it on Google and it looks like threads from this forum are the top hits so I assume it's popular with people here :p

This link will take you to a dealer that sells the tiles Ellendi mentions. It's an Italian brand named Grazia, Rixi is the type. Probably best google Grazia + tile to find dealers near where you live.

HTH, Petra

Here is a link that might be useful: Grazia Rixi Tile

Of the three choices, I would go with the tumbled marble. However, do consider travertine.

Petra, thanks for the adding the additional info for the Rixi tiles.
Deekay, there are things to consider when getting the tumbled marble. You have no control over what is in your case. Some of the beiges/brown could turn gray or pink. I was afraid of the variation. Some of the tiles even had veins going through them. I thought my giallo was busy,and this would compete to much. Yours looks a bit smaller scale. The Rixi Crema really blends well with the cream in the giallo in my counter top.
There are many on the forum that have use the travertine and tumbled marble. And it looks great in their kitchens. But, you will not be going where they went and not getting the lot that they got.

Thanks for the link Petra. I see there's a showroom not too far from where we are so we'll definitely check it out.

Ellendi, great thanks for the extra info. We did notice that there were slight color variations in the boxes of tumbled stone that we saw, but had no idea some of the pieces could range into the pink area.

Doraville, we're definitely not tied to the 3 choices above it's just what we initially bought to see how things would look. We saw some smooth travertine tiles that we thought also might work.

I agree - the marble over the mosaics.
re: hunt7191's post: There are a number of finishes for marble tiles. Someone please correct me if I don't have my info correct, but my understanding is that in addition to the variation in color that ALL marble will have, tumbled marble has a lot of "holes" that get filled with grout - so grout color is really important.
I'm working on my backsplash as well - but I'm leaning towards the "honed" marble which supposedly has a "grout-less" look.

Hey Techmom,

Thanks for the input. From what I've read I think you're right. The tumbled marble is pretty holy and those will be filled with grout.

The honed marbled that you speak of is the smooth travertine I mentioned above. I believe it's basically the same stone as the tumbled version except they polish it to give it the sharp edges and smooth surfaces then fill all the holes with epoxy. Nice thing about those is you can get really thin grout lines. A site I read said with the honed version you can use 1/16 grout while the tumbled version the grout will be more like 1/2.

I have Cherry Cabinets and Giallo Napoleon granite which is very similar to GO. I have a Tumbled Travertine backsplash. I had my heart set on glass but could not seem to find one that worked. I was nervous as well about the Tumbled Stone but once it is grouted and sealed it is easy to just wipe clean. Your cabinets BTW are lovely!

Great backsplash, Marybeth1!

Deekay- just wanted to say that I too have cherry cabinets and GO granite. I tried really hard to find a marble, but they ALL went pink with the granite since it has a green undertone. I ended up doing Adex crackle subway- I think the color is bisque- closest I could get to the Rixi. I love it.

You folks may be picking the next backsplash for one of MY customers. She has alomst the very same cabinets, and will be using Santa Cecilia granite, which is very similar to the Giallo Ornamental, so I think I'm going to email her and have her take a look at this thread!

Marybeth that kitchen looks awesome. We hope ours can look as good when it's done.

Hey Bill, we actually started off with the Santa Cecilia granite because it has those nice pops of raspberry, but then flipflopped over to the GO because I liked the movement and they're still similar in color. I hope your client can get as much help from this thread as we have so far!

Thanks deekay and doraville! Deekay it looks like you're off to a great start!

I don't want to confuse you but I do think a glass tile back splash would look great with your style of cabinets but I would pick a more subdued color or even a solid color. Here's one I found on a search. Also take a look at my clippings. It is one of my favorite kitchens, notice her glass backsplash. Like I said I really wanted glass but could not make it work. Don't give up.